The things authors will do for a plug

The season of rushing around trying to get publicity for Zuzu's Petals is here. Authors have to try to get in the papers or on the radio to publicise their new book. If you can't get in with an article specifically about you and your book, then you try to sneak in some other way, while insisting you will still get a plug for the book.

Last month I was interviewed and photographed by a glossy women's magazine that was doing a feature on the craft revival. They were interested in my patchwork quilting, so the focus of the piece was quilting, which is fine. The photograph is pretty and my son says they have photoshopped it so my teeth look whiter and my eyes are bright. That's a first! They also remembered to mention Zuzu's Petals.

But... The piece takes a few random facts I told them, and woven them into a story the editor already had in her mind. They quote me as saying that I started quilting as a result of a fire and then they quote me as saying "The fire also inspired me to start writing my novel Zuzu's Petals..." (not true) "But my real passion is quiltmaking." (Also not true.) It sounds as though I dashed off the novel in a spare afternoon, just to fill in the time while I was waiting for my sewing machine to be serviced.

Oh well, the book is mentioned, and they are the first publication to ever photoshop me so I look better than I do in real life. Top marks for image.

p.s. email me if you want to know the name of the magazine.