About Ginny
Ginny Redish has been a passionate evangelist for plain language and usability for more than 40 years. In her long career, Ginny has helped many companies, nonprofits, and government agencies create clear documents, forms, and websites.  

She is also a dynamic instructor who has trained thousands of writers and subject matter specialists in the United States, Canada, Asia, and Europe. 


Registration – Sold out!
 
Stakeholder Engagement:
How Can We Get More People to Buy into Plain Language?
 
It’s an age-old question for advocates of plain language—how can we convince our clients, coworkers, and supervisors that plain language makes our communication clearer and more effective? It was also one of the topics at our Plain Canada socials in April (one in French and another in English). 
 
There were so many good ideas shared and insights uncovered that we didn’t want to keep them all to ourselves. For example, we talked about getting past someone’s defensiveness when we suggest their communication could be clearer. We explored some of the ways plain language can save time and avoid potential problems. We discussed how plain design is also about improving accessibility.
 
Watch for a complete summary in our next newsletter.
 
 
Join Canada’s plain language community!

This year we are introducing a formal paid membership program. Becoming a member will ensure you continue to enjoy all the benefits you’re getting now from Plain Canada Clair and give you free access to the services and events we will begin charging non-members for in September.
 
Since launching in 2019, Plain Canada Clair has continued to attract a variety of professionals, students, and others interested in plain language principles and techniques. In the coming weeks, we will launch our refreshed website and, along with it, a paid membership option.

When you become a member, you will be joining a vibrant community run by and for the members. We will continue to offer our very popular social and learning online events, as well as the annual conference. In addition, we will be giving you

• a growing repository of plain language resources,
• access to a library of our past webinars (which we have been building for the past three years),
• a new members-only discussion forum,
• a new members’ directory so you can connect with practitioners across the country, and
• much more!

​We are looking forward to continuing to build the community of plain language practitioners across Canada, and together influencing and shaping the adoption of plain language. 

Look out for the membership announcement in the coming weeks!

 
Next Steps

Welcome to our new executive group members, Lisa Orchard and Christa Ptatschek. You’ve accomplished a lot in a short time, and we appreciate your time and expertise! We also have new volunteers helping with our newsletter and translation – thank you all.

Please email us at plaincanadaclair@gmail.com if you are interested in getting involved. Short-term initiatives include growing our membership and developing resources for practitioners.

Submissions for the newsletter are welcomed and encouraged as well!

Chantale Audet and Amélie Bourret, Autrement dit
By Jocelyn Pletz​

Adapted with permission from Accurate Estimating by Michelle Boulton

​There are different types of editing and not all editors get paid the same—add in the nuances of plain language editing, which include elements of structural, stylistic, and copyediting, and it can be hard to know what to charge for an hourly rate.

In this instalment, we show you how to calculate an hourly rate based on your annual income goal. Please don’t underprice your services – you want to charge a rate that is competitive for your clients, but also fair to you.

For demonstration purposes, we’ll be using $50,000 a year as an annual earning goal.
First, calculate how many hours you will work in a year:

          8 hours a day × 5 days / week = 40 hours / week × 52 weeks / year = 2,080 hours

​Factor in paid leave:

          15 vacation days + 10 statutory holidays + 5 sick days = 240 hours / year
          2,080 − 240 = 1,840 working hours / year

Now divide your income goal by the number of working hours in a year to get your hourly rate.

          $50,000 / year ÷ 1,840 working hours = $27.17 / hour

​But wait! Don’t forget about benefits (e.g., extended medical and dental benefits, disability or life insurance, RRSP contributions). These typically cost employers an additional 30% for each employee.

          $50,000 / year × 30% = $15,000 / year
          $15,000 ÷ 1,840 working hours / year = $8.15 / hour
          ​$27.17 / hour + $8.15 / hour = $35.32 / hour

Now, given that most editors are lucky to bill for 4 hours in an 8-hour day (assuming they spend the other 4 hours doing things like answering email, bookkeeping, filing, invoicing, marketing, and so on), you need to charge twice as much per hour to cover the half of each day that you are not able to bill for:

          $35.32 × 2 = $70.64 per hour

Finally, if you’re self-employed, you have a lot of other expenses to cover (office space, equipment, supplies, and so on). These are going to vary depending on your situation, but don’t forget to factor these in when you set your hourly rate.

Looking for a simpler formula?

A savvy colleague (Wilfred Popoff) once shared this formula with me: desired annual income, divided by 1,000 potential billable hours, and multiplied by 1.5 to account for expenses.

          ​$50,000 ÷ 1,000 × 1.5 = $75 / hour

It is hard to predict how fast a plain language editor and writer can work. Plain language editing includes substantive, structural and stylistic editing, copyediting, and proofreading. Plus, plain language editing involves audience testing and revision stages, which may not be part of a traditional edit. 
 
Editors Canada’s Professional Editorial Standards define what is expected of Canadian editors and the criteria against which their knowledge, skills, and practices can be measured. For example, they suggest typical times based on the type of editing and the type of document – standard, difficult, or specialized. 
 
When asked to submit a quote, I will ask for a sample of the work to be edited to determine how much work is required to complete the plain language process.  Considerations include:
 

• Audience—is the primary audience clear? Who is the significant audience? Secondary audience? 
• How many personas will I need to build? 
• Purpose—what is the purpose of the material? Is the purpose clear? If it is unclear, I build in time to write heuristics and discuss the purpose with the client.
• Writing—does the original include a lot of jargon? How many terms will need to be explained, how much research will I need to do?
• Structure—will the information need to be reorganized to meet the audience needs? 

 
If I feel the material is difficult or specialized, I estimate at least 1 to 2 hours per page (standard editing definition is 250 words); if the edit looks like a standard edit, I estimate at least 1 to 2 hours for 4 to 5 pages. 
At this stage of the process, I clarify what is expected of me. As a plain language editor and writer, being clear on the scope of the project is critical and it will help prevent “scope creep” as the project progresses.