Its or It's? I go ahead and test drive Grammarly

My own grammar-checker just happens to be my husband, who's an editor. But I saw advertisements for a new grammar checker called Grammerly and I thought I'd take it for a test spin, as well as interview the folks responsible for it, or actually just one, Nikolaus Baron.  So is Grammarly worth it? I think it actually is. It doesn't take into account creative writing, but if you have an issue with lay and lie, or its and it's, it's certainly helpful.  And thank you, Nikolaus, for talking to me.

And don't take my word for it. Test drive it yourself, right here:

So, what made you create Grammarly? How is it different from other grammar programs? And what has been the response to it? 

Grammar rules can be confusing to many people and are constantly evolving. Grammarly was created to provide an easy way for students, professionals, job seekers, and English language learners to become better, more accurate English language writers and help them learn and understand the rules of grammar.  

Grammarly utilizes sophisticated algorithms and powerful cloud-based computers to identify and correct English spelling and grammar mistakes. Grammarly’s technology catches significantly more errors than competitors, while also offering unique features such as writing enhancement and citation suggestions.  Grammarly can be accessed 24x7 from any computer via the Internet.

Grammarly has more than 3 million registered users, and usage is doubling every year. It is also trusted by more than 250 educational and corporate clients. Moreover, Grammarly currently has more than ONE MILLION enthusiastic and engaged fans talking about grammar on its Facebook fan page.

Does Grammarly still work with someone writing creatively? For example, novels often break grammatical rules, using sentence fragments, etc. 

Grammarly’s grammar checker is built around a powerful and ever-evolving algorithm, which is not designed to replace teachers or proofreaders but to provide students, professionals and advanced language learners with an automated, cost-effective, accurate and always available online tool to help improve their written English skills. 

Grammarly isn't intended for professional writers to achieve the next level of language mastery, or to judge artistic prose. Grammarly is meant to proofread mainstream text like student papers, cover letters, and proposals." Masterful and creative English writing sometimes triggers our alerts. There are limits to what modern technology can accomplish.

What mistakes do writers most often make and how can Grammarly help them? 

Here's a great blog post from the Grammarly team on the top writing mistakes that writers often make: http://www.grammarly.com/blog/2013/writing-great-american-novel-top-three-mistakes-youll-make/

What's up next for Grammarly and why?

One of the most innovative products that Grammarly has introduced to market is the Grammarly® Plug-in for Microsoft® Office Software. This integrates Grammarly’s core grammar checking engine with native editing interfaces such as Microsoft® Word™ and Outlook®. As a result, writers may now incorporate Grammarly’s industry-leading spell, grammar and plagiarism checking technology into their Microsoft Office suite. Grammarly also has plug ins for Chrome and Firefox.

We’re looking forward to integrating in the future other Web-based platforms and applications to help writers perfect their English, wherever they happen to be writing.

What question didn't I ask that I should have?

We'd love to share some of our most meaningful company-wide accomplishments at Grammarly:

• Grammarly makes a meaningful impact in users’ lives; students get better grades, professionals accelerate their career progress, and language learners improve their written English.
  
• Grammarly saves users time in the writing process.
• Grammarly is licensed by leading colleges and universities.
• Grammarly was bootstrapped by Alex Shevchenko and Max Lytvyn, both English language learners, to 3 million members.

Cheers,