Posts by George Beckman

Covers can be comforting. As children, we learn the rules of protective covers. My bedroom only had a light switch on the wall. There is a moment when a child…

Members of the Cast had a long and rocky road to publishing. I started the book in the 1970s on a manual typewriter. Then we had kids, and 5 acres,…

(This was written in March of 2013, but I recycle it when income tax irritates me.) I know it has been a while since I have ranted about some inane…

1973 I sensed Ruth was awake, and I listened for a moment. “No dogs are barking.”      She propped herself on one elbow. “Not a sound.”      We lay, listening to the…

Members of the Cast made its debut on March 3, 2021. Like many debuts, March was a good month. But what about March, a year later? I studied my trusty…

Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) lets you upload covers for your book as the second "page" of publishing a book. This is not my first upload of covers, so my “pretend”…

I only claim to partially know what I am doing. I have written other blogs about formatting a book for KDP Print. Here is my best advice, repeated. 1. Make…

I’m putting the finishing touches on The Ship from Wolfskill. I’ve been editing/revising the book, and it’s ready for publication. My wife, Ruth, is one of my final plot readers.…

Baez sang, “Here I sit, hand on the telephone.” That is my case, exactly—Ruth is in surgery. Last year I published Members of the Cast. This year I am sitting…

Candidates running for office have campaign managers. I have no idea what campaign managers do other than managing a campaign, but I think I want one. (joke) After enjoying very…

I am plagued with the ability to recognize problems I cannot fix. I tune pianos and tune the fuel injection on our vintage motorhome. I am “pretty good” at both.…

George Simon created a car wax at the turn of the Twentieth century. They named the wax Simoniz, and it became a new word like Kleenex. I like my cars…

When writing a book opening, the author has precious little time to catch the reader or agent’s eye. Economy is part of creating a successful opening. Enter Raven Hair I…

The Amazon Books’ blurb is the author’s lure to attract readers. If a reader is drawn to “Look Inside,” and the opening is dynamite, it may set the hook, and…

There is always something to be learned about self-publishing on Kindle Direct Publishing. I am publishing a chapbook of poetry that has been languishing for years. The booklet is not…