$count = (int) $wpdb->get_var("SELECT COUNT(ID) FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE post_type = 'post' AND (post_status = 'publish' ) AND post_author = '$user_ID' AND post_date = '' " );
$count = (int) $wpdb->get_var("SELECT COUNT(ID) FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE post_type = 'post' AND (post_status = 'publish' ) AND post_author = '$user_ID' AND post_date = '' " );