Six years of Wordslinger Podcast! Kevin reflects on the things that he’s learned from more than half a decade of doing the show, and shares the perspective and inspiration he’s taken from interviews and audience interactions.

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Kevin Tumlinson:          00:00                Hey slingers, welcome back to another week of the word slinger podcast. And this week it's our sixth anniversary, six years of word slinger, goodness. And we're going to talk about everything we've learned. Maybe coming up next. Hey, how are you doing on money? I know that's a touchy subject, but, uh, I got some that may help you out. See, I'm using an app called acorns and it helps me manage some investing. Uh, put some money back, get a little interest. It's kind of Nice to watch my money grow. So I want to share that with you. Go to Kevin tumlinson.com/acorns and you'll get some free money. See you there.

Announcer:                   00:45                It's the Wordslinger Podcast, where story matters. Build your brand, write your book, redefine who you are. It's all about the story here. What's yours? Now, here's the guy who invented pants, optional. Kevin Tumlinson—the Wordslinger!

Kevin Tumlinson:          01:11                Well, I am Kevin Tumlinson. The Wordslinger. And I have been, uh, well for as long as I can remember, but for at least six years, uh, according to, uh, anything you would know really. Um, yeah, it's hard to believe six years. We've been doing this show for quite a while now. I, you know, when I started this, the whole point of the show really was to, uh, well there were two things. One, I was looking around the landscape and I saw plenty of people doing a podcast. I was watching the, uh, listening to rather the, uh, self-publishing podcast guys. I started listening to Joanna Penn. I started listening to, uh, Simon Whistler when he still had the rocking self publishing podcast. Um, it was, um, you know, it was an interesting landscape at that time. You know, we were still sort of wild west and yet, you know, a lot of ways we still are as indie authors, we're still kind of figuring things out as we go.

Kevin Tumlinson:          02:07                Adjusting as the industry changes, uh, figuring out ways to, um, you know, sort of make things more efficient, make our workflow more efficient, new ways to market. You know, this, this stuff is, uh, a lot in a lot of ways is the same as it was, you know, back then six years ago. Um, buddy, you know, today we have even more resources. We got so much more going on. It's just incredible. When I started the show, that was one of the things I was trying to do was sort of emulate the people. Um, I was seeing out there, I thought it was a good idea to, uh, dive in. I, you know, had, I have a background in media, so I, I felt pretty comfortable getting in front of the microphone, uh, talking to people about what I was learning, uh, talking to, uh, you know, doing these interviews.

Kevin Tumlinson:          02:55                And that was the second part of it was I thought if I, if I people for going out there and talk to people who are doing what I want to do, um, and not just writers, but I was also talking to any, anyone who was building something, I thought he had some lessons I could learn. Um, I used the show as a platform to do that and to grow. And I will admit there was a part of me that hoped that, um, people would discover this show and go off and, uh, rush out and buy my fiction. Ah, that did not happen. Uh, but that's okay because, uh, the show itself brought me so much value. Um, it's really hard to argue with the success of it. Honestly. I, there are definitely podcasts to get more listeners, uh, podcasts that are higher ranked in certain services.

Kevin Tumlinson:          03:45                Uh, but I, I feel like I've achieved a lot of what I was trying to achieve and maybe even more than I was trying to achieve, um, with the creation in the show. It's been just truly a blessing in my life. And what I'm hoping is that it's also been a blessing. [inaudible] pardon me, in the lives of, uh, you and everyone around you, all the people that are listening to the show. Um, and not just, not just the people who are listening, here's where things get wacky. Uh, I'm also hoping they show has had some kind of positive impact on just the world. Uh, you know, as you get out there and you, uh, you know, you listen to the things that I am saying and the people I'm talking to and you hear what is, uh, what is to be learned. You take that and implement it in your life.

Kevin Tumlinson:          04:38                And I'm hoping that in that it impacts the lives of those around you. That's kind of a lofty goal. I know that's, uh, it's a little, uh, it's, maybe it's a little out there, but it's been a, it's been like that though, since, you know, I mean, and it's definitely because of the impact the show has had on my life has definitely impacted the lives of those around me. Um, thanks to words linger, podcasts, I've actually had the opportunity to do things like, you know, I can, I connected with, drafted digital through this show. Um, I, uh, you know, I've made contacts in the industry that have become close friends. Um, I've, you know, I, I've expanded my world quite a bit and through that, you know, my wife has benefited from that. Um, my friends, you know, the people, my coworkers, every, everybody in my life has, has felt the ripples of that.

