Is it right to call ourselves online authors if we are bloggers?

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   sweetpikezposted 9 years ago

   This is another thing that makes me confused these days. I feel hesitant to call myself as an "author" though HP says I am an author as indicated on my profile.  For me, being an author needs something more than I can't explain. Maybe, someone who published a book.

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      PinoyMomposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      We may call ourselves as online publishers or online writers.  If you are familiar with Bubblews, their members are called bloggers.

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      CuAllaidhposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The word author simply means that you have written something, a book, a report, a letter, the title does not imply anything beyond that. Now if you say professional author that's a different matter, or published author, again a whole different ball game.

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         psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Just like the word doctor just means you have one of several postgraduate qualifications.  But if I go around in the general public saying I (with PhD in a non-medical field) am "a doctor" most people will misunderstand.

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            relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Where I live, lots of non-medical doctors use their title because that's how this city is.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      If you feel uncomfortable with the word author, just call yourself a writer.  You're not a blogger if you're writing on Hubpages because Hubpages is not a blog.

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   amiebutchkoposted 9 years ago

   I think you can call yourself an online author if you are a blogger.  You are what you say you are with writing.  And if you blog, even if you just started, yes, call yourself a blogger and a writer and be one.  You have to believe in yourself to be good!  An authoritative voice is important.

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   relacheposted 9 years ago

   Anyone who authors something may call themselves an author.
   
   What you actually seem concerned with is the authority that can sometimes come with having that achievement.  Recognition and sales can also be tied to perceptions of authority around writing.  Sometimes it comes from who choose to publish you, such as a prestigious magazine or journal.
   
   You are correct in that calling yourself an author after publishing on HubPages comes with zero authority.  Especially when you consider the wide range of quality that can be found here.

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   Krysantheposted 9 years ago

   By definition an author is "a writer of a book, article, or report."  So yep, you're an author.

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      wildernessposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Does a report of what you had for breakfast and where you bought the latte count? 

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   Heating and ACposted 9 years ago

   If you write, you are an author. The attack on authoring originated for one reason: Big business controls newspapers, radio, and television. By this control, they control information, and thereby they control what people believe and think, and even how they will interpret new information. When individuals began to write online - people with firsthand knowledge, not a suit or skirt reading a teleprompter- that absolute thought control suffered a severe blow. Some power holders are on record as saying, "The Internet should have never been allowed to happen." Even that statement exposes their thinking: They believe they are the ones who decide how the world develops- and it should remain strictly under their control. They call this "the hidden hand." Members of this group had stuck their hand inside their jacket for centuries of paintings and photos. This signals to their comrades, "I am also working the secret agenda."

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   psycheskinnerposted 9 years ago

   As per dictionary you can use the word author.  But most normal people think that means you write books -- so it is not a term I would actually use in conversation when referring to content writing.

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   lisavollrathposted 9 years ago

   I have an Amazon author page, and I still don't call myself an author! I'm a writer, so that's how I refer to myself.

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   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   When asked, my reply is simply that I write articles online for extra income.

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   Dressage Husbandposted 9 years ago

   I am of the same view as most here that is technically we are authors. However if asked I would say that I write on-line articles in the hope of supplementing my income.
   
   Sometimes I feel like a real author and sometimes not, but I never present myself as one. I would probably not do that unless a publishing company paid me to present myself as such, even then I might feel a little bit fraudulent!

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    Kathleen Cochranposted 9 years ago

    A blogger writes:  I got up this morning and made coffee.
    
    A writer writes:  Snow fell while I slept last night.  I awoke to the sound of the plows making it possible for all the worker bees to find their way out of their mortgaged hives.  The only thing that could lure me away from the warmth of my blankets was the smell of the coffee I'd set up with the timer at midnight, before succumbing to the dreams that awaited me after the lights went out.
    
    Here on HP you don't have to write poetry every day, but you do have to write about a topic of some kind.  If you want to write a blog, HP is not the right tool for you.

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       psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       And an author... auths?

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    Nell Roseposted 9 years ago

    I agree with Kathleen, I never say I write a blog, as far as hubpages is concerned its an article site. So yes writer or author is okay.

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    Phyllis Doyleposted 9 years ago

    I agree with Kathleen  and Nell. I never refer to myself as a blogger in reference to HubPages - I am a writer / author.

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    FatFreddysCatposted 9 years ago

    I just refer to myself as a wanna-be writer...it saves everyone else the trouble.

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    Mark Ewbieposted 9 years ago

    After about a year on HP when I was completely up myself with my amusing little pieces of non traffic fluff I started to tentatively think of myself as a writer.
    
    That was a big mistake.
    
    A couple of years later I realised what I should have been aiming for was content or article writer - but it was too late.
    
    Now I call myself a failed artist.

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       Dressage Husbandposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Hardly failed we all love you!

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          Mark Ewbieposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Oh well thanks.  I wasn't grubbing for votes by the way   Not till the next award thing comes along.

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       Kathleen Cochranposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       There is nothing "failed" about your work here on HP.  Looking forward to whatever is next.

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    moonfrothposted 9 years ago

    I would suggest the following:
    1.  Merely responding on a blog, writing comments on host sites like HP or Linkedin or Bubblews does nor qualify a person to say anything about their 'writing'
    2.  Minimum requirements for the term 'writer' should be something you've written that has a purpose, and a beginning, middle, and end--a short story, poems, an article--and that you have 'published, minimally, online
    3.The term Author is best reserved for a person who has had a short story, article etc. published by a press OTHER THAN online.  An independent person had to read your work and make  a decision to publish it.
    4.Poets can call themselves "published poet" when their  work  has been accepted for publication OFFline.

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    ironangel89posted 9 years ago

    I always felt like authors were people who wrote books, writers could be a larger umbrella for authors, newspaper writers, and bloggers like ourselves. That's always been my outlook but I may be wrong.

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    reasonablerobbyposted 9 years ago

    An author is an originator. Someone who creates a context or story. In sociology academic Karl Weick talks about how we 'author' the social world. In other words we create our social circumstances. In any case I guess your curiosity in the term is because it is (like many words) open to interpretation. In the field of discourse analysis words like this are called 'empty signifiers'. Signifier because the word refers to something and empty because we can give any meaning. Therefore the term 'author' might have special connotations for someone who will only use it for novel writing for example or someone else might use it refer to anyone such as a hubpages content creator, blogger etc.

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    sweetpikezposted 9 years ago

    Hello, guys!
    
    I am overwhelmed of the warm response you have given on my post. I have a lot of input to synthesize.
    
    For me, "titles" are hard earned. That is why, I want to call myself the right way (Not too much or little).
    
    With all your replies, I can confidently and fairly say who I am online.
    
    A big gratitude to all of you.
    
    Happy holidays,
    
    Sweetpikez

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