Is a writer consider published if they published their work themselves?

Answer 1

Technically, yes ... but may I guess the meaning behind your question and add that it's very difficult to get self-published books reviewed in the orthodox book-reviewing press and therefore very difficult to get them placed in garden variety bookshops. This is one reason why 'vanity publishing,' where you pay to have a certain number of your books printed, is usually a rip-off; printing the book costs very little and the real work comes when you want to get the book sold through orthodox channels. Therefore vanity publishers don't subject your book to the kind of scrutiny that commercial publishers would; they make their money from you paying from your pocket rather than by means of the sales they make through their own efforts.

Answer 2

It depends, but if you're talking about vanity publishing, where you write a book and then pay a company to print it for you, the answer is NO.

To be considered seriously as a publishable author, your work needs to be edited by people trained in editing, publishing, style, etc. In other words, a form of peer review.
You've seen a good example of what happens when just anyone can post, or "publish" something on the Web. You get a lot of errors, omissions, ramblings, misspellings, poor writing in general, and other common mistakes of untrained and unreviewed writers.

So, self-publishing is not truly publishing unless you have had a review staff to ensure proper usage and style, and have enough resources to actually print a large run, say 50,000 or more copies.

One exception might be an author who is already well-known to the public, or in his field, who, after great success, breaks from his traditional publishing company to start one of his own. That would be taken seriously in the literary world.

Answer 3

Technically, yes. If it is not successful, most people don't mention these publications once they have a serious publishing house interested in their work. If it is successful, they will typically authorize the publisher of their later works to reprint it. Most self-published books, the real problem is the distribution. It rarely gets distributed beyond relatives and friends.

Answer 4

If it sold 4,000 copies, yes. If he gave copies to all 4 of his friends and his mother, and the other 995 of the press run of 1,000 are in his garage, no.

"Published" means an editor - one not related to you by blood or affection - thought your work was good enogh to pay money for. Lots of people write. Exactly half of them are below average. 5% of the above average ones (or less) sell stuff.

You could appear on a local access cable TV channel for 5 minutes at 2 am and claim you were a TV actor, but . . .

Answer 5

If some are sold I would say yes, why not. Although you can probably get just as many people to say no.