A self-published poet
is not the same
as a published poet.
A self-published poet says
"I'm pretty good!
I'll put this into the world."
A published poet
has someone else say,
"You are outstanding.
I want to publish you."
Otherwise, you should say
I am a self-published poet.
One is not equal to the other.
Why important to understand, because it is considered very unprofessional to claim to be a published poet when you have put your poems out, yourself. If you want to be taken seriously, don't make a false claim. By the way each time we put a poem on Hello Poetry we are SELF-PUBLISHING. If you are a published Poet you will have an ISBN number. I have only been "published" once, ISBN 1-894241-03-7. I have been self-published many times over the years.