As I look to the right side of my screen, there’s a large blue button with the word “publish” on it. (I use Wordpress) Technically, I “publish” things when I hit that button. But does clicking on that blue button make me a published author?
Over at FundsforWriters, I saw the following as part of one contest’s rules:
“You are not eligible to enter and will be disqualified if you are a professional writer, such as a novelist, magazine, blogger or newspaper writer who writes books or articles for pay, or you have authored a work of fiction that has been published or is about to be published in exchange for payment.“
So if you have a little blog and decide to put adsense on it, if even one of your readers clicks on an ad, you’re a paid blogger and ineligible for this contest.
Most of the writers I know keep their blogs updated for community purposes. They vent about character development and the difficulty of navigating the publishing industry. They don’t consider the blog to be a published work beyond any obvious copyright issues.
What do you think? Does having a blog constitute being “published” to the extent that it seems fair to bar a person with a blog from entering a contest?
There are profitable blogs in existence built by authors with massive followings. But those blogs are, for the most part, an exception to the rule. Is there a breaking point between dabbling in blogging and making it a profession? Is there a number of readers or profit line that makes a blogger a pro?
I’d like to know your thoughts.
photo: js
I write for a popular culture blog called Popdose. I certainly consider myself a professional writer. If all I had was my personal blog, I don’t think I would.
Precisely. So where’s the cutoff between pro and amateur? The cost of entry into “publishing” a blog is $0 but there are certainly costs associated with professional writing. How would a contest go about fairly judging between the two?
In this massive new media revolution that we’re all caught up in, I believe the concept of “published” will continue to become more and more nebulous. There are plenty of “published” authors who have audiences that are smaller than, say, some popular bloggers, or self-published writers.
Coming from a music background, there are likewise plenty of “professional” musicians who reach far fewer people than some passionate “amateurs” who give everything away via MP3 files and on YouTube. Same with online film, and other new media… heck, there are many fields in which these lines grow more and more blurry.
I think one way to look at the current line between “pro” and “non-pro” perhaps boils down to income, not skill or popularity. If you’re a “pro” then I think that means you derive a significant chunk of income from the activity. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re any good, of course.
So if you have a few ads on your blog and it covers your basic hosting and similar related things, I don’t think that counts as “pro” even though you may have a billion times more talent than a so-called “pro,” or even a bigger audience. If people pay you for your content and you are bringing in enough money to pay the mortgage (well, at least a car payment and some groceries), then you’re a “pro.” In other words… if you make a noticeable amount of your living at it, whatever that means.
But again, in this day and age, it has nothing to do with quality, relative merit or popularity. That’s just one way of looking at it.
Just my two cents.
Hi James!
That seems like a very fair assessment. I think the contest administrators would balk at the notion of determining what a “reasonable portion of one’s income” really is. It matters little in the case of that contest. I’m very interested in what it means for other writing gigs, resumes, and the ever-elusive “experience”.
Blogging of any kind has never seemed like “professional writing” to me, regardless of how much money they make through ads, etc. After struggling through five years of the publication process myself, blogging just seems too easy. I blog, but that’s not a profession for me. I can see how it would be for some lucky people, but even if it was my full-time job to blog, I wouldn’t consider myself a published author unless I had something published through an actual publication company.
This opinion is based more on personal opinion than any factual observations on blogging, because I admit the last time I dealt with the snarl of publication was a few years ago, and I’ve stayed away from writing since. All I do now is twitter and livejournal to keep up with friends.
While I do not think this is a simple question, a simple way to define published author is someone who is explicitly paid to write by another. If you blog and have ads on your blog you are not being paid to write. And trying to determine what amount of income you make to be considered a professional seems arbitrary to me.
Also, while I am paid to write things for clients it is for their internal use only. So I think another thing that distinguishes the category of published is that your writing is for public consumption.
I am left wondering if I write an e-book and self publish, yet people buy my book am I professional author? While I could say I got paid for what I wrote I am thinking no because I did not get paid to write it. Be interested to hear what others have to say about that.
One final thought — is what I am thinking about here distinguishing a published author or a professional writer? Are those the same thing or are they different?
I think it’s possible that the contest was hoping to avoid entries from people who receive money for the things they write. If that’s the case, then money given for writing in any form for any reason seems to be the guiding rule.
Obviously, I’m as unsure as you are. Here’s hoping a wise voice of reason comes along to guide us? =)
Here goes my 2 cents! I think blogging is an entirely different animal that being a published writer. The mere content of blogging is your view and/or opinions on any given subject matter important to you. It is a hobby in most cases and a way for an aspiring writer to give him/herself a voice. There may be alot of other people interested in what you have to say about said subjects but that does not mean you are a published writer. Blogging can be a vehicle by which people who follow your blog think you should be published. Blogging can even be a stepping stone to one day being published, but in ANY case you are not published. There is a very clear line between being a blogger writing a blog that is availiable to the public and being a published writer. Just because you have an ad on your blog that you may get paid for does not in any way mean you are a paid writer. You are a paid advertiser, again that is a whole different animal. Really the lines between a published writer and someone who writes a blog are very clear. The question is who is blurring them and why. If it is trying to “level the playing field” they just unleveled it!
