Wrap-Up and Check-In January

Good morning, friends and followers. 

I’m known for updating all of you on my goals and my progress at the end of every month. I have snazzy little journals where I keep track of everything and I pop in here once a month to show those off and drop updates. 

The point of these posts is really two-fold. 

1. It holds me accountable to you … anyone who might be reading these. I appreciate the likes, the comments, the questions, and the nudges in the right direction. 
2. It forces me to go back and check on my progress. 

So, with that introduction out of the way, let’s dive in. If you think of something you’re wondering, ASK! I’m always glad to look up the data for something or even add a section for a future month (heck, that’s why I always try and say WHERE I get my books from. Someone once asked and now I always look)

First up, GOALS.

I have 2025 goals this year. I scrapped those in 2024 because I felt like I was pushing myself too hard and getting into a negative head-space about it. But, after at least a year off of them (it may have been 2 years) I decided it was time to bring them back. 

Here’s my 2025 goals. 

In order to make that happen, I have to break down the goals by month. In January I had 4 major goals. 

1. Solidify the 2025 goals (ahem: obviously, I did that. You see the graphic)
2. Get a 2025 Publication Schedule for Tabatha Shipley Books
3. FINISH the zero draft of the Apocalypse Project
4. Complete the first round of edits on the Slasher WIP

I also knew I had to read/review 10 books from the TBR to be on track for that monster of a number and post to the blog at least 3 times (once with poetry to meet that goal as well). 

So, did I do it?

The short answer is YES. 

Here’s the longer answer for those who want it:

• I have 2025 goals, see previous graphic
• The publication schedule is DONE. It’s really lofty. I am going to do my best. If I stay on track, you’ll have two in 2025. Let’s hope I can stay on track. 
• The Apocalypse Project zero draft is DONE! Every chapter is recorded and the current word count (which will likely go up in editing) is 67,055 words. 

• The first round of edits are DONE on the Slasher WIP. It is sitting at 75,107 words with the small changes in round one. 
• I also managed to format the SlasherWIP correctly (paperback and ebook) and get it out to betas. 

• I managed to read/review 11 of the titles from the official TBR (more on that in a beat)
• I posted to the blog three times: 2024 wrap up and 2025 goals, Poetry Challenge for January, and a Roast Chicken recipe/story. 

Here’s what the 2025 progress looks like at the end of January.

This is an AMAZING start to January, honestly.

I’m incredibly happy with my ability to make those goals and stick to them. More importantly, I don’t feel overly stressed. It felt like a lot on January 1 … but I did it. 

Here’s some fun stats for you related to writing and my projects:

• 20,064 words written across all projects and platforms
  • 3,215 of those were book reviews
  • 1,460 were blog posts
  • 648 added to the Slasher WIP
  • That leaves 15,389 written on the Apocalypse Project
• 42 Chapters Edited
  • That’s the number of chapters in the Slasher WIP so that makes sense

Now, I mentioned Reading

First of all, if you’re new to this blog you might know now that I’m a part of the review team over at alltherightreads.com so all of my reviews have been moved there. You should give us a follow! In fact, you can also score a Surprise Reads Box there … which is a curated box of book recommendations put together JUST FOR YOU based on a survey you fill out. They’re always recommended by REAL PEOPLE (not AI), purchased at independent bookstores, are GENTLY USED, and a great value for your money. 

Anyway, if you just like quick wrapups of my reading, you’ve come to the right place. 

Cue the graphic!

I actually read 12 books in January but only 11 of them were on the official TBR. The Gypsy-Rose one that I was reading when the calendar year began was sort of a bonus. I only needed to read 10 of those to be on track with the lofty goal of all 119 titles from my TBR. I read 11. This will be helpful later, I’m sure. 

So, 12 books (4069 pages, averaging out to be just under 150 pages per day). 33% of those were independently published. 

