Does author refer more to a writer of fiction than non-fiction?

[MNersanonymous]

Dh seems to think so, I disagree.

If you are a writer of non-fiction work is it misleading to say you are an author?

[theyoungvisiter]

No. And I speak as someone working at a publisher.

You can be an author of a novel, a non-fiction work, a paper, an article etc etc.

The only thing that author implies is that it is the work of one mind and is primarily the thoughts/opinions of that person.

You can't (for eg) be the author of a dictionary - in that case you are an editor.

[nickytwotimes]

I would use author for the writer of fiction or non-fiction.

[McDreamy]

I would agree with your DH with novelist but not author

[theyoungvisiter]

oh sorry and I should have added, author is usually taken to imply a publication.

So you probably wouldn't say you were the author of a post on mumnet or a blog. I don't think it would be incorrect exactly, but writer would be a more normal usage.

There are also technical meanings. In science for example the writer of a scientific paper is called an author, but there are several authors even if only one person actually wrote the piece. The first author is the person who wrote the paper and did the majority of the work, after them will be listed the other authors who are people who helped advised and contributed. The last author is the person who headed up the project and/or managed the lab or whatever.

But in that case of course the writer wouldn't describe themselves as an author, they would describe themselves as a scientist who just happened to be the first author of that particular paper.

And the author of a newspaper article isn't an author, it's a journalist.

To say you are an author as a profession implies books I think, but not necessarily fiction ones.

[theyoungvisiter]

deary me, don't I sound pompous in that last post? I got a bit carried away and earnest there for a mo...

[MNersanonymous]

I agree that if someone says "I am an author" it would refer to books rather than other written material.

I think dh must have confused novelist with author, which is utterly out of character as he is annoyingly clever.

Had a chuckle at the idea of us all authoring Mumsnet posts.

[MrsBadger]

computer programmers also be described as 'authoring code', but they are programmer or coders, not authors

[MsHighwater]

I would take "author" to mean more than just a book. A journal article (professional but not necessarily scientific), for example, or an opinion piece in a similar publication. A short story.

I would definitely use "author" to refer to the writer of either fiction or non-fiction.