Kevin Tumlinson:          05:38                So to me, this has been an amazing experience. Now I don't want to just, I was, you know, I kind of teased a little that we were gonna I didn't organize anything, so that's why I kind of hedged at the end there. Uh, but I did want to kind of go back over some of what I've learned, uh, as a result of the show, you know, over the, over the years. Um, all the, all the things that I sort of cherish about my career, about my, the work that I do. They did, they did stem from what I was learning here. Uh, you know, and a lot of it has just been exposure to new ideas. I'm so sorry that I keep clearing my throat. I need to take a swig of water. Let's try that. [inaudible]

Kevin Tumlinson:          06:23                see, I have a hydro flask now, uh, with a little straw. So, uh, that doesn't make anything any easier, I guess, uh, for these low, like quick sips. Um, so the things that that have been important to me, uh, one, uh, something you will, you should, uh, take with you is the idea of making connections and becoming a part of a community. Uh, there's actually kind of a two part thing. Making connections, uh, is important. Not, you know, you want to make connections within the community in which you are interacting. And in this case the indie author community. You want to become friends with people who write in the same genre, people who maybe don't write in the same John MRA, but who share your vision of the future for your work. Uh, people who are on the same page as you really want to connect on that level.

Kevin Tumlinson:          07:14                You also want to connect with people who are on a level or two above you and not in a a hey, lift me up kind of way, but more of a how can I help you grow? Uh, that that's something I've definitely taken from this show. Um, if I can reach out to someone who's had a little bit more success than I have in find ways to help them grow, they are going to be far more inclined to help me in the rough patches of my career, helped me solve the problems I'm having. Uh, it's, it's really a, it really does come down to a sort of give and take and it should be more give than take. That's something I have definitely learned over the years. You know, the more you give, the more you'll get back. Um, and it may not come immediately and it may not come in ways that you immediately recognize.

Kevin Tumlinson:          08:04                But I have definitely discovered that the more I'm willing to help people, uh, the better my life and career gets, the more I'm willing to give to the world rather than try to take from the world. The more the world repays me two, three, four fold. Um, if you don't, if you don't think anything else from this, this episode, you definitely implement that, that, uh, idea and philosophy as a guiding principle in your life. Um, you know, cause we do tend to think of our writing careers. You know, a lot of us kind of come into this and we have an idea and we have a, a notion of what our own author is. Uh, we know what the lifestyle is that we're trying to achieve. Uh, and sometimes that's realistic and sometimes it isn't. I hate the word realistic though. I hate, I hate applying the word realistic to, uh, to our passions and dreams.

Kevin Tumlinson:          08:58                Um, because you don't really know what is actually impossible in until you're at the end, until it's all over. And I, what I mean by that is, uh, to use an example that I can't, I can't fully go into, but, um, then man, this is going to be vague. Okay. I have a business partner, a very good friend, a fellow author and a fellow entrepreneur and we are building something together. Uh, and I came up with this notion of what something we should do with it. And uh, it immediately caused some stress cause it's like it was impossible, you know. And in fact, I've actually had people tell me that the idea may not even be legal, uh, which, you know, uh, that remains to be seen. But you know, it's not a, um, there's nothing that's going to hurt anybody and it's all sort of, if you want to participate, you can, you know, there's no harm here.

Kevin Tumlinson:          09:56                Um, that sounded, that sounded pretty, uh, weird, Huh? No. So the idea is to look into something that I need to discover whether or not it is legally allowed, um, only because there's some sort of consumer protections in place that we want to make sure we don't, um, disrupt, we'll say. Uh, so that's part of it. Right. But, um, then there was the technical aspect of it, which, which was looking more and more impossible until my, my business partner suddenly figured it out like all at once. So immediately it went from impossible to existing. I've found that happens all the time. Uh, it happens in my life and career all the time. It is, it's happened in every industry. You know, we, we've had lots of, um, impossible technologies emerge over the years. You know, at one time it was going to be impossible to, uh, to get a computer, you know, smaller than the palm of your hand. And now a lot of us wear one on our wrist.

Kevin Tumlinson:          11:06                Then my, the Apple Watch is probably one of, uh, if you were to transplant that into the 60s, it would be the most powerful computer on earth. Can you even imagine that? So, um, man time travel is going to be fun. Uh, so the, the, I like this idea though, that, you know, impossible, impossible can only be determined at the very end when the universe, you know, has suddenly has burned out. We're, we're dying. The slow heat death of the universe, uh, when the last ember has faded, then we'll know what's impossible. And really, maybe not even then, but you know, uh, that's the current upper limit. That's as far as I'm concerned. That's as, that's as far into the future as I'm able to conceive. Um, so more that got Hetty, uh, considering what we're talking about, which is the sixth anniversary of the words Linger podcast.

