The InUPress accountability newsletter for May 2018.
Written by Kenneth Shumaker,
For Inevitable Unicorn Press,
On May 27th, 2018.
Good-day friends and readers of Inevitable Unicorn Press and our authors.
As the writer, Kenneth Shumaker, I would like to report that I finished the revised first draft of book two of my science fiction series, the ‘Star Grean,’ this week and that I’ve written the first 12 k words into book three this month which I think was a win.
We here at InUPress have launched the medieval fantasy novel, ‘Larret Army: Rising Souls,’ with our publishing it on Amazon, Kobo, InUPress and so many more vendors on Friday, May 25th. While we’re still finalizing some of the vendor’s editions it’s out there with most we publish with.
Also, we’re creating an audio edition which is being created with Kobo’s, Findaway Voice. This edition should be available this year?
As well here at InUPress, we are now working on Eric’s new short story. The work is a paranormal drama titled, ‘The Transcendence Machine,’ and is due for release this year.
As the author, Kenneth Shumaker, I am also working on my next novel in the ‘Lost Souls,’ series which is titled ‘Dendar.’ The novel is set for release this or next year, it is currently in 2nd revision after being read by beta readers, with the beta readers finding two big flaws in the story, one was that it ended too abruptly.
My Virily account has earned me my first royalty cheque from them last month and I reached over 300 readers with 304 followers. My favourite reader is Paul who read every one of my sci-fi/fantasy series episodes, Eren’s Challenge on one weekend (all 26 episodes) then every Morgus medieval fantasy series episodes the next weekend (all 16 episodes). In all Paul has read over 100 of my posts and I think he wrote me a comment on every one of them and voted more than half of them up! The man told me he favours the medieval fantasy series, ‘Morgus,’ by far, but enjoys both. He’s a prolific writer himself with over 300 posts.
I have other readers who have done similar reading but who weren’t so vocal, though most were more appreciative by voting up more of the posts.
Virily is great fun for seeing the creative work of writers, photographers and other creators. Check it out with this link: Virily
This post is my May month-end accountability report to you our InUPress readers and friends if you like please leave us comments with your thoughts and we’ll respond if you want.
Thank you greatly, yours, the staff and the publisher with InUPress, Kenneth Shumaker.
May the words stay with you!
© 2018 by Kenneth Shumaker with Inevitable Unicorn Press.
inupress@inupress.ca www.inupress.ca
Written by Kenneth Shumaker.
May 2, 2018.
Hello, in our April closing newsletter I had stated I would tell you a bit about the 7-Levers, 7 weeks with 10% increase per week: The Next 100-Days double your profits 10% increase per week challenge: which was started with a challenge start date of February 26, 2018, and ending April 16, 2018. The challenge was set by Kevin Appleby from the Next 100 Days podcast.
I completed the challenge and succeeded well, with mixed results in the challenge.
Have you ever had a goal or challenge you desired to complete? Where you aimed for an end result but missed?
I’ll let you in on my secret sauce to my success which I’ve used in my different careers and in my life to attain what I want. It’s a mix of patience and goal setting; mixed with an addition of 80% strong drive. But without setting clear, precise, measurable, achievable goals, none of it would have likely been possible to achieve.
I see people all over with tonnes of drive, many people with worlds of patience and they get nowhere in life. They’re attaining and achieving little. True, quite a few are happy this way. Many aren’t.
I’ve worked with colleges in security and as an instructor and also as Chairman of the Board for years of a mental health outreach program for the province of Alberta. I was a crew foreman and then a field supervisor of a three-crew team for a province-wide company for years.
I attained these through setting goals and mixing patience, understanding, drive and adaptability together. The glue was always goal setting.
My particular method I use is a six-goal tiered system.
I set one, two, five and ten-year goals, as well as monthly, weekly and daily goals.
Each tier is set with six goals which I desire to attain.
You ask … so what? It doesn’t matter if you set goals! No one ever achieves goals!
Well, I use a carrot and stick method. If I fail to achieve at least four of the six goals in a set time period, there is a penalty. These were set at the time I had set up the goal system.
Most of the sticks are financial penalties with the money going into an account which in December is given to a charity as a gift. My current pot sits at $80.00. I had a big fail last month. My monthly fails are $50.00, while weekly fails are $10.00. Year fails I set at $200.00, so far this hasn’t been an issue. The goals for the year are accountable by November 30th. This starts on November 30th the previous year running to November 30 of the current year.
My weeks are from Sunday night to Saturday night. So, really, I only give myself a six-day week.
A four or five points success is a partial success or minor achievement and gets a small reward. So, for example, being as I recharge by being alone but I enjoy observing people interact in society, my weekly minor reward is to go for coffee by myself. This is also where I can take a study course on my tablet while occasionally observing people AND enjoy the peace and a coffee without clients/customers interrupting me, or my family! I may even take the opportunity to write. I hand wrote three chapters in a two-hour session once.
The big win is getting all six points and is a major achievement which earns a big reward. As an example; my weekly reward is to take a friend or family out for a meal, plus take two days off from work. What a bonus!
Now I made a pact with myself not to abuse the system, but I also set it up so I could stack all the penalties and reward. For examples, the penalty account is at $80.00, while the coffees are accumulated to 12, and the big wins are at 5, being as some were held over from last year still. I’m thinking of saving for a vacation.
So, regarding the results from the challenge, I told you about in the closing newsletter last month: when all bookkeeping was tallied at the end of April we had a win of a profit margin totalling $586.76 between the three business entities. This is up from our first win of $11.68 in February. Some of this was from royalties for content I produce, some was from computer repair work, some was from InUPress work.
Two of my businesses consistently lost money in 2016 and 17 as we are still in the startup development phase of our growth, while in the third business has been making a profit from day one in 2014 and has been operating in a community where four others tried to startup similar businesses and folded in less than eight months each.
Because the two entities lost so much in 2017 as I was developing them, my total margins were a loss, until February 2018. In April I saw my best month in three years. This was due to the challenge and the system of profits it advances.
There was no carrot or stick for me on this other than to use the 7-levers presented in episode 110 of the Next 100 Days podcast to achieve a profit margin of $60 or more in April.
I like challenges so I set the goals necessary, with setting up an editorial calendar and drive sheet after mud-mapping through the processes that would be necessary.
I believe in my processes, but they’re not for everyone. Many would struggle to try to use the systems. But if you think my systems might help you, just contact me to ask me more about how I work and how you might apply them. I’ve worked with others in the past, and they went on to own and run their own businesses and homes. This may not happen for you, but you never know until you take YOUR steps forward.
My intention for these opening newsletters each month is to present to you our goals and the tasks we set out to do for the month.
For May 2018 our goals of intention which we are to be held accountable for are:
Our monthly carrot/stick system accountability ending for May 30th, 2018:
So, now we’re also being held accountable to all of you.
May the words stay with you!
© 2018 by Kenneth Shumaker with Inevitable Unicorn Press.
inupress@inupress.ca www.inupress.ca www.kennethshumaker.ca
