By now, you probably already know how this works. I, a part-time independent author of 13 available titles, will now break down my progress for the month of January 2026. This is done for a few reasons, not the least of which is to actually make sure I got something done. If you have any questions, ask them, I’m a (mostly) open book.
At the start of 2026 we began with these (lofty) goals in mind:
Each month, I take a look at that document (it’s on my home screen so I actually look at it DAILY) and get myself some focuses for the coming month. In January those focuses were:
Proof read the romance
Fully schedule the romance
Send the romance to betas
Add words to the Superhero Draft (maybe even enough to finish it)
Try outlining the Magic Journal project
Send the Apocalypse Project to some betas.
Post twice to the blog
So, let’s take a look at how I did, shall we?
THE ROMANCE
First, let’s take a look at the project tracker sheet I use.
TIME OUT — let’s explain these project trackers You’ll see these for every one of my projects. They’re not all identical, although they are similar. Basically, these guide me through the important steps I have to complete to publish a book. Since I’m independent, all of this is on me. I use a crew or an expert for quite a few steps of this. But I need somewhere to track it all or I start to forget which project is on what step. This visual sort of helps me.
You’ll notice PROOFREAD is not check marked. That’s the next step I have to finish. This one has had 2 full edits already. I started the Proofread in January but didn’t finish. I’m carrying that over to February. I also didn’t get the Romance fully scheduled on the publishing schedule. I want to finish the proofread and get the beta feedback in before I get to that. The betas do have the romance (I sent it to another one in January) and I’m hoping that feedback will come in soon! So that’s 1 out of 3 on the romance goals in January … oops.
SUPERHERO TRILOGY
Cue project tracker sheet …
The goal in January was to add words to Superhero 1. I did that! I added enough to finish it, meaning both of the Superhero goals got a checkmark. Then I had to decide what came next for that project. I blogged about it (check that out here: https://tabathashipleybooks.com/2026/01/20/superhero-trilogy-update/). Then I decided to just jump right into drafting Superhero 2. All in all, I added 17,471 words to the Superhero Trilogy in January).
MAGIC JOURNAL
You may have noticed on the 2026 goals that I have 3 projects I need to either outline or abandon. One of the things I thought I’d try in January was to outline one of those projects, the Magic Journal project.
Quick aside about the Magic Journal Project: In October of 2020 I brainstormed ideas that might work for a NaNo project that same year (this was before NaNo showed who they really are and I stopped participating). The Magic Journal story was one of my top contenders. Ultimately, I ended up going a different route and the Magic Journal story got shelved. I’ve gone back to look at it over the years, but it’s never been fully outlined.
I did go back and reread everything I have so far on the Magic Journal story in preparation for attempting an outline in January. I still like everything I have, specifically the voice of the main character. This is a middle grade story, something I don’t often write, but I’ve managed to capture someone who I REALLY want to write about. The problem is my current projects are a romance book, a book about the apocalypse, and a superhero trilogy. None of those are anything like a middle grade book with a quirky main character. My brain couldn’t handle all that in January. I’ll move this goal to February and see what happens then.
APOCALYPSE PROJECT
I only had a goal to send this one to betas in January, which I did. But then I also started on my first round of edits. This wasn’t planned but I couldn’t help it! It’s always kind of fun when you start vibing with your own projects, isn’t it? Anyway, according to this graphic I’m only 10 chapters into the first round edit.
OTHER GOALS
I did post twice to the blog (2026 goals and the previously mentioned Superhero update)
I read both of the required review books for All the Right Reads (and 12 other books) and wrote 4,088 words on their reviews
All in all the January Progress pages in my journal look like THIS:
So What’s Next?
I’m carrying over the Proofread and Full Schedule for the Romance to February, pending that feedback from the betas. I’m planning to keep drafting Superhero 2, although I don’t expect to finish it in February. I also want to tweak the outline of Superhero 2 just a bit to make sure all my beats are included. I’ll check in with the Apocalypse betas and try again on that Magic Journal outline.
Wait, we didn’t talk about READING
True, we did not. I’m officially moving ALL of my reading content to All the Right Reads. Head to https://alltherightreads.com to find all of that. Plus, you can follow All the Right Reads on Instagram or TikTok so you don’t miss anything!
TLDR: Met 4 of the 7 mini goals for January but also did 5 things that were not on the goals list. Happy with the progress!
STATS
For those who like numbers
17471 words added to the Superhero Project
1186 words written on blog posts
4088 words on book reviews
1096 words added to the idea journal
For a grand total of 23,841 words in January
Also a staggering 77 chapters of content edited and 5,137 pages read in January.
That’s January and we’ve officially set the bar for 2026. Wish me luck!
That’s a pretty great system to have for your projects!
I’ve definitely learned it helps me keep track of everything! Totally recommend.