Kevin Tumlinson:          12:05                But, uh, I don't want you to think I'm a too full of myself here. I, I, I have grand designs and grand plans for the [inaudible], the podcast and for everything else in my life. Um, but for the most part, what I really want to come out of the show ultimately is for people to, uh, to come here and be refreshed, to come here and be inspired. You know, that's that mission statement, uh, that my mission is to craft stories than informants, buyer educating, entertain. And I've followed that I think, um, sometimes inadvertently, sometimes without quite being conscious of it. Once I was conscious of it, I did a lot more to kind of push that. But that's, that's at the heart of, of what this show has been. Um, informed, inspire, educate and entertain. And, uh, I think I've managed to hit all four of those pillars.

Kevin Tumlinson:          13:06                I don't wanna I think probably with every interview, with every episode, I hope I've decided that I have and you can decide otherwise, but that I've decided that I have that, that I hit the mark and that was my mark for success, which means the show has been successful since day one. Um, now there are metrics that I would like to meet. You know, I'd love to have 100,000 listeners, for example. I'm going about maybe a around 50,000 now. Um, I would love to have, um, you know, all kinds of, you know, I, I'd love to be invited to speak for example, uh, because of the podcast. I, I get invited to speak quite a bit, but it's all author centric, you know, but I would, uh, I would like to talk on other topics and I think the podcast opens the door for that.

Kevin Tumlinson:          13:57                And, uh, that's a goal I have for the show to be regularly invited to, uh, you know, to make appearances in speak. And that's part of my metrics for success. Um, yeah, there's a lot I'd like to seek any, I actually, one of the things I need to do personally, and you should do this too, is, uh, sit down and map out exactly what it is I'm trying to accomplish. You know, in terms of this show, I need to map out what, what's the end game for the show? What is the ultimate goal of words slinger podcast. Uh, where do I want to be in a year, five years, 10 years. You know, I always rolled my eyes when people said things like this, the whole goal setting thing. Um, but the truth is it's really just about determining what you want something to be so you know, how to put the work in to get it to where you need it. I mean, that's, that's, that's what life is really. Um, otherwise you're just kind of meandering, uh, with no real guidance.

Kevin Tumlinson:          14:59                By the way, I want to read that. I pulled this up earlier and uh, I have a review for the show and I think it's a, I think it's appropriate for, I think it's appropriate to have a review on this. The sixth year anniversary of the show. This was a five star review from badge daddy who is from Australia now. This was on August 14th, and I haven't been able to, I've been at conferences, et cetera since then and haven't been able to record anything, um, and read this. But, uh, Baji gave me five stars on a apple podcasts and says, um, highly recommend listening to this podcast, especially if you're a writer or interested in the industry and in the craft, concise, professional, positive and thorough in all aspects regarding writing truth and wisdom of bound from both Kevin and his guest speakers. No Bs, just everything.

Kevin Tumlinson:          15:51                Writing, subscribed, subscribed, subscribe. I agree with this sentiment. A badge. Danny, thank you. Thank you for, uh, for supporting me and for uh, sharing this. Uh, thank you for the review. If you're listening and you've enjoyed the podcast and learned something from it, I would appreciate reviews like this. Any as you can tell, I'll try to read them. When I can find them a, the service I use to scrape these, uh, it doesn't always come to me very quickly, but, um, you know, when they come around, I try to make a little celebration of them. So, and what I love is that, um, it sums up what I, what I've always hoped would be the, uh, the way this show is thought of and remembered, uh, that it's concise, professional, positive, thorough in all aspects regarding writing. Then it's, you know, it presents truth and wisdom.

Kevin Tumlinson:          16:46                Uh, this is, this is what the show should be, you know, this is what it is meant to be. Um, and, and so I hope, I pray that you listener, uh, feel the same way about it. Um, so it's interesting to me. The shows that get the most positive feedback are often not the interview shows, which I think is interesting. Uh, I used to not do a lot of solo episodes until fairly recently when I decided I needed to start splitting the episodes in half. Uh, I used to do an hour long show and it was interview format followed by me. Um, you know, doing this, talking to you, you sometimes I tried doing news segments, I've done this off and on is a very difficult to Kinda keep track of everything, keep everything spin and I keep threatening to get some assistance with it. But, um, I feel like, I dunno, I worry about losing some of the intimacy of the show.

