Are You a Writer or An Author?
How You Can Tell the Difference
How You Can Tell the Difference
Writer. Author. These words are often used interchangeably, but the terms and the roles are different. If you are a writer, you write an article, a book, web copy, a piece of literature, etc. If you are an author, you are the originator of the idea or content that is being written. Of course, you can be the author and the writer of the same piece, but if you are either the author or the writer, you have to be aware of some of the important differences.
An author originates the idea for whatever is written, whether he or she actually does the writing or not. That is why many authors have ghostwriters. Authors are the only ones who can apply for a copyright of their work because the writer may or may not be writing someone else’s ideas.
The author can have just mediocre writing skills; the writer’s skills must be exceptional. Many writers work for others intentionally; there are people who know what they want to say but don’t know how to put their thoughts on paper. The purpose of a copyright is to protect the author’s original idea.
A writer can only get a copyright if the original idea was his or hers; then that person becomes the author as well as the writer. When a work is copyrighted, only the author can be associated with the copyrighted item.
Writer. Author. Or Both.
A writer is one who writes and expresses concepts and ideas through the written word, while an author is one who has published a completed literary work. Although authors are most thought of as writers of books, authors are also essayists, journalists, and bloggers, etc., who have published their works in one form or another.
By the same token, only published works can be copyrighted, so if you have a lot of unpublished works sitting in your drawer or on your hard drive, you are a writer and cannot yet call yourself an author. So, all authors start out as writers, but only published writers can become authors.
Some people may disagree, but in my opinion and based on my experience, all authors are writers, but not all writers are authors.
About Detroit Ink Publishing
In 2008, right in the middle of the Great Recession, I started my first company, Writing It Right For You (WIRFY), an…medium.com
Whether you consider yourself a writer or an author or both, it is imperative that your work is the best it can be. We have all seen self-published books that have been horribly written. Those writers can call themselves “authors,” but that does not mean they are good writers.
Are you a writer? You are the writer of the idea — either yours or someone else’s. You make the idea into a reality.
Are you an author? You are the creator of the idea. Once your creation has been written and published, the copyright belongs to you.
As an author, you have a plethora of places where you can publish your work. All authors start out as writers, but to become a published author, the writer must take many more steps to get to the publishing phase and marketing their work.
I will soon offer an online course for writers who wish to learn how to market their works. I invite you to join my Facebook group for creative and solo professionals so that you can find out more and meet other like-minded creatives.
Writer. Author. You choose.
If you would like to keep up with everything we’re doing at Detroit Ink Publishing (DIP) and our other group of companies Your Business Your Brand Creatively (YB2C), I invite you to sign up for our (almost) weekly email newsletter. We promise: No Spam! You can join the email list here.
My company offers editing, formatting, cover design, copywriting, publishing, and book and author marketing services in packages customized for each client.
If you would like to discuss a potential publishing project, you can schedule a 30-minute consultation at this link. If you decide to hire DIP for your book, the consulting fee will be credited back to you.