Hi Robin,
I think a part of your view results from limited exposure to the variety and depth of blogs out there? Sure, many blogs roll as incessant personalized op-ed columns but there’s no rule that says a blog must be personal opinion.
But even if there were such a rule…that wouldn’t separate blogs from hardcopy published works. Most of the hardcopy books I read include some portion of the author’s opinion and view. It’d be strange to encounter a book that did NOT attempt to carry out an agenda of some sort.
I think there are a lot of people trying to blur the line between a growing movement and a struggling industry. I think it’s for the best.
Different agencies and organizations look at what makes a publisher or author differently. Nevada Revised Statutes (Nevada Law) states that to be a bonofide publisher/author covered under the blanket of rules, policy and laws that govern newspapers, magazines etc… all that is required by law is that, “One be PUBLISHED!”
But, professional… well, that’s another story. As a Nevada Press Association award winning photojournalist, I have been established as a “professional” whether I ever get paid a dime again or not.
Having been published 1,184 times in 80 mags and rags worldwide and having received compensation in the form of salaries, unit sales, paid by the column-inch, a value for my rendered work has been established, therefore I am viewed as a professional photographer/journalist by many agencies and venues.
But, having said that… Professional organizations such as Professional Photographers of America, American Society of Media Photographers, many news agencies, stock houses set a percentage of income derived from as the metre by which amateur and professional are measured.
For some if 71% of your income is generated by photography or writing, then you qualify as a “professional.” For others it is more or less depending on the demands of the company, their place on the mountain and how badly they want to weed out the riff raff.
If you write for blogs and do not derive an important part of your income from that writing, can you truly be considered a “professional” or are you just a writer who got paid?
To be a “professional”, generally it is understood that what you do is “your profession” which in all but the most abstractly misguided rationalizations means that you do this for a living.
I would think that would be the measure of the word “professional writer”… One who writes for a living.
I think it was Clemens that once said, though I could be wrong, Hemingway said something similar… “To be a writer all one has to do is… Write!”
But to be a “professional” requires a tad more, don’t you think? I mean the word “professional” denotes “profession” and “profession” denotes what one does for a living.
It seems the definition has already been established, but I guess that did not suit everyone, especially those whom want to appear as professional writers while driving a truck to pay the rent.
Did I just demean truck drivers? Nope! If you imagine that to be true, there are reading comprehension courses online.
So… we have these kind of discussions.
I would argue that unless a large portion of one’s income is produced by writing such blogs, etc… They should not be disqualified as professional writers from a contest.
They could write children stories for Children’s Weekly every week, their name a household word, every week they write several stories which are published for all to see, but are they a “professional?”
Nope! They’re a “VOLUNTEER!” Whom just happens to write a lot.
One of the ways organizations CULL THE HERD is to define and declare various stages of qualifiers.
Today in a growing number of venues and organizations, photographers are required to carry $2 million in liability insurance and list the venue on the insurance, now it would be easy to see this as protection from liability for the venue, but I have seen an undercurrent of reasoning.
They use this qualifier to eliminate the hord of semi-professionals who shoot on the weekends and show up in large numbers to cover an event. Now, there’s no need to offend anyone by suggesting they are less qualified than the shooter next to them, all the venue has to ask is, “Whom among you carry $2 million in insurance, come on in, all the others… Sorry!”
I am a photojournalist by profession so I mix and match comments about photograhy and writing.
Since one of the lessons in journalism is the importance of ARTWORK to illustrate your story, which gives it substantial more credibility, writing and photography go together like Espresso and Crema.
Bonofide? Say what? Sorry! Must have had U2 on my mind. Lol!
Definitely. I catch myself doing the same thing on occasion.
“”But to be a “professional” requires a tad more, don’t you think? I mean the word “professional” denotes “profession” and “profession” denotes what one does for a living.”"
Yes. Entirely. I think “amateurs” should be allowed to enter the contest. It would increase the quality of the contestant pool and possibly result in a much better product being released to the public. I think that’s a good thing for everybody.
Hey, Seth, I’ll bite, here’s a comment for your blog: If you can carry it around, it’s a publication, and if you wrote it, your published… my guess is that the blogger who considers himself ‘published’ doesn’t have a book in print.
Great concept, and a thought-provoker for sure, you do great work Seth…
-jef
While my personal blog is new and small, I also blog, write and publish a newsletter, and manage our social presence for my marketing/social media day job. I wouldn’t consider myself published but writing is part of my job so I’m getting paid for it. What would they think? You?