Kevin Tumlinson:          17:44                Like I, I like the idea that it's me and you, you know, wherever you are, you have to be, you're on a jogging trail or you're driving or you're sitting at your computer or you're in your kitchen making a breakfast or lunch or something. Um, you and I are hanging out and, uh, and enjoying our time with each other. There's an intimacy there. Um, that I think benefits both of us, you know, um, it benefits you, I hope in that you're learning something useful for your career. And it benefits me, uh, because I, I know someone's out there listening. I know I'm being heard that the things I'm learning and sharing are valuable to, uh, to people. Um, so more brass tacks co type stuff. So, uh, as writers, here's some, uh, let's, let's try to round this up with some advice on, uh, your writing career.

Kevin Tumlinson:          18:40                I know it can be a struggle. One of the challenges of being a writer is, is being solo, right? Being by yourself all the time. Um, you feel like it's all up to you to get this book done. Uh, writing is more of a team sport than we sometimes think that it is, uh, to, to be successful at this. It does require more than just you. Um, at a minimum it requires you and a reader. So that's, um, you know, ideally two actual human beings right there. Um, but in addition, you know, there are people, uh, kind of in the process and your workflow that you may not even think about. So if you, if you have someone who designs your covers, you know, that's another person. If you've got someone who does your editing, that could be several people, um, people who read and give you feedback, you know, they're part of this sort of community, uh, surrounding your book.

Kevin Tumlinson:          19:33                What, what's really interesting about a book is that it does create community instantly. This idea of, you know, it's, I love, I've always described it, I think Stephen King may have described it this way first, but yeah, the idea of a book as telepathy, right? So it starts with my thoughts and I transmit those thoughts through gestures, you know, either a, basically a little twitches of my fingers striking the keys of a keyboard, you know, translating my thought into symbols that are then transmitted, uh, digitally in 100% of the case, really, uh, in one way or another to the reader transmitted over space in time. You could be right now in Australia and reading something I wrote and there is no barrier between my mind. And Yours at that point isn't, there's nothing that PR that is preventing us from becoming a community. And then when you, if you like what you read and you share it with others, you're expanding that community, those ideas go out there and, and influence others. Um, how powerful is that?

Kevin Tumlinson:          21:01                That alone is reason to get up and do it every day, right? That idea alone that you are creating a community that can expand outward and have an impact on the world. I mean, the world has changed has been, you know, revolutions have begun with exactly that idea with exactly that notion that, you know, the power of someone's mind influenced the power of another person's mind and that person's mind influenced the power of another person's mind. We are a species that evolves by ideas. We evolved the power of story. Um, no matter what form that story takes, we are a species that ingests and digests and utilizes story in our own growth and in the growth of our communities around us. So, uh, what a powerful thing. And that at its heart is also what word slinger podcast is, is the, it's the changing of the world, the evolution of the world through story.

Kevin Tumlinson:          22:17                So those powerful thing. I know, I know, I make a lot of jokes. There's a whole gag built right into the opening sequence of this show. Uh, the guy who had been in tight pants optional, I should tell you by the way, this sixth anniversary, there's things you may not know. Um, the opening for the show theme song, the, uh, announcer, um, the bridge music, the end credit music, everything, uh, all the components that make up this sort of wrapper of the show. So I actually got that stuff on fiber and I think I spent a total of $25 to get, um, an original theme song, which he threw in a bridge and an outro or really threw in three tracks is what he did. And I used those three tracks as the intro, the bridge and outro. Um, the announcer was a, uh, a guy who does, who did radio work.

Kevin Tumlinson:          23:12                Uh, he was a radio announcer and he was also a news anchor. Um, he unfortunately and tragically passed away in 2015 not, not too long. A couple of years after the show started. Uh, I did not find this out until I went looking for him cause I was going to change my intro slightly. I'd still like to, but I, there's a part of me that wants to hang on to the original announcer because I as a way to honor him, uh, for, for what he's done. Cause you know, whether he realized it or not, you know, for five bucks, he is a contributed to something that, that I believe is that a really positive impact on the world. So, uh, as a way to sort of honor him, I didn't want to just replace him, um, as the announcer. So I've kind of lived with, I say lived with, I'm perfectly fine with the intro as it's red, but, you know, there was one little tweak I wanted to make. Um, and maybe it wasn't worth making, you know, maybe sometimes it's not worth, uh, trying to improve on something.

Kevin Tumlinson:          24:16                Sometimes imperfection is, uh, is every bit as powerful as perfection, maybe even more so. So, uh, anyway, we'll see what happened, what time brings us, I've known for a couple of years now that he had passed away. Um, but I am a, I'm happy to leave his voice out there so that he's remembered, you know, uh, it's, it's an odd sort of thing. But every time I listened to the show, every time I record, when I listened to that intro and I know that guy was just earning an extra five bucks at the time, he had no idea what kind of influence he was going to have. And to me, there's a sort of meaning in that. Like there's a lesson to be learned from that. You know, I've written, I've written stuff that was kind of a throwaway thing, even as much as like a tagline, you know, a tweet.

