just because you have written a book does not make you an author - Page 5

moonshot · 03-06-2014, 04:51 PM

If you paid money to see a 'singer' billed as the next Diana Ross and all she could do was make a sound not much better than your neighbours cat, you might want your money back; feeling that the word singer was misleading.

No different from someone putting words onto paper and selling the story as a download.

At least who ever hired the singer has a responsibility in this. So unless the self published 'author' is giving their book away for free, who is vetting these books to make sure that they reach a minimum standard.

QuantumIguana · 03-06-2014, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonshot

If you paid money to see a 'singer' billed as the next Diana Ross and all she could do was make a sound not much better than your neighbours cat, you might want your money back; feeling that the word singer was misleading.

No different from someone putting words onto paper and selling the story as a download.

At least who ever hired the singer has a responsibility in this. So unless the self published 'author' is giving their book away for free, who is vetting these books to make sure that they reach a minimum standard.

Being a singer in no way, shape or form implies being a "The next Diana Ross". Neither does being an author imply they are the next Charles Dickens. But even if a singer's talents were overstated, they are still a singer. The band playing at the corner bar for tips are still in fact musicians. You might not like a singer. You might not like a restaurant. You might not like a book. Deal with it.

If you need someone to vet a book for you, that's easily available. There is word of mouth and there are reviews. Pick people whose opinions you trust and listen to them. You'll have more vetted books than you could read in a lifetime.

DiapDealer · 03-06-2014, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonshot

If you paid money to see a 'singer' billed as the next Diana Ross and all she could do was make a sound not much better than your neighbours cat, you might want your money back; feeling that the word singer was misleading.

No. I would feel the billing as "the next Diana Ross" was the misleading part.

Why are you being so obtuse about this? Even if you found enough people to agree that a "line in the sand" needs to be drawn, you know they'd never agree on WHERE it needs to be drawn. So what's the point? There will never be a universal standard of quality that limits the usage of the word "author." Nor should there be. And if, by chance, there were .... I'd wager someone--somewhere--would be lobbying to exclude some of the people who would pass your personal litmus test for inclusion.

hrosvit · 03-06-2014, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonshot

If you paid money to see a 'singer' billed as the next Diana Ross and all she could do was make a sound not much better than your neighbours cat, you might want your money back; feeling that the word singer was misleading.

No different from someone putting words onto paper and selling the story as a download.

At least who ever hired the singer has a responsibility in this. So unless the self published 'author' is giving their book away for free, who is vetting these books to make sure that they reach a minimum standard.

You're assigning an aspect of value to the word author that it doesn't inherently possess. The word author, in and of itself, does not carry any implication of quality. Nor should it.

In the above example, you don't have any reason to complain because she used the word "singer". You might feel you have the right to complain because she was called "the next Diana Ross", but that's a personal judgment. Who gets to decide what a "good" singer is?

No one is vetting them; the word author does not carry that implication.

hrosvit · 03-06-2014, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Even if you found enough people to agree that a "line in the sand" needs to be drawn, you know they'd never agree on WHERE it needs to be drawn. So what's the point? There will never be a universal standard of quality that limits the usage of the word "author." Nor should there be. And if, by chance, there were .... I'd wager someone--somewhere--would be lobbying to exclude some of the people who would pass your personal litmus test for inclusion.

If someone has to draw a line in the sand, I hereby nominate myself. I promise to do a good job and protect you all from terrible writing.

I hope no one is too terribly attached to either Dan Brown or James Patterson, because we won't be calling them authors after I draw my line.

QuantumIguana · 03-06-2014, 05:26 PM

I had some time to kill while waiting for a movie. I went to a Chinese restaurant, but it was too crowded, so I went to a different Chinese restaurant that was empty. This should have been a sign, but we ate their anyway. The food was awful.

However, it was still a restaurant, despite the food being bad.

BearMountainBooks · 03-06-2014, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hrosvit

If someone has to draw a line in the sand, I hereby nominate myself. I promise to do a good job and protect you all from terrible writing.

I hope no one is too terribly attached to either Dan Brown or James Patterson, because we won't be calling them authors after I draw my line.

