I'm new here, so I just thought I'd give a quick introduction. I'm a Fantasy nut! I just can't get enough of it.
I'm also an aspiring author. Or is it an author who is aspiring to be published? Take your pick, I am, rather enigmatically, both!
With luck, I'll be published one day!
S. M. Carrière
http://smcarriere.blogspot.com

Hello, Sonia. Welcome!

But, m'dear: I worry: are you strange enough to fit in? The photo suggests yes, but the camera can always lie!

Welcome Sonia!

Paul wrote: "Hello, Sonia. Welcome!

But, m'dear: I worry: are you strange enough to fit in? The photo suggests yes, but the camera can always lie!"

Are you trying to get the tinfoil hat trend to carry over here Paul? Really? How fun. ^_^

I wonder greatly if I am strange enough... though my friends might assure me that I am. Though, a small conundrum, if the norm is strangeness, would my being normal make me strange?

Definitely. Not being strange is in itself extremely strange.

Like worrying that you don't have problems :)

I concur.

Sonia,

Before I was published I told a friend that I was an unpublished author. He say I was a writer. In his opinion, we are writers aspiring to be authors before we are published, and just stranger-than-usual people after we're published, LOL.

I wish you the best with all of your writing endeavors.

DB

There are several stories that focus on towns and/or people who are completely average in every respect. I was just reading Good Omens The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch and the town of Lower Tadfield comes to mind. Since averages are mathematical constructs, i.e., fictions, a person who matched them exactly would be, well, fictional.

Statistically speaking, most of us have more than the average number of legs.

Hi D.B.,

I was struggling with that myself for a while. Do I call myself an unpublished author or simply a writer? I settled on unpublished author, just because.

A book is copyrighted when you finish it, not when you publish it. You're an author when you finish it, not when you've published it.

Thanks Marc!
That makes it better.

Of course if you're searching for some (not entirely self) flagellation, consider the discrimination against self-published authors. There are those feel we don't deserve the title of 'author' and should stick to merely calling ourselves writers.

As you can see, I have some hostility of my own towards that attitude. I'm a three time self-published author and I'm always striving to become a better writer. An author is someone whose writing is always in the process of becoming better, regardless of publication.

A hack, on the other hand, is a lazy writer who never bothers to edit. Unfortunately there seems to be a large number of published hacks as well...

Self-published authors are authors. When I was nine, I wrote a one page poem, made copies of it, and sold it to family members, friends, and neighbors. I've been a "published author" since that day, which of course was only a few years ago. LOL.

I've always thought that writers write; authors are published. But I don't much care what people call me as long as it's done with a smile :)

On the self-publication bit, I'm considering it if I get too many rejections from traditional approaches. I do think that there are some very good self-published works out there. There's also an awful lot of garbage.

Of course, exactly the same could be said of traditional publishing.

People treat you differently if you have sold your work or not. What's the old saying? "You can be a traitor without being hanged, or an artist without being hung, but never an author until you are published."

Bunk I say! A writer writes. Why quibble about the Norman root words rather than the Saxon ones? Are you an 'auteur' or a 'witted'?

Now I'm thoroughly confused! Perhaps it's because I haven't had my morning coffee yet.

Paul, I was thinking the same thing - that I am not an "author" until I get published. But...

Shirley, I really like your stance though and now I think I agree. It doesn't matter as they are both the same thing. It is equally possible to be a published writer as it is to be an unpublished author.

Back to Paul, I agree with you on the self-publication thing. There are some real gems out there... and a lot of rubbish!

What does the rest of the world think?

*******

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Author

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/writer
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/author

“Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then you’re a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.”–--Colette

For those who don't want to follow the link, the definitions are here:

writ·er (rtr)
n.
One who writes, especially as an occupation.
-The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

writer
Noun
1. a person whose job is writing; author
2. the person who has written something specified: the writer of this letter is pretty dangerous
-Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2004, 2006

D.B. wrote: "Self-published authors are authors. When I was nine, I wrote a one page poem, made copies of it, and sold it to family members, friends, and neighbors. I've been a "published author" since that d..."

If that's the case I've been an author since 1st grade: a comic author. :-) Fanfics are fiction, too!

That is a monumental achievement Katrina! I'd have loved to have been an author in the first grade!

