Testimonials:

I recommend This book for ALL writers whether you think you’re in burnout or not. It was so eye opening. If you are in burnout, it gives you the tolls to get out. If you’re headed that way, it gives you the tools to reduce the slide (and maybe prevent it altogether). And if you’re not in burnout at all, this info could keep you from ever getting to that point (if you pay attention and take action).

Something has been missing from my writing soul for several months. I tried to press on, but I missed two deadlines and could barely force myself to work through my editor’s line edits.
Burnout. Or maybe the slide. This book, and the associated videos on Syme’s QuitCast channel, will help you identify what is contributing to the inability to write the words, keep to the schedule and get things done that used to be “just another day at work” for you.
I highly recommend this for writer’s who can’t seem to get on track with their writing – or stay on track. You could be suffering from burnout, and Syme shows you the way back from the pit.

I was in burnout long before I found Becca’s Quitcast series on YouTube, but didn’t realize where I was, or know what to do about it. Reading this book reinforced all the “Ah-ha!” moments I had when watching the videos, and added a few more. This is a keeper for me, one I know I will revisit time and again.

I’ve experienced burnout both in my former career in and as a fiction writer. Having Becca break down the burnout process (fulcrum point, slide, and pit) and explain how to manage the recovery process of building a ladder by refilling our “energy penny reserves” and learning to honor our “plate size” provides hope. She shares stories of clients who battled burnout and references her own experiences with burnout. I related to the concept of having a “phantom plate” where we place the myriad things we feel we should be doing. My phantom plate overflowth.

Becca reminds us of our similarities and differences and how they relate to burnout and recovery, for example, different things fill different people’s creative stores. The information in this book is enlightening and practical. I look forward to Becca’s next installment in her “Dear Writer” series.

This is hands down the best advice for writers I’ve encountered in five years of pursuing traditional publishing and eight more of being an indie author. Much of what Becca says about the publishing industry and human behavior are things I felt were true at a gut level but had no way of proving. It felt so good to have those ideas validated. Not oh-hey-I-won-a-free-cup-of-Starbucks-coffee good but life-changing-and-sanity-saving good. This is exactly the sort of direction I’ve been looking for.

If you’re a writer who’s been struggling with sales despite all your hard work, you need this book. (Not because it will tell you how to improve your sales, but because it will explain why you should stop blaming yourself.) If you’re a writer who’s tried all the marketing courses, tricks, and techniques and just can’t get them to work, you need this book. If you’re a writer who’s dedicated to finding balance and satisfaction in your life, you need this book. Becca says right up front that it isn’t a magic bullet, that it takes hard work to change, but the true gold is her explanation of the “why” behind all the issues I just mentioned.

This book is a shot of hope with an atta-girl chaser. I’ll be eternally grateful to the universe and Amazon’s also-boughts for sending it my way.

Buy it now. You won’t be sorry.

I needed this short little book by a writing coach. It’s easy to internalize what the big names in indie publishing are doing and think you somehow have to do it exactly the way they do to achieve any kind of success, even if it’s not what you’ve ever done and it doesn’t fit with your life, your energy levels, your gifts, or your idea of a good time. Syme lays it all out in plain English, guiding you to check your premises and think twice about how well various writing and marketing rules really apply to you. If you’re feeling any frustration with where you are vs. other writers, and that’s affecting your productivity or joy, I encourage you to read this book. This probably applies to traditional authors, too, frankly. (I’ll admit, when I first saw this title, I thought, “Oh, please,” but I’m so glad I got past that.)

I’m definitely questioning my premises after reading this book; for the first time, I feel like I can be an indie author on my own terms. That it’s okay to not be after quitting my day job (or education in this case). I haven’t published yet because I’m more worked up by the educational constraints awaiting me. Getting a PhD is not easy and I know this. But why should I be in a rush to publish anyway? And if I find the time to do so, why should I rush the process itself or increase my writing requirements to produce faster when I don’t have time?

I am filled with hope. I will be published someday. I don’t think I’m a book a month person; I have a day job I’m after that I don’t want to give up anyway. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t publish, too.

For those of you reading this, these thoughts have plagued me for four years. I know I’m an indie—I hated the traditional route and that destroyed the joy I had in writing itself for over a year before I got back into it. The indie path preserves the love. But, it too can become a demon. This book is great to have you asking the right questions about how to proceed, how to identify your alignment, and how to become comfortable with your flow. Not anyone else’s.

Maybe I’ll be published sooner than I thought, after all. This book was much needed at this point in my life. Not everything I do has to take 100% from me. I can work hard without sacrificing everything else, and this book frames that well. Please, if you’re a struggling writer, read this with an open mind and heart. Some of this stuff hurts, but I found mostly healing here. And a reminder that I can do it, but only as me. Not anyone else.

Okay everyone out there looking for the easy way to success…this isn’t it, but I will tell you that this book is the beginning of changing your life for the better. I’ve been working with Ms. Syme for quite a while now off and on for a few years. She not only is 100% the real thing. Genuine. Caring. No-bull-sh**ing. She wants you to succeed in whatever you are doing. Not just writing. Not just being an author. LIFE people. LIFE. I never realized how “failure centric” the world is until I met Ms. Syme and started learning about my strengths. This is not about what you’re “bad” at. This is about what you’re “good” at and how to capitalize on those strengths to the best of your abilities. Were there things I needed to quit? Absolutely. They were slowing me down. They were making me less productive. I’m not like everyone else. I’m like me. And I needed my own process. Ms. Syme helped me do that and still does. Highly recommend this book as a starting place for finding how you tick and what will make you BETTER FASTER!

