Constant Content

In the middle of me submitting my articles for the day, the new submission form went live.

I noticed that now you can't enter the word count yourself, as the form takes it directly from your copied/pasted content. When I was submitting my article, though, it listed it as being 450 words while my Word document lists it at 473 words. I was wondering what system the form is using to count words that has such a big discrepancy, and how are we supposed to account for it when submitting for requests that are a specified length?

I have been using the new, sort of "beta" submission form for a while and it has been my experience that once the article has been submitted I have been able to go back and change the word count simply by clicking edit. Sorry I haven't yet used this one that has gone live for everyone, but I assume that is still the case? I also noticed a discrepancy between the form and Word. I should be uploading an article later on so I will come back and update!

Yeah, the word count is off. Just noticed that too. I'm thinking it's removing the title count? Too much of the bubbly to figure it out tonight.

I've just submitted an article and went to test out my theory. When you go to your content and click edit, it APPEARS to let you edit the word count, but upon clicking "save changes" it just reverts back to what the site thinks the word count is. I submitted something that Word says is 350 words, but which the site says is 325. It appears to be rounding DOWN to the nearest 25, which is a little frustrating. I don't believe that my article is closer to 325 than to 350 words. I know it's not much, but even 25 words can make a small difference in my pricing. And also, if a customer asks for, lets say, a 500 word article and you submit something that is 499, would it say it is 475?
I don't want to be throwing in one useless word or rewording entire sentences of an article I am happy with just to make the count say the right thing!

Also, just for fun, I added 10 "test" words to the end of my document and still couldn't get it up to 350!


Edit --

So I noticed Word placed my document (without the title - I don't add the title to my word count) at 349. I threw in a word, got it to 350, and resubmitted, which finally got CC to put it at 350 as well.

I guess you have to be right on the dot with the word count. It's reasonable for someone who is paying for 500 words to get 500 words, but I also always considered it reasonable to have at least a 5 word lee-way. I think the system should count accurately and not round to the nearest 25.

I agree, evaku. I think hitting that threshold is important for customers. I aim for 500 words and charge $50. I think if it reduces to 475, just that sense that it's below 500 words might scare away some customers.

I've been using that form for a few months, and this is my biggest gripe with it. Both the authors and Constant Content are gonna wind up losing money if it's not fixed.

Has anyone asked CC about it and received a reply? I don't know whether rounding down the word count is just a part of their system that we have to accept, or if their software people can change it.

Can I ask about pasting an article into the submission form please? Do you recommend writing it directly in the space, or writing in Word with all its benefits, then pasting it in? When I pasted my article yesterday the paragraph spacing disappeared and I had to add it in again. (No problem really.) In your experience, what is the best thing to do?

Thank you.

Abba May

Hi everyone. This issue should also be fixed now, and you should be able to adjust the word count manually on the edit page.

Thank you, Eric! You rock!

Ooh, I can't wait to try out the new submission form! I've been busy writing for a private client (my first! ) for the last few weeks but I really miss the freedom of writing for CC, and still check the forums regularly. The good thing is that I've had a few sales even though I haven't been submitting new articles, so it just goes to show that with a stock of articles you can get steady sales.

Emily