Posts by George Beckman

In preparing for Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), you need a clean file to upload. KDP allows .docx, HTML, epub and pdf. Uploading a .docx book works well, but I wanted…

An author’s first foray into Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) can be challenging. KDP is not impossible, and Amazon makes every effort to make it easy, but don’t kid yourself; it…

Backstory sends so many queries to the reject pile. One reason Prologs became unpopular was that they are often a backstory. Backstory is for the writer, not the reader. Our…

Transitions are the glue that allows our WIP to move from scene to scene, week to week. We try to avoid “The next day,” “Later,” and other time markers. The…

I attended a small writer's workshop in Sacramento. One of the sessions included a panel of agents. Participants submitted the first page of a work in progress. Chuck Sambuchino read…

Earworms can be annoying. I suffer from Musical Earworms and Word Earworms. Before I was married, my roommate was a piano tuner, and there was another tuner in the area…

I got a little plastic statue for second place at the Turkey Shoot at Rifle Club in high school. Yes, this was a different time. I hadn’t thought about it,…

Time tends to slip away. Before I was married, I roomed with Jim Gaden. I met Jim in college and started taking piano lessons from him. On Saturdays, Jim fiddled…

I spend an inordinate amount of time at keyboards these days. I play the Steinway daily but have become displeased with its performance. It seems to make the same mistakes…

It is time for an update on life in the burgeoning city of Colfax. When we see excitement, we usually lay down beside it and take a nap. The last…