Originally Posted by Pooka

Well, that was fun.

I just talked to a film Producer I know and asked him if he had seen this. He had not but he just blew it off as padding of a resume. He sees it all the time when someone is trying to land a role or sell a book or push a product.

He once hired a PR firm to flak for him and he was shocked to see how awesome he was. He reminded me that Bill O'Reilly used to claim he had won a Peabody Award or two when there was no truth to the story at all, and Bill finally backed down after Al Franken called him on it.

He also pointed out that authors usually don't write their own releases. The publisher does and the publisher wants to sell books. If they have to fudge the truth to make a few bucks then what's the harm? It's all show biz anyway.

He reminded me that in the 1880's the phrase 'Direct from their performance before the crowned heads of Europe' became popular. Since then actor's claims have just gotten wilder. Just recently some right wing author was called out for claiming he had been 'nominated' for two Pulitzer Prizes. The problem with this claim is that the only one who had nominated him had been himself when he filled out an application to be considered for the Prize. But all in all authors do this sort of thing all the time.

Like Roger Rabbit once said when asked if he could do something. "Only when it was funny." Publishers do this only when it will help them sell books.

So..... Business as usual.