Abstract: The present invention generally provides, in various embodiments, methods of generating tagged DNA amplicons for sequencing. In one embodiment, the method comprises a) annealing a first oligonucleotide to a nucleic acid template comprising a target nucleic acid molecule sequence and a tag sequence, wherein the target nucleic acid molecule sequence comprises a locus of interest; b) performing nucleic acid template-directed nucleic acid extension from the annealed first oligonucleotide to provide a first extension product; c) circularizing the first extension product to produce a circularized DNA template; and d) performing circularized DNA template-directed nucleic acid amplification to produce a tagged DNA amplicon for sequencing. The methods are useful for linking a distant locus-of-interest to a reverse transcription primer.