WordPress count chars in post and forbid publication

function minCharCount($postID_dummy, $post) {
  $content = $post->post_content;
  if (strlen(strip_tags($content)) < 1000 ) // minimo 1000 caratteri
    wp_die( __('Error: your post is below the minimum char count. It needs to be 1000 or more chars.'));
}

add_action('publish_post', 'minCharCount', 1, 2 );