Welcome to Gaia! ::

Your belief on that would be incorrect.
One is Wiccan through initiation, becoming a priest/ess of the Lord and Lady of the Isles, and learning the Mysteries. Without initiation, being a priest/ess of the L&L of the Isles, or learning the Mysteries of Wicca, one is not Wiccan.
And since Wicca is orthopraxic (based on correct practice), if one is not adhering to the correct ritual structure, the ritual is being done "wrong" and is thus not Wiccan.

Erm...did you not read any of the discussion about how self-initiation is impossible?
Initiation is performing rites that allow a person to be accepted into a group. If you are doing it yourself, then there is no group to be accepted into and is thus not an initiation.
A dedication to your gods is fine and well, but it is not an initiation.

It has been pointed out that "believing" you are Wiccan does not make one a Wiccan. Wicca has very specific guidelines and requirements. If you don't meet these then you're not Wiccan. It doesn't mean your practice is wrong or invalid; it just simply means it is not Wiccan 3nodding .

One last thing I am going to say, and then I am locking this for everyone's sanity. xd

It is correct to say misappropriation in relation to Wicca. The books that were originally published were to be used as Outer Court guides (and were not meant for the general public), while one was waiting to find a coven so that they could be properly initiated. They were not intended to be separate Traditions on their own, and in several cases I have heard mentioned that there was some form of "outer court initiation" given to even have access to some of them.

Ed Fitch in particular, gave his Outer Court materials to any HP/HPS who wanted to use them (with no copyright restrictions) and in turn many of the books that ended up being published early on were based on his materials. These materials were never meant to replace coven initiation and coven training, but many people who couldn't find covens near them, or who found the training to long/difficult, weren't found to be a proper person, etc... decided to use them to do just that. They formed their own covens and used that material to train others and/or simply decided to train themselves and practice solitary. Fitch was a Wiccan Elder - that people were using his material to learn from did not make them Wiccan (since they were still lacking the core mysteries), but they choose to claim that title anyways (misappropriating it) - even though they had not actually earned it through proper initiation. Which leads us to where we are today... gonk