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Ask Jami

Collection of Jami’s answers to questions from writers and authors.

Ask Jami: Can This Story Be Saved?

Puzzle missing a piece with text: Can a Broken Story Be Saved?

I do a lot of beta reading for friends, and sometimes they come to me with a question along the lines of: “I’ve really struggled with x aspect of this story, and I’m wondering if I should just abandon it. Can you take a look and see if this story can […]

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June 4, 2013

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Ask Jami: WordPress Questions and Answers

Computer pointer finger on a question mark with text: WordPress Questions and Answers

My two WordPress workshops are next week, so this is the last time I’ll mention them here on my blog. Try to contain your disappointment. *grin* Today, I’m summarizing the questions and answers from the Facebook chat about WordPress I did last week with Lisa Hall-Wilson. Facebook makes looking through old posts a […]

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April 18, 2013

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Ask Jami: Do I Have to Take a Break from Writing?

Newborn baby with text: Does This Mean Goodbye to Your Writing Time?

As I mentioned in a recent post, people ask me for advice. I’m sure this would drive some people crazy, but I don’t usually mind it. I can be a very opinionated person, and I’m willing to share. *smile* When I get a great question I think could help others, I […]

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October 9, 2012

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Ask Jami: How Do We Find Beta Readers?

Woman reading in a park on a sunny day

My post about combining comments from multiple beta readers in MS Word brought up a great question.  How do we get beta readers? In the comments, Amanda Byrne asked, “[A]ny hints on how you can scare up more beta readers? … [O]nly one of them gets back to me in […]

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April 5, 2012

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Ask Jami: Editing Tips–Tightening Scenes

Tight hand squeezing a red foam heart

In my post last week asking if we can have too much voice, some great questions came up in the comments.  I decided to turn them into “Ask Jami” blog posts rather than bury the answers in the comment string. Earlier, I shared ideas on how to use color-coding to check if […]

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March 1, 2012

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Ask Jami: Editing Tips–How to Use Color-Coding

Blue highlighter pen

In my last blog post, where I shared the “two-paragraph guideline,” some great questions came up in the comments.  Rather than bury the answers in the comment string, I decided to turn them into “Ask Jami” posts. Today, we’re talking about how to make sure we’re using all the various writing […]

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February 23, 2012

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The Blogging Cycle: How Do You Stay Sane?

View down the center of spiral stairs

My friend Roni Loren wrote a fabulous post yesterday about the life cycle of a blogger.  She echoed thoughts similar to Kait Nolan’s great post, “Social Media Ennui.” When we first start on social media or reading and/or writing blog posts, everything is shiny and new.  That post about query […]

November 3, 2011

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Ask Jami: E-Publishers vs. Agents

Street sign with arrows pointing in opposite directions

Last week, Stacy Green asked me a question on Twitter and my fingers cramped while thinking about how to answer her in chunks of 140 characters.  *smile*  So we decided to make it an Ask Jami question here instead. Stacy asked: “What’s your opinion on e-publishers versus agents? … pros […]

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November 1, 2011

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Are All Writers Delusional?

Question marks around a face

My first sarcastic impulse is to answer that question with “Duh.”  Writers have to be somewhat delusional to pursue a career that has such a minuscule chance of financial success.  (Not to mention that fiction writers exist in a constant state of make-believe.)  But there are different styles of delusion. There’s the […]

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September 29, 2011

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Should We Do Guest Posts?

Red carpet running up lots of steps

Last week turned into an interesting demonstration on the benefits of guest posts.  We’ve heard the typical reasons for allowing guests or agreeing to guest post: * increased traffic * networking * and marketing. We bring in guests and hope their readers will stay at our blog for a while, […]

September 27, 2011

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