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Is there a difference between 作{さっ}家{か} and 作{さく}者{しゃ}, both meaning author?

I've also found 著{ちょ}者{しゃ}, but this one the dictionary says usually refers
specifically to an author of a specific book.

Do 作家 and 作者 refer to different types of authors/creators?  
Or are they used interchangeably?
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word-choice nuances
What's the difference between 作家 and 作者?
A 作家 is somebody who creates 作品 for a living, while 作者 is more tied to
specific works.

[作者](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E4%BD%9C%E8%80%85/): 'Somebody who has
created a work, especially the creator of a work of art.'

[作家](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E4%BD%9C%E5%AE%B6/#jn-88247):
'Somebody who produces works of art, or does so as an occupation, especially a
novelist.'

Obviously there's a little overlap but generally, 'Jane Austen is the author
of Pride and Prejudice' is 作者, while 'Natsume Souseki is a famous Japanese
author' is 作家.

(Little note that might make things clearer: '[company] is the author of this
software for purposes of copyright' in a video game's credits is 作者.)
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Supplementing Angelos's answer, 著者 is roughly the non-fiction counterpart of
作者. It usually refers to _the_ author of a specific book, article etc.

By examples:

  * 小説の著者 is odd / 小説の作者 is natural / 小説の作家 is odd
  * 論文の著者 is natural / 論文の作者 is odd / 論文の作家 is odd
  * 作者の生活 would mean some particular writer's life / 作家の生活 would mean life of people whose profession is writing (although it of course depends on contexts)

* * *

There is also 筆者{ひっしゃ}, which is used like a pronoun in the passage. It can be
_I_ or _s/he_. For example, 筆者の考えでは means _in my opinion_ or _in her/his
opinion_ just like English _in the author's opinion_.
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作家 refers to someone writes/draws for a living, or someone who has produced
works consistently, has many genre-related compounds: 短編作家 (writer of short
stories), SF作家 (scifi writer), etc.

作者 is used more commonly in relation to a specific work, than a genre or a
career. 短編作者 and SF作者 are less idiomatic, but Xの作者 is common where X is the
title of a work.

著者 is usually the creator of a written work. 作者 and 作家 might be typically
writers, but they can also be painters, sculptors, etc.
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