What Does Published Mean?

I look at the list of places where my short stories and articles have appeared and I am at a loss for whether I can be considered a ‘published’ writer. I have appeared in collections and anthologies, but one was the result of a local competition and others have been due to the university I attend, so do they count? I have had stories posted online on short-lists and as winning pieces for competitions and awards, but is having my story on a website considered ‘publication’? In that case, what’s to stop me calling myself published because I have my own website and have posted my stories here?

There doesn’t appear to be a clear rule stating the criteria a person must meet before they can call themselves a ‘published writer’ rather than simply a ‘writer’, but there are several factors that I personally consider when I think about publication: do I know the person who has published me, is my work appearing beside that of other published writers, am I in a hardcopy publication or ezine, and was the publication paid?

I struggle to consider myself published if my work has been accepted by a friend or somebody I knew prior to submitting my work to them. I love having my work accepted on the blogs and websites of people I know, as it helps them find content while also helping me find exposure, but I don’t regard myself as ‘published’ as a result of these experiences.

Seeing my work alongside the pieces of others helps to create a distinction between being published or simply having appeared on a blog or website—such as being included in a short-list, which is an excellent achievement without necessarily being a ‘publication’. This can result in more unclear circumstances, however; if somebody you don’t know has accepted your work and deemed it impressive enough to put it on their website, does this count as publication? For me, the jury is still out.

With hardcopy publications, I find this is easier. Once I see myself in a physical book alongside other writers, I feel legitimised. This is one of the reasons why I will never replace my hardcopy collection with ebooks—I find reading a digital copy of something that has my name in it is never as validating as seeing my name in print. However, by this logic, the collection I was printed in as part of that local competition or the anthologies my university has printed me in would count as me being officially ‘published’, and I’m still not sure I believe that.

One of the easiest ways I think somebody can consider themselves published is if they are paid for their work, but I also don’t think this is necessary. I would happily be accepted in a publication without being paid—especially at this point in my career—because I enjoy supporting publications when I agree with their ethos and the exposure I gain from this is almost always positive. I am going to be in two publications next year—one hardcopy magazine and one ebook—but while I consider these the most legitimate publication experiences I have had thus far, they involve no or minimal pay for my writing. Does this mean I still can’t consider myself ‘published’ after these are released?

I don’t think I will ever truly think of myself as a published writer until I am holding a hardcopy novel with my name on it. But even that comes with problems these days with so many self-publication routes available to us. Am I considered a published writer simply because I finished a novel-length piece and printed a hardcopy proof for my bookshelf? Or do I first need to make that novel available on Amazon? Do I need to sell at least one copy first? Is one copy enough, or do I need to sell ten? Twenty? One hundred? Is there a magic number? Does it only count if my friends or family didn’t buy any of those?

This world we live in provides writers with more opportunities than ever before to network and publish in whatever way suits them best, but in doing so it muddies the waters regarding what being ‘published’ really means. At the end of the day, I suppose it doesn’t matter, so long as we are writing for ourselves instead of the ‘published writer’ status. And perhaps one day making enough money from our maybe-publications to support ourselves so that writing can stop being our late night compulsion and can instead become our day job.