I like to tell new people I meet that I have at least one horribly embarrassing moment every week -- as far as my personal life. In my F+W life, I have about one mortifyingly embarrassing experience every 3-6 months, depending on how much I'm paying attention. (Often I discover the terribleness long after the fact.)

Some concrete examples?

As far as my personal life, during my vacation last week, I was staying in a country cottage in France (tough life, I know), with a functioning fireplace. It was one of the few ways to heat the cottage on a chilly evening. So on that first evening, I was crouched by the fire, with an afghan wrapped around me. When I stepped away into another room, I glanced down and wondered, Why do I see glowing embers on the floor?

I was on fire -- or, that is, the afghan was on fire. In the end, no one was hurt except the afghan, but I had to explain to the cottage owner what had happened, and I was lucky enough to find a similar afghan in town, so I bought it as a token of my deepest regret. (I also said Je suis desolee as much as possible. I found that in France saying Je suis desolee can resolve many problems.)

Now to the real meat you've been waiting for -- my recent professional embarrassment.

Right before I left on vacation, I received a book proposal from an agent. There was lots of interest in this particular book, and it was clear that by the time I returned from my vacation, the book would be sold.

Before I continue with the story, though, some background on how F+W Publications works: When an acquisitions editor has decided she wants to publish something, she must seek approval from a board (primarily sales and marketing people). This board meets weekly to approve projects and requires at least two things for approval: (1) a completed proposal information sheet (what the book is all about, who the author is, and marketing info, among other things) and (2) a cost estimate and profit-and-loss (P&L) statement. At F+W, it sometimes can take 2-4 weeks to get a P&L. (Editors can't prepare them; they must come through another dept.)

In this way, F+W is a little strange or different from other publishers; it is a legacy process, something that's been in place for 20+ years. When I first started at F+W in 1998, these board meetings were held once a month. It was only recently that they became a weekly occurrence.

But the point is: It can be a lengthy process, which isn't exactly helpful for editors who need to make offers quickly. So you find work-arounds.

So regarding this hot project that arrived before my vacation: I decided to take the project to our board without a P&L. If they were enthusiastic about it, then I felt safe discussing an offer with the agent. And the board was in fact enthusiastic, so I told the agent what we could offer, she accepted, and I went on vacation.

Of course my big mistake (and it was such a basic one) was not ensuring the agent knew that it was not a done deal for us until I had that final approval (with the P&L). This wasn't an agent I'd worked with before, either, so that only exacerbates a bad situation.

So the project is still awaiting final approval (my vacation has slowed down the process immensely), and the agent is confused and upset (justifiably so) that the deal is still pending. Once again -- unintentionally setting fire to something. (Unfortunately, repeating je suis desolee will not be as effective in resolving this.)

No matter how long I'm in the business, I'm always learning new lessons.