How many words?

Jeff Stehman stumped me earlier today when he asked, "Do you know how many words you sold in 2006?"

The quick answer is: No.

I don't track my output by number of words written or number of words sold. I only track finished ms. For good or ill, that means a filler has the same weight as a novella.

But Jeff's question had me wondering. How many words did I sell in 2006?

I had to pry open the filing cabinets and rifle through the drawers to get an answer, and here's what I came up with:

In 2006 I sold:

At least 193,100 words of original material.

8,000 words co-authored with Tom Sweeney.

And some reprints that I didn't bother counting.

I'm pretty sure I missed a couple of ms. in my haste, and this count doesn't include any of the advertising or public relations material I wrote, nor does it include the miscellaneous writing I do as an editor (headlines, cutlines, blurbs, etc.).

Now I'm left with a question that I can't answer: Is there any direct correlation between number of words written and number of words sold?