Word counts matter for estimating the finished length of a book, whether an article will fit in the layout, and how much time (and money) we’ll need for editing and design and other production steps. But not all words are counted equally, and even more so, perhaps lengthy words like sesquipedalian or phosphofructokinase should be counted as more than equivalent to cat or it. Such words can make technical texts considerably longer than an equivalent number of words in a novel.
Tag Archives: estimating
How Much Did the Manuscript Change?
In a recent proofread, authors told me that they made “a few additional changes” as they uploaded content to the ebook system.
“OK,” I thought, “there’s always a few lingering typos, and looking at it in a new way (as happens when uploading) can reveal them.”
Continue reading How Much Did the Manuscript Change?