Hi! I’m Liana.
I am passionate about words and use them to tell stories, shape and express opinions, and even change lives.
Let me help you show the world why you matter
by sharing what matters to you.
My Word Story
A lifelong fascination with words fuels a drive to write compelling copy and content, the better to share stories and inspire readers to think, feel, act, buy—to live with no regrets.
When I was four, my daddy got a brain tumor. I spent much of the next year and a half waiting in or around hospitals, reading books to while the time away, but also drawing pictures and writing stories of my own.
When my dad fell into a coma, I would take my crayon-illustrated pages to my dad’s doctors and nurses and tell them, “I just want to read my story to my daddy.”
I got snuck into the intensive care unit far more often than a child should be allowed to, but I never regretted the extra time I got with my dad before he died.
I like to think he heard the words I read him over the whooshing and beeping of the machines.
But what this experience left me with was a lasting faith in the power of words to touch hearts and change lives.
I’ve seen my words turn doubters into believers (and skeptics into buyers). I’ve seen them draw tears and laughter from people reading off the screen or page. And I have used them to remind myself of what’s really important in life.
So I’ll happily spend all of my days stringing sentences together if it means I get to keep making words matter.
My Work Story
I started writing professionally in 2003.
I was in my first year of college at the time and looking for a way to fund my newfound love of graphic novels. I found someone willing to pay me to ghostwrite short stories for them, and then I was asked if I wanted to write a story for a local magazine. I said yes, of course!
I became a copyeditor in 2008.
I learned the ins and outs of the Chicago Manual of Style when I was hired as a junior copyeditor at the Philippine office of supported self-publishing outfit Xlibris. I was then promoted to manuscript liaison, where I learned to talk authors through the changes their editors made.
This fostered a love of helping authors write and then fix up their stories or manuscripts before they share them with the world. Even when I moved on to other fields of writing, I continued to cheerlead and support budding authors by joining and becoming a municipal liaison for the Philippine regional chapter of NaNoWriMo.
I also kept doing manuscript editing jobs on the side, as well as beta reading stories for friends and community members, both locally and internationally. I even organized and became a resource person for a writing and publishing workshop as well as another workshop on editing romance novels.
I began writing and editing web content and copy in 2008.
After about a year as an online content editor on the knowledge management team of cybersecurity company Trend Micro Inc., I joined Summit Publishing’s women’s lifestyle website, FemaleNetwork.com, as a features editor.
I worked with a team of amazing writers and editors under a fantastic mentor. I learned vital lessons about branding; web and advertorial content writing, strategy, and analytics; and digital marketing (though we didn’t call it that at the time). I climbed up the ranks and became managing editor of the site within two years of joining the team.
In the years that followed, I worked as editor of other websites, including the now-defunct krstn.com and Hitlist.ph under TV5’s New Media department and another women’s lifestyle website, ModernFilipina.ph.
In 2017, I moved back to my hometown of Cebu to help my mom out with the family beach resort and manage a book cafe also owned by my family. I still kept my hand in, doing freelance content and copywriting on the side.
Then the pandemic hit—and kept hitting. I lost several friends and family members. My husband and I both got admitted to the hospital on the same day. It was a scary two weeks before we were released, and months before we fully recovered. Then my mom, who has always served as my personal north star, passed away. And a scant year later, my dog, who’d become something of an unofficial emotional support animal to me in that time, crossed the rainbow bridge during a trip back from the beach one weekend.
In the midst of grief and depression, I realized something important: life’s too short to spend your days doing something you don’t love. So I’m slowly stepping back from the family business—not completely, but enough that I can work for it on the side.
Because I have committed to writing and editing content, copy, and manuscripts full time.
And I’d love to help you tell your story.
Let’s craft your narrative
Your story is important. The beginning shows why you do what you do. The middle is all about how you do it, and the struggles you’ve overcome to keep on keeping on. And while we don’t always see an end, we’re looking for that ever after that shows you continuing to grow and succeed into the future.
Let me help you tell your story, sell your products, refine your content—all the better to achieve that happy ever after!
FAQs
Work with me if you’re looking for someone who:
- Brings years of experience as a writer and editor to the table.
- Writes content tailored to your brand and audience.
- Is willing to work with you and your existing web and content team members.
- Commits to telling your story your way, but offers suggestions on how to make that story more compelling to more people.