Kevin Tumlinson:          25:05                Um, nothing I was really even thinking about. And yet somehow it resonated with someone and the stuff that I write on purpose, you know, that stuff resonates with people. So the things we create in this world, they're, they're important. The stories that we tell are important. They matter just like the people who received them matter. Um, anyway, I know I'm all over the place here. I'm, I'm, I'm very moved today and there's so much going on in the world. I, I don't, I don't want, I don't want to focus on the negative things of this world. You know, I get angry. Uh, I'm learning, I'm learning how to deal with some of that anger and frustration. You know, I've never been angry to the point of violence or anything, uh, really, uh, other than maybe, you know, in my twenties or something, you know, I was always ready to get enough fight.

Kevin Tumlinson:          26:03                Uh, not really. I always avoided fighting, but I, I was always mouthy, you know, um, not just speaking to power, but also speaking to people. I was always, I did not treat people very well, I think in my twenties. Uh, and it wasn't until later, especially after I got the pacemaker. But you know, it wasn't until later I started to realize, you know, every person I come in contact with, I can either impact their life positively or I can impact it negatively. And, uh, and then that ripples out from there. And the last thing I want, the absolute last thing I want is to through some sort of butterfly effect, be responsible for some negative impact in the world. Uh, I still fail at this by the way. I had an incident with a red box over the past weekend. Redbox, which I do not use, um, has charged me five times over the past, uh, since November of last year.

Kevin Tumlinson:          27:01                And no matter what I do to block them, they've managed to find a way to get the money. Anyway, thanks. In part to visa's, um, visa account, um, something Vau uh, I forget the, what it stands for right now, um, has allowed them to charge my new car even though I canceled it to prevent fraud. Uh, that's a whole other story. And if you want to find out about it, going Twitter and look at my recent tweets cause I, I was not nice to these people on the phone or otherwise. Um, and I, as I told the guy who eventually called me and did actually help resolve this from, from red box, uh, I am 80%. Sorry for what I said.

Kevin Tumlinson:          27:44                Sometimes you just gotta get pissed off it. Uh, anyway, I think I'm the point, the meandering wandering point, the diatribe point that I'm trying to make is, um, one, I am so incredibly grateful to you and to everyone else who listens to this show. Um, the kindness you have shown, the support you've shown. I can't even express how much you personally you have impacted my life. Um, just incredible, just absolutely incredible, uh, to, I want to convey my, a feeling that the secret to success in life is this gratitude, uh, this dedication to, uh, to create something good in the world. Um, as, uh, Tony Robbins would say, you know, to be obsessed with what you're creating, to be obsessed to, uh, learn all you can, uh, to grow all you can and to share all you can. Those are the things that will make you successful, you know, give to get, um, Jim Rhones a quote, the one I use often is that you can have everything you want in life if you're willing to help enough other people get what they want.

Kevin Tumlinson:          29:06                I firmly believe that. And the other, the other philosophy, the other, um, mantra I live by is fairly recent, but, uh, I believe it and that is, um, everything is always working out for me. And likewise, everything is always working out for you. Even the negative stuff, even when things make you angry, sad, depressed, you know, make you rethink all your life choices. Um, if you can come to a point where you are earnestly and honestly believe that everything is working out for you, that changes everything about how you live. Well, it changes the meaning of everything. When something negative does happen in your life and you have negative feelings and you get angry and you react in a way that doesn't make you proud and wouldn't make your mama proud. Uh, you can still look at that and say something good is coming from that.

Kevin Tumlinson:          30:07                It will benefit me in biblical terms. You know, there's a biblical passage that says, um, God is saying that I have plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Whatever your faith, whatever you believe, I hope that you'll take away from this show from everything that I've done. Um, I hope that the takeaway in at least in part, can be that you are not alone, that you are cared for and that you are loved and everything is working out for you. Everything will work out for you. Um, that's my earnest prayer for you and a hope that it becomes the way in which you live your life because you deserve that. And so, so does everyone around you. Everyone around you deserves to witness you going out and living an incredible life. And A, I can't wait to see what sort of work you produce as an author because I believe in what you're doing. So, um, maybe not the most author centric episode. Uh, but there was a lot I wanted to say in gratitude for everyone who has helped make words like our podcast, what it is. I hope that you are continuing to get something out of this inspiration, entertainment, education information that sent them all out of order, but they're all part of the goal of this show, the mission of the show. I hope you're getting just incredible things out of that. God bless you. Have a wonderful weekend ahead. Happy and yeah, I'll see you all next time.