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Tip: Some people find it helpful if these suggestions are shown on this talk page, rather than on another page. To do this, just add ((User:LinkBot/suggestions/Author)) to this page. — LinkBot 10:38, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

It appears that this page claims that Bob and George had the first author character. This is a very common misconception. The first author character was in Neglected Mario Characters. I'm going to correct this. -Sprited Spheniscidae

The information contained on this page concerning the New Criticism is incorrect; New Criticism is actually quite the opposite of what is here presented, the Death of the Author is actually a similar view to many of the New Criticism.

It would be useful to further comment on authorship with regards to the use of pseudonyms. An important question in that field would be, how the adoption of a (non-narrator) persona by a writer affects the authorship of his/her text: Is a person writing once under his/her real name and once under an adopted name still the same author; or is it two different authors that are writing and just happen to spring from the same person?

The article's own definition of an author a writer of any written work. An author is a writer and a writer is an author. DenverCoder9 (talk) 23:06, 23 April 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

• Support per nom; both articles use the same definition. – Treetoes023 (talk) 03:01, 3 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  Oppose per BD2412's edit to lede. – Treetoes023 (talk) 03:54, 19 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

• Support The mere existence of this merger proposal proves that Wikipedia is a bureaucracy.

95.12.118.243 (talk) 01:17, 18 June 2023 (UTC) Reply[reply]

...and a Kafkaesque one. 95.12.118.243 (talk) 01:23, 18 June 2023 (UTC) Blocked IP vandal struck. BD2412 T 23:19, 20 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

• Oppose. "Author" is a legal term of art – copyright requires "authorship", not "writership". If any merge is considered, Writer should be merged to Author. BD2412 T 01:34, 18 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

  What is the point of lawyering? The simple common sense shows us they are the same thing. Everyday I lose further my faith in Wikipedia. 95.12.118.243 (talk) 01:42, 18 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

  I am teaching you that there are important differences between a "writer" and an "author". See Writer vs. Author: What’s the Difference?; Difference between a Writer and an Author; Writer V Author – What’s The Difference? BD2412 T 03:12, 18 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

  @BD2412 Please familiarize yourself with what Wikipedia is not 95.12.118.243 (talk) 06:40, 18 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

  @95.12.118.243: I was going to try to reason with you, but then I saw your recent unprovoked vandalism of User:ScottishFinnishRadish's talk page, and the block that resulted from that action. The block should have been substantially longer. BD2412 T 12:44, 18 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

  I looked at all three sources.

  • One says "The biggest distinction is that an author tends to be a full-time professional writer and often has multiple publications. The word writer encompasses a wider set of people, whether they publish books or blog posts, write professionally or scribble down musings." Also, "A writer can be anyone who writes anything. An author is a distinguished and professional writer who has published and sold their work." Also, "Authors are talented and dedicated writers." So this source says what the biggest distinction is, and then flatly contradicts itself, asserting that the distinction is something other than that, and then undermines itself by saying that it isn't either-or, and that authors are writers.
  • One says "If you’re a writer, you can write about other people’s thoughts and ideas. But an author has to come up with the idea, the plot and content. To my mind point 3 is the most important point – ‘you become an author when your books are published, but if your writings never publish, you remain a writer.’"
  • One says "The primary difference between a writer and an author has to do with whether or not your work is published."

  Putting it all together: The three sources agree on one thing, they reserve the term for a person whose own compositions have been published. Most of the rest of what they have to say is puffery. (By the way, none of them says it's a legal term of art.) None of this stands in the way of a merger. The article can be Writer, Author can redirect there, and Writer can recognize the term author and summarize what reliable sources say characterizes the subset of writers who are termed "authors". (None of the sources you provided is a reliable source. All of them are personal opinion pieces.) Beyond that, there's nothing that can be said about authors that isn't true about writers in general. No reason to have a separate article when 99% of what can be said about writers who are characterized as authors and writers who aren't is the same. Largoplazo (talk) 11:38, 18 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

  @Largoplazo: The Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, which is a bedrock reliable source, states that: An author in copyright law is the creator of original work. BD2412 T 12:46, 18 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

• Merge to Writer Authors write, and someone who writes is a writer, so it follows that even if not all writers are considered authors, all authors are writers. So 100% of what can be said about writers is true about authors. Therefore, Writer can be the sole article. It can include information that particularly pertains to writers who are considered authors, and then mention that writers to whom that particular information pertains are typically termed "authors". The article would need to cite reliable sources as to the distinction being made between authors and writers in general. Largoplazo (talk) 11:45, 18 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  • @Largoplazo: The article as written currently describes the legal significance of being an "author" of "literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, [or] certain other intellectual works". Are artists and musicians "writers"? BD2412 T 12:42, 18 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]
• @DenverCoder19 and Treetoes023: I have adjusted the lede to make clear that "author", in the legal sense discussed in this article, includes visual artists and composers of music. A painter may not be a "writer", but they are an "author" of the work for which they seek copyright protection. Perhaps the wiser course of action would be to move the content specifically relating to publishing to the Writer article. BD2412 T 12:57, 18 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  • @BD2412: Thank you, I'll withdraw my support. – Treetoes023 (talk) 03:46, 19 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

It has been proposed in this section that Author be renamed and moved to Authorship. A bot will list this discussion on requested moves' current discussions subpage within an hour of this tag being placed. The discussion may be closed 7 days after being opened, if consensus has been reached (see the closing instructions). Please base arguments on article title policy, and keep discussion succinct and civil. Please use ((subst:requested move)). Do not use ((requested move/dated)) directly. Links: current log • target log • direct move

Author → Authorship – Differentiate this article from Writer. Treetoes023 (talk) 04:04, 19 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

• Support. This will clear up any future confusion about the distinction between this and Writer. BD2412 T 23:16, 20 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]
• Oppose. This seems like a solution in search of a problem, considering all authors are writers, but not all writers are authors. Steel1943 (talk) 14:48, 21 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]
• Oppose Per Steel1943. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 20:14, 25 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]