Besides the cover images and star ratings, I track pretty much everything relevant about the books in my little journal. Here’s a pic of those pages (don’t worry, I’ll summarize it for you in a second if you think my handwriting is atrocious). 

Where did I get them all (summarized from the graphic):

• 4.5 borrowed from the library (My library would say I borrowed 7 but I also had purchased paperbacks or hardcovers of some of those … so I counted it as half of each. Trust me, the math works out even if it seems weird). 
• 3 ARC or Review copies provided by authors or publishers (those are the three listed at the top of the first page)
• 3.5 purchased (My husband would say I purchased 5 but, again, some of those were only counted as a half because they were also borrowed in another format).
  • 1 purchased directly from the author at an event (it’s signed)
  • 1 purchased used from a local independent store
  • 3 purchased used from a Goodwill
• 1 giveaway wins or gifts. In this case, giveaway wins. I got two of these as prizes for completing the adult reading challenge at the library. But I only counted them as half each because I ended up also downloading another format from the library. 

What formats were they all:

• 3 ebooks
• 4.5 audiobooks (again, 7 were listened to at least partially as audiobooks but I also flip back-and-forth to my physical copies a lot so I only count them as half. Is it a perfect system? No. But it works.)
• 4.5 paperbacks (You’re getting the idea behind the halves now. 7 of these were paperbacks I referenced or read at least some of). 

Star Ratings:

• 0 1-star books. That makes sense because this is RARE for me. At alltherightreads we say a book has to be one we cannot recommend to get this rating. 
• 2 2-star books. These are books that were problematic, for some reason. The full reviews would lay out why. Safe to say that something about them rubbed me the wrong way. 
• 6 3-star books. This is probably my most common rating. For me, these books are GOOD but they’re NICHE for some reason. I’d have to find out if you were in that particular niche before I’d recommend them to you. Sometimes it’s because of content warnings, sometimes it’s because they’re just for a really specific reader. If you happen to be in this niche, however, these could be your absolute favorite books!
• 3 4-star books. These are books that I’d recommend just based on the fact that you say you read this genre. They’re just GREAT examples of their genre. For this month those were:
  • Love That Dog, which is a middle grade poetry book. As someone who used to read and teach poetry to kiddos … this one is GOLD for that. If you’re a teacher who teaches poetry, GET THIS ONE FOR YOUR CLASSROOM. It’s incredibly well written and perfectly captures that ANYONE can write poetry. 
  • Picked up Pieces, which is an Adult Fantasy and happens to also be a sequel. I would recommend you start with Unfixed (which I also gave 4 stars to) ahead of this one releasing at the end of this month. This duology features original characters, a circus setting done right, and morally grey characters who will capture your entire heart. 
  • Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone is a mystery/thriller for adults. This one has sort of an old-school cozy mystery vibe, which I loved. Plus, it’s HILARIOUS. Worth the read for mystery fans! There’s also, apparently, a sequel of sorts. I’ve added that to my TBR as well. 
• 1 5-star book. These books are ones that CROSS GENRES. I’d recommend them to almost any reader but definitely to readers of at least 2 genres. Crossing genres can be difficult for any author because you have to do both well. These books do that. This month that rating went to:
  • Witch of Wild Things. This is a fantasy romance (no, not a romantasy, those are different). It’s got powerful witches with incredible gifts, well-written sibling relationships, a cute romance that isn’t overly spicy, and beautiful language that borders on poetic. It will appeal to witchy magic readers, contemporary readers who like stories about siblings, and cute romance fans. I can’t recommend this one enough. Plus, it has a sequel of sorts which I also added to my TBR. 

Whew, are you tired yet? I know I am. 

Remember, if there’s something else you’re wondering ASK. I have no problem answering questions and the accountability helps keep me moving. HONEST!

For now, here’s the TLDR summary for you.

• Had a bunch of January goals, met them all. 

Let’s hope this is a good sign for the rest of the year! That’s it for me today. See you again soon!