›
Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime

Be careful what you wish for!

montholonmontholon
edited August 2015 in Writing
All publicity is good publicity, right? Well, no. Not always. A certain features editor who requested an advance copy of my new novel promised to send me some questions about it, instead of which he jumped straight in and wrote that the author (yours truly) had been pining over a lost love since her teens. Fair enough, he apologised when I contacted him about it and has modified the entry on the publication's website, but thousands of copies of the print version are in circulation and can't be recalled. So far, my husband hasn't seen one, but his reaction if he does won't be pretty!

Comments

  • heatherheather
    Did he just make that up?
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    That's not good.
  • Phots MollPhots Moll
    Maybe you should tell your husband the editor messed up and let him see the corrected version first? If he was to read the wrong one presumably he'd realise you were likely to be aware of it and as you hadn't said anything to assume it based on information you'd supplied?
  • montholonmontholon
    It all sprang from his knowing that the novel was inspired by a strange episode in my life while I was still at school and he hadn't cottoned on to the fact that it had been heavily FICTIONALISED. I've kept a printed copy of our subsequent email exchange to show to Mr Montholon, should the necessity arise. Until then, I'm letting sleeping dogs lie.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Misrepresentation? If he printed an apology it would only make it worse.
    What a shame this is taking the shine off things for you just when you should be most excited.
    Lesson: never tell a journalist anything you don't want to see in print. (I'm excluding the honourable Webbo from that sweeping statement, obviously.)
  • CarolCarol
    Best to tell your OH that the editor made a complete pigs-ear of it, he jumped to conclusions etc.
  • Phots MollPhots Moll
    It's amazing how often people do jump to conclusions and how many people you'd assume would know better don't understand that fiction can mean it's all made up.

    For a long time my writing group thought I was a recovering alcoholic as I wrote a first person piece about one and never drank alcohol during meetings (they used to be held in a social club and people often bought a drink)

    I didn't realise they thought that until I had a glass of wine at the Christmas party and they all tried to stop me.
  • LizLiz
    Oh, M, what a pain. What a cheek! Let's hope he's learned a lesson as well.

    I went from feeling outraged about you to giggling when I read PM's tale.
  • heatherheather
    A writer I know had an article about her new book in a weekly magazine. There was a lot in it that I knew to be untrue and I was outraged on her behalf that the magazine had printed such rubbish. I then found out that it was deliberate on the part of her publisher and she was well aware of what was going to be printed as it would be better for sales. I am probably very naïve but I was rather disappointed by that.

    Not really relevant to montholon's point, but just another case of not believing all that you read.
  • C2C2
    It only takes one individual to set a seed and those who want to think the worse, will.
    I'm sorry to read about this M. Its a lovely novel, and I'm sure Mr M will understand.
  • KayessKayess
    It might be better to tell your other half, in case someone else reads it and asks him about it, that way he can have an answer ready.
Sign In or Register to comment.