Thanks for this eye opening post... I already choose to self publish (when I get good enough) rather than get a publisher BUT I thought getting a publisher was less hassle for the authors.

Meaningful writing needs readers.
And there are a lot more writers than readers these days. (I was only half-kidding about this yesterday morning.)

I agree... While I read more than I write, I don't read other people's fiction as much as I write them (Though I read classics which I think are better.)

What do you think? Are you an author?

Sadly not yet, for now I'm just a hobbyist writer. But I try to be better writer/author with many published works in the future.