QuantumIguana · 03-06-2014, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hrosvit

If someone has to draw a line in the sand, I hereby nominate myself. I promise to do a good job and protect you all from terrible writing.

I hope no one is too terribly attached to either Dan Brown or James Patterson, because we won't be calling them authors after I draw my line.

Once you light the bonfires, where do you stop?

jgaiser · 03-06-2014, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hrosvit

I hope no one is too terribly attached to either Dan Brown or James Patterson, because we won't be calling them authors after I draw my line.

Hmm?? I kind of like your line. Can I stand with you?

DiapDealer · 03-06-2014, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hrosvit

If someone has to draw a line in the sand, I hereby nominate myself. I promise to do a good job and protect you all from terrible writing.

Sounds good to me. Where do I sign?

jgaiser · 03-06-2014, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Why are you being so obtuse about this? Even if you found enough people to agree that a "line in the sand" needs to be drawn, you know they'd never agree on WHERE it needs to be drawn.

Asked much the same question earlier and got no answer. Don't expect one now. Starting to think that this is the creature under the bridge.

Katsunami · 03-06-2014, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Asked much the same question earlier and got no answer. Don't expect one now. Starting to think that this is the creature under the bridge.

Clown? With big pompoms on his yellow costume and balloons that float?

We need some silver dollars ASAP!

jgaiser · 03-06-2014, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Clown? With big pompoms on his yellow costume and balloons that float?

Ok.. Now that I've stopped laughing. Yes, of course. A Clown...

bgalbrecht · 03-06-2014, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonshot

At least who ever hired the singer has a responsibility in this. So unless the self published 'author' is giving their book away for free, who is vetting these books to make sure that they reach a minimum standard.

I have purchased ebooks from big publishing houses that had an inexcusable number of errors, including bad global replaces, words missing accent marks, hyphens not cleaned up, missing table of contents, lots of scan errors that should have been caught with basic spell checking, and other errors not found in a print edition. In other words, the BPHs have minimal standards themselves. I will grant you that buying a self-published book is more likely to have errors that would make a middle school English teacher cringe than you would see from a BPH release, but from what I see, a lot of reviewers will call that out and downrate the book accordingly.

Lemurion · 03-06-2014, 08:42 PM

A writer is someone who writes.

An author is someone who has written something and put it out (usually in book form) with their name on it. To me, the two biggest differences between an author and a writer are that the author has first, finished something, and second, put it out there with their name on it.

I have written four novels, all of which are available on Amazon. Two are available in print, two only in eBook. I've worked as a ghostwriter, so my name's only on the latter two. I made thousands writing the first two, but I can't claim to be the author.

I haven't made as much from the others, but I certainly am the author.

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03-06-2014, 04:51 PM	#61
moonshot Connoisseur Posts: 63 Karma: 117320 Join Date: Dec 2013 Device: Kobo touch	If you paid money to see a 'singer' billed as the next Diana Ross and all she could do was make a sound not much better than your neighbours cat, you might want your money back; feeling that the word singer was misleading. No different from someone putting words onto paper and selling the story as a download. At least who ever hired the singer has a responsibility in this. So unless the self published 'author' is giving their book away for free, who is vetting these books to make sure that they reach a minimum standard.

03-06-2014, 05:26 PM	#66
QuantumIguana Philosopher Posts: 2,034 Karma: 18736532 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2 gen, Kindle Fire 1st Gen, Kindle Touch	I had some time to kill while waiting for a movie. I went to a Chinese restaurant, but it was too crowded, so I went to a different Chinese restaurant that was empty. This should have been a sign, but we ate their anyway. The food was awful. However, it was still a restaurant, despite the food being bad.

03-06-2014, 08:42 PM	#75
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	A writer is someone who writes. An author is someone who has written something and put it out (usually in book form) with their name on it. To me, the two biggest differences between an author and a writer are that the author has first, finished something, and second, put it out there with their name on it. I have written four novels, all of which are available on Amazon. Two are available in print, two only in eBook. I've worked as a ghostwriter, so my name's only on the latter two. I made thousands writing the first two, but I can't claim to be the author. I haven't made as much from the others, but I certainly am the author.