I think the contest would say you’re disqualified. They’re apparently looking for squeaky-clean new writers? Not sure how that works out in the end.
Personally, I think you’re solidly in the amateur status so a contest shouldn’t have a problem with you entering. That’s just me though and I don’t get to decide. (yet again)
Hey Seth!
There was a good debate about a similar subject on Nathan Bransford’s blog: http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2009/05/writing-as-identity.html
The gist of it is that many people who wouldn’t necessarily define themselves by their breadwinning professions might still identify as writers because writing is somehow perceived to be different from other pursuits (such as philately). Many of the commenters drew a distinction between being a “writer” and being a “published author,” the distinction being that a “published author” is someone whose writing has gone through the traditional channels of publication (agent–>editor–>press–>marketing dept.–>bookstore).
Of course, now that self-publishing or boutique publishing and even electronic publishing are being used for more than simple vanity projects, the distinction is a bit muddier. Someone like Wil Wheaton, who has gone through the traditional publishing route in the past but is now self-publishing, is an example of a professional writer/published author going this route..
And now that I’ve rambled a bit, I’ll get right to your original question.
If you have a blog with AdSense, and that’s the only revenue you receive from the blog, and you don’t happen to do a job where writing is the main activity of your work, you are not a professional writer. Here’s why: it’s completely possible to have a blog with no words, such as a photoblog. AdSense isn’t paying photobloggers to write. AdSense is paying photobloggers (and all bloggers, for that matter) to display their ads. You’re a professional sandwich board, minus the sore muscles and sunburn.
If, however, you blog for an organization, like Slate or the Huffington Post, or even for a small music blogzine or something like that…if you’re getting paid for your articles, you can make a much better argument for being a professional writer. They aren’t just asking you to fill some space for them…they’re legitimately buying your writing. I think that’s where the difference is.
I have a tougher time classifying individual bloggers who are writing and deriving lots of income from their blogs. I do think that in this question, as in the one about writer vs. author, there’s an element of having your writing recognized and affirmed by someone outside of yourself (or your mother/friends/s.o.) who is in a position to affirm with cash, if you know what I mean…which is why I find it difficult to classify this type of paid blogger. But in the peer-to-peer world in which we increasingly find ourselves, such an individual is certainly considered a professional (not to mention a model success story for a burgeoning mode of commerce). Ehh…there’s my two cents.
Beautifully stated…
hmm.
Okay. I get what you mean about the advertising. I hadn’t thought about it like that. Taking money to have your car lettered up with ads doesn’t make you a professional driver. It simply means you’re being paid to have ads on your car.
So if a blogger is a sandwich board but never sold any writing, that blogger should still be allowed to enter the writing contest, you think?
Yes, I definitely think so.
Here’s my thought … at least for today (could change later) … if you blog for $$$ you are a professional writer. It is no different then writing for all of those newspapers or magazines that are rapidly disappearing. A better criteria for a contest might be if are you earning enough money from writing to live above the poverty line.
That seems like a fair benchmark, actually. I think they’d get some very, very good entries with a rule like that! =)
hello Seth, interesting conversation. It seems most personal blogs are akin to journaling, and even if meant for the public, they are opinion, sentimentality or diatribe. (As is mine.)
‘Professional bloggers’ are those who are paid from another entity to contribute the blog, i.e. journalists or businesses who hire media specialists to promote the business. I agree with Melanie, in that these bloggers are legitimately being paid for their writing, and are published authors. Many probably have other outlets in publishing anyway.
I’m nearing sixty and am old enough to sneer at vanity publishing in all its current guises. SnapFish can bind a very nicely formatted hardback of poetry and artwork for $35, but I wouldn’t call the writer of it a ‘published author.’
I currently write book reviews in a specific niche for one website and one Canadian magazine, and I’m more and more often being approached with ‘free review copies’ of such things in my field. Some are quite well done, yet I turn down the offers and do not promote them in my market, because they are already oversold to their audience of family and friends, which is their true purpose.
The word ‘professional’ is a slippery one. Technically, as for Olympic Athletes, it involves accepting any financial compensation, no matter how small. Personally, I don’t see income from AdSense on a blog site elevating the writer to professional author status. When the day comes that some publisher approaches me with an offer for publication because they’ve admired my style of writing in a personal blog, and that offer leads to publication And sales, I’ll consider myself a blogger who is a published author!
I’ve come across this line of questioning myself.
My thinking is more along the lines of what the blog is used for: if I’m just recording a poem on my blog, just to put it out there, and not for serious “consumption” by the audience of the Eternal Internet, does that make it previously published?
My mind places my blog as equal to a personal journal on paper. If I wrote down a sonnet on an unmarked page in my paper journal and dated it, does that count as self-published?
I think not. I suppose that if one of those poems DOES get accepted by an actual publication, I’ll remove that poem from my blog and redirect readers to the publication…but in my mind, it wasn’t previously published in my online diary.
Thanks for the time!