I’m often fascinated by the wide range of what a particular word means to different people, while amazed at the expectation people have that they all share the exact same understanding of that word. ‘Feminism’, ‘capitalism’, and ‘retirement’ have vastly different meanings to just about everyone, but somehow we all think there’s a standard, absolute meaning. Most debates people have about these things are just arguments about what the words mean. For quite a while, I thought about the difference between being a writer and an author, and in the end decided it isn’t important (some prigs might insist that an author is a profession, while writer includes professionals and amateurs – anyone who writes).
Being ‘published’ is similarly an interesting concept. At it’s heart, I feel like publishing means releasing work into the public. If it’s in your desk drawer and private, it’s unpublished. If you’ve let your friends look at it, it’s unpublished. If it’s available to strangers, it’s published. From this perspective, a writer becomes ‘published’ as soon as they release something to the public. Bloggers are all “published writers”. If they’ve monetized their writing in *ANY* way (such as having ads on their blog), they’re now ‘published authors.’ Being paid makes them a professional.
MANY people would take exception to this.
I occasionally see a writer proudly announce that “on <such and such a date> I become a published author!” I never rain on their parade or pooh-pooh them, but I’m also unsure what they mean.
Some traditionalists would insist that being published means that you’re being paid by a traditional publisher. Super sticklers might insist that it means you’re earning a full time salary from a traditional publisher. Others with a very relaxed view might interpret the above statement as just a writer who is excited to release their work to the public for the first time.
Ultimately, I don’t think any of this matters very much. The people who have strong feelings about this and want to police how others express themselves are the type of people I try to avoid. However, I do feel like it’s worthwhile to be clear in what we’re expressing.
I’ve been reluctant to use the term “published” for myself, just because I don’t want people to feel I’m trying to imply I’m working with a traditional publisher when I’m not. I don’t think traditional publishing is better than self-publishing, but I know some people do and I don’t want them thinking I’m being misleading.
One solution would be to always clarify which publishing a writer is doing. Always specify ‘self-published’ or ‘traditionally-published.’ This will always have the ambiguity of people who don’t clarify what they’re doing (which is fine at the end of the day). To a degree there’s an apologetic element to the terms self-publishing and indie-publishing that I don’t agree with. Honestly, I think indie-publishing is better than traditional publishing for almost everyone (established mega-authors like Stephen King are the small exception). I believe indie-publishing is the future of publishing.
Words Have Meaning
I’ve found the debate about whether consuming audiobooks is ‘reading’ to be interesting. People on the side of wanting to call it reading don’t want people who consume audiobooks to feel self-conscious about it. If someone is consuming audiobooks because they’re dyslexic or otherwise have trouble reading books the traditional way, I’m deeply sympathetic and happy that a better options is available to them. I don’t have any interest in shaming them for how they’re consuming the book.
On the other hand, most people I’ve talked to who object to this aren’t hostile to weak readers. They’re just indignant when words are used improperly. If people started saying “I walked to the store” when they drove there, these people would object. There already has been a trend towards collapsing the verbs borrow and loan interchangeably (e.g. “I need someone to borrow me $50 until Friday” or “I need to loan some money to pay my rent”), which grates on my nerves every time I see it.
I think the solution to this is to move to a more encompassing term beyond reading. Perhaps ‘consuming’. So people could consume a book either by reading or listening to it. ‘Partner’ has been used similarly as a term to refer to a wider range of romantic partnerships, which include the traditional terms of husband and wife.
A Humble Proposal
Rather than ‘published’, in the future I’m thinking about using the term ‘released.’ Published does seem to imply some sort of publisher. If I generate a eBook and send it directly to a reader, I don’t see how any sort of publishing took place.
I’m not insisting on this for anyone else, it just seems to be a clearer way to express myself.
Book
I released a book on Amazon expanding this post with far more details about every step in the process. If you enjoyed this post, I think you’d dig it.
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