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Jami Gold

What Should We Look for in a Beta Reader?

Magnifying glass centered on the words "beta reader"

I thought I already had a blog post about this topic, but I didn’t. Is déjà vu blogging a sign of something worrisome? *smile* Anyway, I want to thank agent Laura Bradford, who gave me the idea for this post when she shared several great tips on Twitter yesterday about beta readers […]

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June 14, 2012

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3 Reasons to Love the Writing Community

Stones piled in heart shape on a beach

I’ve had a lot to be thankful for lately.  My family and I got away for a fun vacation, my klutziness didn’t result in too many injuries out in the middle of nowhere, and I survived being without internet access for much of the time. *smile* I was also reminded—again—how awesome […]

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June 12, 2012

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How to Make the Most of a Scene

Colorful puzzle pieces half assembed

This post originally ran several months ago at the Girls With Pens blog.  It’s one of my favorites because I’m always looking for checklists to make sure I’m not missing anything while editing and revising.  I hope you find it useful. Whether we plot our stories ahead of time or write […]

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June 7, 2012

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The Ultimate Guide to Pitch Writing

Array of spices for sale

As we head into “writing conference” season, I thought I’d revisit my post about how to write a pitch.  This post originally ran several months ago, but the information never gets old.  (In fact, I’ve used this to help myself write pitches lately.) Pitches fall into many categories, from loglines […]

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June 5, 2012

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An Author’s Guide to Fan Fiction

Lighthouse at night

Recent events have brought fan fiction out of the hidden realm of über-fans and into mainstream media.  For the first time, many authors are learning of the existence of fan fiction and wondering how it might affect them. Let’s take a look at what fan fiction is, what it means […]

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May 31, 2012

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Are You in This for the Long Haul?

Man climbing up a hill

It’s tempting to put all our effort into a big debut or breakout book.  It’s natural to want our work to make a big splash and gain attention.  We might think that if we break out, we’ll have it made. But there’s a dark side to that approach, especially if […]

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May 29, 2012

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Has Writing Made Your Life…Strange?

Cadillac bursting out of a wall

We writers can be a strange lot.  We live in our heads, we talk to imaginary characters, we rejoice when we think of horrible things to do to said characters, and we plot out perfect crimes, alien invasions, and the end of the world. But even beyond all that, writing affects our […]

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May 24, 2012

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You’ll Look Like a Spammer If…

Screen shot of spam subject lines

If you’ve had email for a while, you’re familiar with email spam.  Spammers often try to make their emails seem relevant, with fake warnings about our PayPal or eBay account, etc., but their messages have nothing to do with us (um, yeah, Viagra doesn’t apply to me).  We’re just an email address to […]

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May 22, 2012

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What Are You Looking for in an Agent?

Picture of unseen person wearing a safari hat and binoculars peeking through grass

*Shh*  Be very, very quiet.  We’re hunting agents.  (Sorry, with that picture, I couldn’t resist the Bugs Bunny reference. *smile*) Many—if not most—writers want to find an agent at some point in their writing career.  Even in this age of self-publishing, writers still want agents to help them with foreign […]

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May 17, 2012

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Random Act of Kindness Blitz and a Giveaway!

Graphic for Random Act of Kindness

Did you see all the posts and tweets yesterday about the Random Acts of Kindness Blitz? (#RAOKBlitz on Twitter)  Two very generous authors, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, of The Bookshelf Muse blog wanted to kick off the release of their book, The Emotion Thesaurus, in a unique way. Just […]

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May 15, 2012

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