Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
[...]Seems to me like some of you are refusing to draw ANY line at all, making the designation of author meaningless.
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It already is, at least the sense required by the OP. It has a dictionary definition and any meaning construed beyond that must be based on some other criteria (or on unfounded assumption).
Your example earlier of what someone calls themselves is valid. But when someone asks "What do you do?" there the often silent "... for a living" implication to the question. They don't expect you to say that "I mow lawns", when you only do that at your own place on weekends. But that's not really the point when it comes to the OP.
If you have written a book you are an author. Ipso facto. So the subject and OP is quite simply and inherently wrong.
Everything else is just how you choose which books you want to read. There will be no universal agreement on the way to do this, so we each find a way that suits us. The OP suggests that books published in hardcover are a reliable way to get quality. If that's the case it should be easy for that person. Just check the available editions before they purchase and off they go. No problem. Nothing to complain about.