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Note that you proofread Nate Kontny's blog, not Mobileworks' dogfooded blog as suggested.

gamblor956 14y ago
You're right, I assumed Kontny was dogfooding too. Some thoughts on the actual MobileWorks blog: Here’s an idea. What if the network of disruptive startups being created in Silicon Valley could band together to disrupt unemployment itself, right here in the US? Today, we’re announcing a new experiment to try and do exactly that. After "idea" there should be a semicolon. Also, in the U.S., formal abbreviations such as U.S. and U.S.A. are always punctuated in professional writing (see, e.g., the NY Times). Bloggers and commenters get away with not punctuating because they are not expected to be professional, but that is not an excuse a proofreading service should make. Note that this is exactly what I was referring to originally, as the standard convention in most European countries is that formal abbreviations in English are not capitalized, i.e. UK rather than U.K. pick up the last few slots" should be "fill up...", as slots cannot be picked up. It's a chance* should be "This is a chance" because they are referring to WFA, not the project work, unless they truly are referring to the project work and not WFA. The list has improper punctuation. Each item should end with a semi colon; the third item should not have a period; there should be a conjunctive or disjunctive joinder after the third item or the "and more" shold be made its own separate item. participants will be able to take skills learned working on Silicon Valley’s projects with them as they're placed As written, it means that participants' skills will only be useful in the initial stages of job-hunting rather than useful in the jobs in which they are placed; it should say something like "Participants will learn skills working on Silicon Valley projects. They can take these skills with them to full-time..." There are more, but you get the idea. This service is decent but pointless for non-professional writing and not up-to-par for professional writing.
- anandkulkarni 14y ago
  You had it right; I'm referring to the linked post. But you seem to be looking for proofreaders who can apply the particular set of proofing standards expected of print writers, as opposed to suggested edits an informal writer can incorporate into blog posts. I'm not sure that's what Draft claims to do -- or why it's so interesting!

You're right, I assumed Kontny was dogfooding too. Some thoughts on the actual MobileWorks blog: Here’s an idea. What if the network of disruptive startups being created in Silicon Valley could band together to disrupt unemployment itself, right here in the US? Today, we’re announcing a new experiment to try and do exactly that. After "idea" there should be a semicolon. Also, in the U.S., formal abbreviations such as U.S. and U.S.A. are always punctuated in professional writing (see, e.g., the NY Times). Bloggers and commenters get away with not punctuating because they are not expected to be professional, but that is not an excuse a proofreading service should make. Note that this is exactly what I was referring to originally, as the standard convention in most European countries is that formal abbreviations in English are not capitalized, i.e. UK rather than U.K. pick up the last few slots" should be "fill up...", as slots cannot be picked up. It's a chance* should be "This is a chance" because they are referring to WFA, not the project work, unless they truly are referring to the project work and not WFA. The list has improper punctuation. Each item should end with a semi colon; the third item should not have a period; there should be a conjunctive or disjunctive joinder after the third item or the "and more" shold be made its own separate item. participants will be able to take skills learned working on Silicon Valley’s projects with them as they're placed As written, it means that participants' skills will only be useful in the initial stages of job-hunting rather than useful in the jobs in which they are placed; it should say something like "Participants will learn skills working on Silicon Valley projects. They can take these skills with them to full-time..." There are more, but you get the idea. This service is decent but pointless for non-professional writing and not up-to-par for professional writing.

anandkulkarni 14y ago
You had it right; I'm referring to the linked post. But you seem to be looking for proofreaders who can apply the particular set of proofing standards expected of print writers, as opposed to suggested edits an informal writer can incorporate into blog posts. I'm not sure that's what Draft claims to do -- or why it's so interesting!