"How much did you pay to be published?" (Err...nothing, they pay me.)
"Which bookshop can we get your book from?" (All of them? It's on Nielsen.)
I was rather taken aback, but it does bring home how flexible the definition of published is. Unfortunately the reaction of local press to local author can be understandable sceptism - after all is it more likely someone in their area sold a manuscript or that they vanity-published?
It also indicates the number of enquiries the press get from "local authors" who either live a few hundred miles away or have a book that for various reasons the press may not want to cover (quality, subject, editing etc.). Unfortunately this adds an extra hurdle for authors, since they have to make sure that you and they have the same definition of published and distribution at the start of the discussion - and then that you actually have something they might be interested in.
Once we got over that, we had a nice chat and luckily they loved the book. I still don't think the journalist believes me about the book being in Waterstones though.
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