After Oprah, securing an appearance on C-SPAN's BookTV may be an author's most coveted placement. C-SPAN is a prestige network, and generally the people who watch seem "plugged in" to current affairs and the political discourse of the day. Book publishers usually report a noticeable uptick in sales after one of their authors appears on the show. I was amazed when my publicist called to let me know BookTV would be covering a stop on my promotional tour, a reading scheduled for Great Good Books in Oakland, California. Then - I forgot all about it.

My schedule was busy, I was fielding dozens of requests from radio shows, and I was tired. An East Coast girl, I generally suffer terrible jet lag when I head west. In fact, it usually takes me a week of restless nights to make up the three-hour time difference between Washington, D.C. where I live, and California. By the time I got to Great Good Books, I felt as foggy as San Francisco Bay.

The fog turned to shock as soon as I spotted the TV camera crew. "What's going on?" I asked the bookstore owner. "Didn't your publicist tell you?" she answered, eyebrows arched. "C-SPAN is taping your reading."

I groaned. In the hustle and bustle of traveling across the country and appearing at other book events, I had completely blanked on C-SPAN. I rushed to the bathroom and gazed into the mirror, appalled at my definitely not-ready-for-prime time hair, lack of makeup, and the dark circles shadowing my eyes. I brushed quickly through my locks, then added some blush and lipstick to my exasperated face. Sighing, I returned to the store.