Katrina, yes---you have indeed been an author since first grade, and I thought I started young!

I love this string! Why did it take me so long to find authors on goodreads!?! I've been searching for outlets since JUNE!

It's like the drawbridge just dropped heavily to the soggy ground and the thick veils of mist that had previously disoriented me suddenly spiraled away to reveal the chalice.

Thanks for the encouraging words on writers.
Good Luck, Sonia and all the others!

The best luck we writers need or can have is for others to get our work, read it, love it, and enthuse about it to others who haven't heard of us before.

I’ve discovered that some of the strongest (and continuous) support I have found is the support given to me by other writers. They are often busy with their own writing, yet they give their time. They share their references, knowledge, and advice (advice they often had learned from tough experience) and they generously help me without jealousy. I have been told by some writers that they have encountered jealousy from other writers. In my case, I've only met one writer who has acted jealous, just one.

Hello all, I'm a self published author and obsessive writer. Now if I could only attach 'successful' to that title, I'd be thrilled. Enough about me. There are some faces here I recognize and many I don't. Hello to everyone.

D.B.,
Might I just say that you are correct. I have yet to encounter another writer who behaves jealously. That might be because I am still unpublished, but I find myself so heartened by the support so freely given on this site.
It makes me happy.
I heart goodreads and everyone in it!
Tod,
Welcome to the string. Glad you like it. There are some pretty crazy ones out there that are also very entertaining! Thanks for the well-wishes and they are most happily returned!
Hi Anna! Welcome to the thread!

Hi everyone who's new. Enjoy!

Sonia & Writers,

I've posted this before, will again. Check out this list of resources. It contains submission opportunities for literary magazines and journals, print and online. If you learn about a resource I should add to the list just let me know.

http://www.astarrynightproductions.com/c...

DB

Hi Sonia and all,

Marc wrote: "The best luck we writers need or can have is for others to get our work, read it, love it, and enthuse about it to others who haven't heard of us before."

I so agree! There is nothing like it:) It doesn't matter whether you are self-published or not, what matters are the readers! That said, it is a pity self-publishing authors usually cannot afford editing services. If you ever decide to self-publish, I would recommend 'Self-editing for fiction writers'. A great resource for all writers and authors:)

Best, Wendy

I had mine edited. Paid 6 cents a word for it and got such a generic job it was pathetic. I was so hoping to be able to learn from whatever comments he made but he didn't make any. Just 'this way' or 'that way' - 'you choose'. That was a lot of help. He did find a couple outright errors though.

Anna wrote: "I had mine edited. Paid 6 cents a word for it and got such a generic job it was pathetic. I was so hoping to be able to learn from whatever comments he made but he didn't make any. Just 'this wa..."
Oh my. That's awful. I considered professional editing too, but even at 2 cents a word it would have been way above my budget (at 191.000 words...)
Luckily there are a lot of good books on self-editing, and there is even an online editing software service (http://www.autocrit.com/) I've only just started using it, so I can't say all that much about that one yet. The only problem for me now is finding a way to weed out those darned typos;)!

I have to say that my experience was really positive. I paid about 2 cents per word.

There was an editorial analysis; it determined a scale of where the current work was at and how much effort would be needed to polish it. I had an 8.5 - 9 score out of 10; that's what got me a lower price per word.

The editor not only corrected grammar mistakes but also found areas where cliches or overused words were inappropriate and changed them (with little notes for my review). The editor was also good enough to match my writing style and help with some of my flow issues.

I'd definitely use the service again. I feel it made my book as professional as possible. I'd also recommend that a dissinterested individual be a proofreader before going to publication (I don't think anyone is capable of catching everything).

Good luck, Tod

Wendy, I've already discovered autocrit but since I don't have PayPal yet I haven't purchased the service. I fully plan to though as the sample I did was truly impressive.

2 cents a word is far better than 6 cents a word, Tod, and it sounds like you got what I had hoped for. What were they called?

It was handled through the publisher at Wheatmark so I am not sure. Anna, I'll try to find my editorial analysis worksheet that highlighted my most common errors and give it to you.

Going back and changing those errors on my own and THEN submitting it for a copyedit probably saved me 2 cents per word.

Awesome. Appreciate it. My email is AnnaLWalls@gmail.com