This is one of the best non-fiction books I read so far. Not that I’ve read a lot of non-fiction books, but I’ve been reading more of them since this year and this one really stood out for me. One of the main reasons this one stood out to me is that something about this book really resonated with me. And I am not even a writer, the target audience for this book, but I do work in this industry as tour organized and author assistant and I am just interested in everything publishing and marketing books.

The way this author talks about writing, questioning the premise and finding your perfect alignment and what works for you, really resonated with me. I had me nodding along and re-evaluating my own behavior and suddenly realizing why some things do and don’t work. There were some really insightful parts and I really feel like I got a lot of great information out of this book and it changed the way I think about some things.

It’s like this book finally gave me the answer to all those times I’ve questioned why I can’t work like others, why I can’t work more or differently, why I am not like others and why this weird system I have works for me even though it seems like it shouldn’t or that I should do things differently. Why I feel like there’s something wrong with me at times because I work so differently than others or why at some times I struggle to work at all. Why I struggled with working earlier this year even though I have my dream job and also why my current focus on finding a better work life balance is so important. And it’s like this book finally make me realize it’s okay and I what I’ve been doing with trying to find the best way to manage my work/ life balance is what I should be doing instead of trying to be like other people. That it’s okay to be this way and to work this way and that everyone is different and different systems work for everyone. And it’s like this should be something I know, but reading this book really made those truths sink in.

It’s also so very accepting. And so understanding and even encouraging of how each individual is different. The writing style and tone really worked for me, yes there are hard truths, some really though truths. And it really hits it home how hard it is to make a living writing. It doesn’t pull any punches or make promises that you can make it or that there is an easy way. The author says time and time again that it’s going to be hard, but at the same time it’s very encouraging as well. I also felt that it was very real and honest and accepting. Just know the facts and the market before you start so you go in with your eyes open. And figure out what works best for you.

The author really emphasizes you have to work hard and try to figure out what works for you. I liked that message and the focus on figuring out what works for you. That you can listen to advice, but also evaluate whether it’s something that works for you. And how every person is different. I think this is so true and also why not every advice or tip or system works for everyone.

Even when you’re not a writer I think this book can be valuable, especially when you work for yourself or if you struggle with anything in your daily life. So many of the tips and information in this book is applicable to so many areas of life. At times it even felt like it wasn’t just about writing. All the examples are about authors ofcourse, but it’s easy to see how these truths and information pieces can be applicable in other areas of your life as well. Speaking of the examples, I thought most of those were very informative and illustrated her points well.

I actually finished this book in a few days, which rarely happens with non-fiction books as I usually fit them in during small breaks and take a long time to get through them, which is fine and I like reading them that way usually. But something about this book just pulled me in so much that I actually wanted to keep reading it and kept finding more moments to read it. As I wanted to know more, as I wanted to have more of the insightful information in this book and because the writing pulled me in. Because this book resonated with me in a way and really meshed with some of my own ideas. It was so insightful to read and I wanted more of those insights.

The main premises and themes of this book felt very solid and important to me. Having to question the premise and finding out what to quit, what to keep and what to question. Each chapter is titled after something to quit and while that tone might seem negative, it didn’t feel that way at all. Because with how much the focus is on quitting things, the other side of that is keeping the things that do work and focusing on those.

It is clear the author is a coach and that shined through in the book I thought it made for a very interesting point of view. She’s an author as well, but I think her being a coach gave her another point of view or approach than I see in most non-fiction books for writers. I thought it worked well. I think it really shows how much she knows about this topic and how many people she has coached and how that helped her see patterns.

To summarize: This is probably one of the best non-fiction books I’ve read this year. Something about this book really resonated with me and there were so many insightful moments. While it’s focused on writers, I think it can be insightful for other people as well. I really enjoyed reading this book and finished it in only a few days as something kept me pulling me back to this book. It really gave me some new perspective and made me evaluate my own behavior. And it felt nice how the author focused on individual differences and finding out what works for you, it felt very validating for me as I often feel like I do things differently/ wrong and this book made me feel better about that as this is what works for me. While the book has some hard truths about how difficult this type of work is, I thought it was very accepting and encouraging. She doesn’t pull punches and it felt very real and honest, but definitely accepting as well. There are some great bits of information in this book and things that made me think and even with all that going on it was still an enjoyable read as well. The author of this book is a coach and I think that gave her a unique point of view and different approach than I see in most books and I thought it really worked here. I would definitely recommend this to authors, writers or other people that work in this industry or that work for themselves or do any type of creative job as I think the information in this book is applicable to a lot of people and a lot of areas in life.

I’ve been skimming the edge of writerly burnout for months, and this book has arrived just when I needed it. It asks writers to question all of the assumptions we hold about who we are and who we’re supposed to be as writers. Using positive psychology, the book also asks that we focus on developing our strengths and learn to quit the expectations that do not align with who we really are.

I’ve never come across a writing book quite like it. There’s no step-by-step plan that promises to reveal how to live a successful writing life, but it lays the foundation for you to find your own path (which is so much better). It also doesn’t pull any punches – you have to do the hard work.

It‘s a book I will return to many times as I continue to heal and do the hard yards of sustainable, aligned writing on my terms. A truly wonderful book.