An author is an author.

isn't a separate "thing" in and of itself that has magically appeared as its own entity; rather, it's an entity that's being born from the economy - the infrastructure - that already exists. The publishing landscape is quickly changing because so many new possibilities continue to emerge - as the worlds of "traditional" and "independent" continue to dance with one another and give rise to new and interesting ways of publishing; that is, to write and share one's words. And so, an author is an author, no matter ‌how one has published their words. Just like a writer is a writer. By way of an explanation... If you write things, you are a writer. If you've written words and have crafted them into a book, whether that's a digital book or a physical book or an audiobook, you are an author. Who am I to tell you how long or short that book needs to be? Or how many words or pages it needs to be? One doesn't need permission to be a writer or an author, from anyone or anywhere. One simply need to write words.