A lot of people use these words interchangeably – ‘author’ and ‘writer’. But there is a major difference between author and writer. This isn’t a difference in quality of writing, or even in the nature of the material. This is a logistical difference – authors are published writers, while writers are yet to find their big break in the literary world. Writers may write for a variety of purposes – to satisfy their inner being, to express themselves, for someone else, on someone else’s behalf etc. But for an author’s work, only an author can take credit.
Now this one difference that separates an author from a writer – publishing – what exactly is it? Basically, it means making a writer’s writing available in the public domain for everyone to read, so that the writer can earn accolades and royalties out of it. Authors go about this in various ways. The traditional way is to publish a book via a publishing house.