Conversations with the Inspiring Jami Amerine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jami Amerine.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was a stay at home mom and foster care parent. I didn’t ever really write anything, I mean I hadn’t done any serious writing since grad school. I put up funny Facebook posts about my kids and stuff, but that was it. Then, because of a foster care situation, I got off of social media. About three weeks later, we all got the flu and I lost my voice. One night, I couldn’t sleep and I asked my husband if I could borrow his laptop. I sat down in the living room and knocked out 60,000 words in nine days. That was in December of 2014. In March of 2015, my parents offered to send me to the Mt. Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference. I took the manuscript and pitched it to agents and publishers. I had a lot of interest, but they all said I needed a “platform,” or social media following and email list. When I realized what this entailed, I totally lost interest. I had no aspirations for building an audience. I was a mommy, and that the task of platform buildingseemed insurmountable. But just before I left the conference, a seasoned writer came to my cabin. She said, ‘We aren’t leaving this room until you start a blog.” So, I opened a free WordPress account and over the next five months, I posted occasionally. It was a fun outlet, but I never gave publishing much of a thought. I averaged about 65 monthly views on the blog. In September of 2015, I put up a rant, on my phone, at a dance recital and titled it, “An Open Letter to my Children: You’re Not That Great.” The next day, 650,000 people had visited my blog. It has like 110,000 social media shares. I was contacted by an agent, Jessica Kirkland of Kirkland Media Management, and I signed with her. Over the next few months, I had a few more viral posts and shazam… I had a platform. In March of 2016, I signed a two-book deal with Harvest House Publishers.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
One hard part of my quick journey into publishing was obscurity. I didn’t have connections. That made it really difficult to get endorsements and increase my reach. And, the stuff I was saying was pretty raw. I am not offensive, I don’t cuss, but I have a tendency to be, well, authentic? I have rubbed a few “churchy” people the wrong way. But second to that, I write about real life and Jesus. I do it with humor and honesty. I love this gig, but I really haven’t had any interest in having a stage that out shadows Him. It is a fine line to promote my books without making it all about me.

I have learned there is no way to please everyone, I can’t be bothered with that. I get my feelings hurt and I have even received a death threat, but that is simply the price you pay when you voice your truth. I would say that Jessica Kirkland was my biggest advocate right out of the gate. Everyone else wanted proof before they would take the risk. Jessie said, “I can see your potential and your passion, I want in, now.” Surrounding yourself with people who encourage you to be yourself and stay the course is the best advice I can give. If you are constantly around negative people that bow to numbers and the norm, you end up sacrificing your passions for the world’s approval. I love that about Jessie. She believed in me, not the data, and I know that was a risk. I am grateful that she took it, and it has prompted me to think outside the box and be brave.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I have two books out now and a third in negotiations. My first book, Stolen Jesus: An Unconventional Search for the Real Savior launched in October of 2017. Sacred Ground Sticky Floors: How Less than Perfect Parents Can Raise (Kind of) Great Kids launched in October of 2018. I do all things creative. At my core, I am a writer. But I paint and make jewelry in my “spare” time and sell them in my Etsy Shop. I am probably most proud of the community that has been created by writing. Hurt Christians, tired mommas, broken women, foster and adoptive mothers who felt alone, and even women who maybe don’t have any ties to Christianity, but found camaraderie with women they didn’t understand. I love being able to say, “I love Jesus and this part of my life flat out stinks.” There has been a battle cry around the stuff I have written of “OH MY GOSH! I FEEL THE SAME WAY!” That makes me feel sane, and I would like to think it makes them feel the same way. There has been this stuffy and droll belief that Christians are all judgemental and think they are perfect and better than everyone. I have found a tribe that is authentic, hilarious, and humans. They have questions, so do I. They have trials that maybe the faith of their parents’ didn’t prepare them for, I know I do. The minute I admitted I was half-naked in Walmart or put in the back of a police cruiser because my son left an illegal narcotic in my mini-van, I found my people. We are all just trying to get by, from one cup of coffee to the next. There is really no point in conveying anything else.

Contact Info:

• Address: 98 Park Circle
  Montgomery, Texas 77356
• Website: sacredgroundstickyfloors.com
• Email: jami@sacredgroundstickyfloors.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiamerine/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sacredgrounds.stickyfloors
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamiamerine
• Other: Amazon: https://amzn.to/2T6OgMk
  
• Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JamiAmerinesStudio

 

Image Credit:
Jami Amerine

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