I got asked whether the WordAutomationService in SharePoint could be started tested somehow or started to view ULS-Logs while running the conversion.
I creade a script to start converting a document from SharePoint (the document must exist and be in one of the supported formats).
The script will create a new conversion job for the WordAutomationService and start the corresponding TimerJob (Word Automation Services Timer Job). It will wait for the conversion to finish and output the results (inclunding errors).
Generally, if the WordAutomationService is not working as intended I consult the Troubleshooting Guideline.
(Remark: All links given refer to SharePoint 2010 - but all are still valid: WordAutomationService has not been changed (much).)