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EP 442 - Dear Writer You Still Need To Quit with Becca Syme

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Release Date: 11/07/2025

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Mark interviews Becca Syme about her latest project, about the journey she has been on since she launched her first Dear Writer, You Need to Quit book, and the various fiction titles she has written.

Prior to the interview, Mark explains that he is at Author Nation in Vegas and that his introduction and post interview reflection were generated by ElevenLabs. Then his digital voice clone from ElevenLabs shares a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report.

In their interview, Mark and Becca talk about:

  • How it has been an extremely long year since Becca was last on the Stark Reflections Podcast
  • Becca's long-time aversion to marketing and how she has decided to approach it
  • The Kickstarter that Becca has launched and the various prizes she is offering for each of the tour stops
  • The prize that Stark Reflections listeners can win just by listening and entering their name
  • How Becca is trying to make each stop on the podcast guest tour different by focusing on different tips and ideas with every episode
  • Mark's idea on how he deals with Kickstarters where international shipping isn't an option
  • The limited number of vinyl albums that will be available through Becca's Kickstarter
  • How the publishing industry has changed dramatically since 2017 when Becca's first "Dear Writer, You Need to Quit" book came out
  • The cheeky thought that Becca was considering for her latest book with using the popular F-word expletive
  • How long Becca's Kickstarter will be running
  • Trying to spend more time on her fiction writing, but struggling with how much she loves collaborating with and helping other writers
  • The positive impact of dating another writer where they can motivate one another to get more writing done
  • How Becca had never intended to build a business as a coach and a non-fiction writer
  • The two other pen names that Becca writes under for different series and genres. Mystery written as R.L. Syme. Paranormal Romance (written with a co-author) written as Cameron Reece. Urban fantasy under the name: Macy Dixon
  • The recent "work vacation" that Becca took which helped enable some solid research for her writing
  • Becca's reminder that under different pen names and genres, a writer will usually have a uniquely different voice
  • The specific playlists that Becca has for each one of her pen names and genres and the very separate personas she embraces when writing each
  • The comment Mark made that led Becca over to checking out his Clifton Strengths to confirm her suspicion
  • How Becca is a real "sense of place" writer who connects emotionally with the physical space and the connection to the earth, the mountains, etc

After the interview, Mark reflects on the idea of wanting to help writers, and how that often leads to one's own writing taking a back seat.

 

Links of Interest:

 

Becca Syme (MATL) is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and has individually coached more than 6000 authors at all levels. She is the author of the Quitbooks for Writers series and the popular Write Better-Faster course, and the host of the Quitcast for Writers podcast and YouTube channel. She also writes mystery novels and lives on one of the thousand lakes in Minnesota.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0