There was a recent query at the DonationCoder Forum from a publisher who often receives a book manuscript broken up into separate chapter files. He asked if there are programs that will deliver a full word count analysis of all the files in one operation.
It’s a good question for writers too, as they write their manuscripts and prepare them for submission, as many, if not most book authors write their chapters in separate files.
The Forum produced at answer: FineCount, currently in version 2.5.
The program is pitched toward translators who charge by the word, with built-in facility for invoicing. But it’s still useful for writers and publishers. The free version offers what we need. A pro version offers more invoicing capability — but also tools to analyze word repetition and sentence structure, which will interest some writers. Some of the popular software download sites offer very outdated versions, so it’s best to get it direct from the developer. The free version still requires registration.
Some time ago, I did a search for such programs and came up with another one, from a competing translation service company, Advanced International Translations.
AnyCount 6.0 does the counting, without the invoicing tools. One must add each file separately; one cannot add folders themselves. The results carry some additional detail — for example, footnotes and endnotes are counted and reported separately, a feature certain to be useful to some writers. The software is not cheap, costing 49 Euros. The company offers a lite version named ClipCount for 12 Euros, but it only counts words cut onto the clipboard. The same company apparently provides another version, called AnyMaxi Word Count, which does include the invoicing component, perhaps useful for ghostwriters and free-lancers who are paid by the word.
Most word processors these days provide word counts in one variety or another, but the tools above may be useful in special circumstances.
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