What education and training is needed to become an author?

It really depends on how you use your skill. You don't really need a formal education in order to become a writer! You can get your education and training by reading and practicing.

To get a better idea of just some of the opportunities in writing, try reading the article links.

If you went with a college degree, you would choose literature and creative writing as a stepping stone to the type of writing you want to do.

As in anything, you need to be fluent in the tools that you use (grammar and language), even though most writing goes through an editing process before being published.

A good book to read is "On Writing" by Stephen King. It gives one some insights into one writers life is like as well as being an example of wonderful writing.