Apples & Bananas: The Shocking Development that They Are Not the Same Thing

WARNING: What follows is a caps filled rant about semantics and precision of language. Yes, I am a word nerd. And these things make me crazy.

Everyone and their brother seem to be bragging about how awesome self-publishing is lately. And that's fabulous! Go on with your bad selves! Put the book that's been languishing away up for public consumption and enjoy the fruits of your labor! But could you please admit that when you are doing this you have a self-published ebook, rather than an epublished one?

I realize that the terms do not seem so very different, but for those of us who have been in epublishing a few years (and that is OUR FREAKING TERM AND THE ONLY ONE WE HAVE SO YOU STAY AWAY FROM IT YOU GRUBBY SELF-PUBS!) the confusion is a bit vexing.

The definitions according to Vivi:

Epublished: You have a contract with an electronic/digital-first publisher (Samhain, Ellora's Cave, Siren, etc.). The publisher arranged editorial, cover art, and distribution. They released your book and your royalties check comes from the publisher.

Self-published: You formatted your book yourself, providing your own cover art and editorial, and arranged distribution directly with Amazon, B&N and/or Smashwords. You released your book and your income is received directly from the distributor/retailer.

I'm not saying that one is better than the other. I am simply saying THESE TERMS ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE. And the more people are talking about self-publishing ("indie") versus traditional ("legacy" - where the hell did THAT term come from?) publishing, the more people seem to feel like they can just say epublishing instead of self-publishing. Which would be totally fine if there weren't ALREADY a publication system set up that is called epublishing and is quite different in pros and cons from self-publishing.

Seriously people, what is with the commandeering of terms when you already have a perfectly good one in "self-pub" <--- because THAT is exactly what it IS, you published it yourSELF. "Self-pub" may not sound glamorous, but it's accurate. Epublishing might also have been a lovely term to use, if not for the fact that it's ALREADY IN USE.

What about "digital", you may ask? Well, digital is also misleading because it can refer to ebooks that are released by traditional pubs alongside print releases, by epublishers, or by self-pubs. For clarity of language, you are just going to have to own the fact that self-publication is what you are doing.

It feels like someone wanting to rename Apples "Bananas" because it sounds yummier. As a banana enthusiast, I'd be vexed. And so here I am, vexed. (And wow, I could really go for a banana right about now. Maybe with some chocolate. Mmmm, chocolate... Have you ever had a frozen banana dipped in chocolate? Soooo gooooood. Chocolately banana crystals... Ahem.)

So as you are touting this new fangled self-publishing awesomesauce, I wish you luck, but can we have a little precision in language? PLEASE. We're writers, for crying out loud. Use the right word.

END RANT. Thank you.