ALBA Newsletter (August 2022)

Summer greetings, and a warm welcome to Alba Editing & Proofreading’s first ever newsletter. 

The purpose of this quarterly bulletin is to stay in touch and keep you informed of our latest news and services. However, if you’d rather not receive these updates, then please accept our sincere apologies and unsubscribe below.

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A quick message from Alba’s executive director, David McArdle

“As some of you may know, Alba is now in its 12th year since its inception back in 2011, and despite the rise in automation and AI (think of a famous cloud-based typing assistant), our company continues to grow steadfastly. I am convinced that the need for human judgement and critical thinking by way of feedback, suggestions, comments and revisions is more important than ever before, and that the human mind has never been so valuable.

The last few years certainly stress tested our business plan and ethos, both of which proved robust during the pandemic: simply put, as many of our clients were faced with drastically changing circumstances and working environments, we adapted accordingly, and endeavoured to accommodate new requests, shorter deadlines, weekend work – whatever it took to make all our clients’ lives a little easier.

And finally, as we now tentatively enter the post-pandemic era, I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to our client base who continue to use, recommend and rely on our services, and without whom the last decade or so wouldn’t have been possible.”

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Chevening Scholarship (Apply before 1 November 2022)

The UK government’s student scholarship is now OPEN for applicants. To check your eligibility and apply, follow the link here for further information.

The Chevening Scholarship is available to citizens from over 160 countries and territories, and continues to cover tuition fees and provide generous stipends to talented students from around the world.

But competition is tough. Therefore, it’s essential that you submit the highest quality application, which includes four essays on the following topics: leadership, networking, study plan, and career plan.

For the past ten years, we’ve been helping prospective students with their applications, and with great success. In fact, we’ve developed a formula, which has already helped hundreds of students be awarded places at some of the finest universities in the U.K. Contact us for more information, and don’t delay as the application window closes in the autumn.

University Dissertation Season

Summer is characterised by (some) sunshine and a sense of panic, as students rush to submit their dissertations and theses. And we know how they feel: Alba’s staff have all been there, and know what it’s like when dissertation deadlines approach. 

But it’s best to contact us as soon as possible, to book a time slot, or even just to let us know that you might be sending a draft over (if time permits).

We’ve a mature approach to this particular client base, and understand the worries this experience can cause for many students – so get in touch, let us know when your deadline is, and we’ll work out the best possible plan (subject to change, naturally).

If you’re a blogger, read this!

On a recent trip to Indonesia, I met four bloggers in the space of two days, none of whom use a professional editor/proofread to review their work before publication. So, I checked out their work, and it confirmed what I had suspected: bloggers write a lot, but not always particularly well. 

What’s more, as the rise of the blogger gathers pace, competition increases, and so do readers’ expectations.

Bloggers now need a cutting edge, a unique selling point, something that makes them stand out from the madding crowd – and having perfectly constructed sentences with no grammatical mishaps is a good place to start.

Alba now works with several world-renowned bloggers (we can’t reveal their names or aliases, of course), all of whom have recognised (privately, alas) the advantage our editing/proofreading has brought to their brand.

So, if you’re a blogger, and want to have your updates reviewed, polished and wholeheartedly spruced up, then drop us a line today.

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