Andrew M. Friday

Category: my life

  • The answer to the question

    As a fiction writer, I have always wondered how to break into the publishing companies that announce on their manuscript submission guidelines: “We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. We only look at manuscripts through an agent.” Then when trying to find an agent — a legitimate agent — the agents are only looking for established…

  • Exposing “exposure” for what it is: an insult

    As much as I love designing book covers, I don’t have time to do it for free. Last year I designed book covers for a couple of different small publishers. I figured out one publisher would not be paying enough for the time I put into the projects, so I told the publisher I quit.…

  • Writing at the cafe

    I’ve had some of my best writing sessions at a coffee shop, but I’ll be honest: sometimes I just hang out and surf the web. I’m procrastinating. I’m telling myself I’m waiting for inspiration but I confess I’ve gotten no writing done at some so-called writing sessions. Here’s an article that describes it from the…

  • When I Used to Go Bookcrossing

    Ten years ago this month, I joined a website club called Book Crossing. The idea behind this website: release books into the wild. Here’s how it’s done. Register a book on the website. Write the registration number and “http://www.bookcrossing.com” on the inside cover of the book. Leave it someone where someone can pick it up.…

  • I write like . . .

    I don’t take I Write Like  too seriously. This website–which analyses a person’s writing style and then matches it to a famous author–hangs out with all those websites in which a person can take a test to see if he is a narcissist or whether or not his physical symptoms indicate he has leprosy or…

  • I accidentally wrote a Halloween children’s book endorsing drug abuse and/or alcohol abuse. Oops.

    Back in the day I use to make a little extra money writing children’s books. The publishing company printed these books–cheaply printed–by the millions. That is not hyperbole. They could be found in stores like K-mart, Target, Walmart and the like. I would always go to the children’s book section, and, if my books were…

  • Consider Iain Banks

    A few days ago, Iain Banks, one of my favorite authors, passed away. This Scottish writer crafted novels under two names:” Iain Banks” for mainline fiction, and” Iain M. Banks” for science fiction. I’ve read him under both genres. Many consider him a master of “space opera” which is a sub-category of science fiction. I…

  • My first NaNoWriMo region meeting

    When I walked into Mulligan’s Pub and Grill and went upstairs to meet other NaNoWriMo participants in my region, I thought,”Oh, crap, I’m the oldest one here.” I sat down at one of the few seats available at the long tables that had been pushed together. Looking to my left, I saw six teenage girls…

  • Not “I will” but “I am”

    I just received an email from Jon Acuff containing a schedule for the Quitter Conference in September and I’m excited to see that Jeff Goins is one of the speakers. A few months ago I read a book by Goins called You Are a Writer, So Start Acting Like One. In a section of this…