Another Wanderingscribe Sicko-Fant Article

Whilst it has been a little quite on the news front regarding the most brilliant author in the entire universe (only kidding folks), it appears that news of Anya Peters exploits has reached a columnist from The Independant newspaper.

One would expect a high level of journalism from such an esteemed paper and so it was that I settled down with a cappuccino (the drinkable kind, not the monkey) and a HobNob to read up on what she has been up to lately.

Sadly though, it quickly became apparent that here was an article that had been cobbled together from a press release of Harper Collins and anybody even vaguely familiar with the Anya Peters Con story could be forgiven for thinking that the "journalist" had owed someone a favour and was advertising the forthcoming book under the guise of "News".

Not very up to date news though as it turns out.

Launching into his article by "bigging up" the "surprisingly high profile in our culture of Vehicle-dwellers" (he can actually remember three, not what I'd call high profile) he then waxes lyrical from his Harper Collins Press release, mixing up a few phrases here and there and touting them as new facts

For Example:
Did you know that WS has become a bit of a small celebrity in the blogosphere over the last few weeks?
WS has had more than 200,000 readers
There is talk now of a future bestseller.
A film deal would seem to be only a matter of time.
WS has revealed her real name, Anya Peters.

Sacre Bleu !!
The Independent readers would probably be chomping at the bit to rush out and buy this forthcoming blockbuster (or "bestseller" as it's optimistically described) when faced with all these “facts” without bothering to look at some of the actual facts.

Did you know that WS has become a bit of a small celebrity in the blogosphere over the last few weeks?
Really?
What has she done in the last few weeks?
Bugger all actually.
Somehow I think that this was actually news in about April 2006 but "Hey!", you can't blame Terence Blacker for not getting off his arse and actually checking the facts out.
Not when a press release is so much easier to regurgitate for his column, after all, who’s gonna be checking …….

WS has had more than 200,000 readers
Oh dear.
The BBC article that mentioned her story had over 200,000 hits, not her site but it's somehow spooky that this number is being bandied about again (did someone say "press release"?).
It may well be that she has had more than 200,000 hits but that does not equate to 200,000 readers.
Numbers in this instance mean nothing at all really as this very own (homage) site has had in excess of 187,000 hits.
You could break the number down into unique page hits, unique visitors vs returning visitors and pretty much mangle the stats to say what you want but this enigmatic figure of 200,000 keeps being quoted as "proof" of something.

There is talk now of a future bestseller.
Who's talking?
Her agent?, That’s her job.
The publishers? That’s their job.
The press release? That’s its job.

There's talk of my own blog being made into a future bestseller.
Where's the talk? Right here. See!
What a meaningless phrase, particularly as the pre-sale order price is already being reduced by the likes of Amazon and Waterstones.

A film deal would seem to be only a matter of time.
First I've heard of it and I pride myself on keeping up to date on all things "Wanderingscribey".
I rather suspect that this is the only original sentence added to Terence's article but if someone has actual proof of this then I'd be glad to be proven wrong.
Please note the word "proof".

WS has revealed her real name, Anya Peters.
Wrong again, Terence. This has been revealed to be her pen-name.
At this rate, journalists will be getting a bad name for not checking the most basic of facts.

It wasn't all doom and gloom however as Terence knocks out a few phrases to bring a smile to the lips of those of us who have been following Anya's con for a while.
" the prose reveals distinct signs of literary knowingness" = She's been to a library and knows what books look like.

"Wandering Scribe ....a life of scrounging and desperation" = Desperate to get a book deal

Terence ends his article by musing that "Weblogs may have a profound influence on what and how we read and write in the future."

True mate.
You should read more of them and less of the Press Releases.................