My Daily Mail story...
When a freelance writer, I was commissioned to write a piece on the 50th anniversary of the Beatles playing the Cavern for the first time in 1961. Great! A piece in a national newspaper. Little did I know!
I submitted the piece, and found it would go through several hands before publication. Each would tinker with it, often asking me to rewrite bits or add things.
Just when I thought it was all sorted, I got a call from (I presume) the features editor herself. Could I mention Heather Mills?
Sorry, is that Heather Mills, born 1968? Seven years after this event? Yes!
I gritted my teeth, rewrote a paragraph and sat back. Job done. Monday through Friday that week I bought the paper...nothing. Clearly it had missed the anniversary. I called the following week to enquire of its fate. Apparently the piece had appeared in the mock-up put before the editor on the Wednesday, only to be dismissed with a comment like: 'We had the Rolling Stones in yesterday, we don't need the Beatles today...'
I did get paid!!!!!