Sonia M. Rompoti, MSc, bsc

The End-of-Year Anxiety Symphony (Yes, You’re Not the Only One Hearing It)

There’s a very specific feeling that hits indie authors in December.
It’s not holiday cheer.
It’s not warm fuzzy nostalgia.
It’s something between adrenaline, overwhelm, caffeine jitters, and the desperate thought:

“I swear I had more time.”

December is the month where:

• your unfinished drafts stare at you like abandoned pets
• every other author seems to have released twelve books
• social media is screaming “WRAP UP YOUR YEAR!”
• you remember you have a newsletter you ghosted in October
• your goals list from January appears like a debt collector

And meanwhile, you’re being asked to decorate, socialize, bake, wrap, host, smile, and pretend you’re absolutely not losing it.

You’re not alone.
Indie-author December panic is a universal language.

Let’s break this down like two tired writers sitting on a couch, wrapped in a blanket, admitting that we have no idea what day it is.

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The Big Truth: You Don’t Need to Finish the Year.. You Just Need to Close It Gently

We are conditioned to treat December like some kind of dramatic finale.
A performance.
A deadline.
A race to prove we did enough.

But here’s the warm, grounding truth:

Your author career is not measured by how you end the year…

…it’s shaped by how you sustain yourself through it.

You don’t need to “finish strong.”
You don’t need to force brilliance out of a tired brain.
You don’t need to be productive while the world is deep in sensory chaos.

What you do need is closure.
And closure doesn’t require you to complete anything.
Closure simply means you give yourself a soft, intentional edge to the year instead of letting it swallow you whole.

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What You Think You Need to Do vs. What Actually Matters

December lies to authors.
It whispers:

• rewrite your entire book
• publish something before New Year’s
• redesign your covers
• restart your social media strategy
• learn TikTok trends
• rebrand
• run an ad campaign
• write 10k words
• organize your whole author life

This is all noise.

Here’s the real deal:

You don’t need productivity.

You need clarity.
You need warmth.
You need rest so you can create again.

The best indie authors aren’t the ones who push the hardest.
They’re the ones who know when to pause.

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The Emotional Inventory (Your Most Powerful Year-End Tool)

Before you even think about goals, books, deadlines, platforms, or strategies, you need this:

a warm, honest check-in with yourself.

Ask:

• What drained me this year?
• What lit me up?
• What did I learn about my writing rhythm?
• What did I force myself to do that felt wrong?
• What did I avoid that I secretly wanted?
• What am I scared to admit I need?

This might sound soft, but it’s the opposite.
It’s strategic.
It’s grounding.
It tells you the truth beneath your panic.

December is the month we remember that writing is not just output — it’s emotional labor, creative energy, and soul-work.

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What Indie Authors Should Actually Do Before 31/12

I promised no heavy lists, so think of this more like a soft December tea ceremony — a sequence, a flow, a way to land gently.

A. Close the tabs in your brain

Find the one project that needs mental closure.

Maybe it’s:

• the draft you’ll pick up in January
• the promotion you’ll finish after the holidays
• the outline that needs a final note
• the emails you kept avoiding

Write a single page summarizing where you left off.
Your January self will kiss you for it.

B. Create “creative safety” for January

Set up:

• your folder system
• your next-book notes
• your brand colors and aesthetics
• one idea you’re excited to return to

This gives your creativity a runway to land on after the holiday fog.

C. Do a gentle audit of your platforms

Just look. Don’t judge.

Did your TikTok bring you joy?
Did your newsletter feel like home or like pressure?
Did your Instagram feed reflect who you are or who you tried to be?

Awareness, not action.

D. Delete the guilt

You didn’t fail because you didn’t meet all your goals.
You evolved.
Your life changed.
Your energy shifted.
Your burnout spoke up.
Your creativity needed breath.

Guilt kills creativity faster than any December deadline.

Let it go.
For real.

E. Choose one thing — ONE — to celebrate

Even if it’s tiny.

• You wrote 5k words.
• You outlined something.
• You released a book.
• You wrote a TikTok caption that didn’t make you cry.
• You survived the year.
• You didn’t quit.

That counts.
Everything counts.

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Preparing for January Without Self-Destructing

Authors get wild ideas in January.
New year = new chaos.
Suddenly we think we can:

• publish monthly
• write 5 books
• build 200 TikToks
• grow an email list
• open a shop
• redesign our author brand

January high is real, and your goals multiply like caffeinated gremlins.

The trick is to build January the way you’d build a romance subplot:

slowly, with intention, with desire at the center.

Instead of resolutions, choose themes:

• sustainability
• softness
• growth
• confidence
• joy
• discipline
• experimentation
• connection

Themes create longevity.
Resolutions create anxiety.

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The December Author Mood: Half-Tired, Half-Dreaming

There’s something tender about an author in December.
We’re exhausted from the year that happened, and quietly hopeful for the one that’s coming.

This in-between space is sacred.
It’s where new ideas whisper.
It’s where you decide who you want to become.

Use this month gently.
Use it to stretch.
Use it to breathe.
Use it to remember why you write.

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You Don’t Need a Plan — You Need a Foundation

A plan is pressure.
A foundation is permission.

Your foundation going into 2026 should be:

• a kinder voice in your head
• a clearer sense of your rhythm
• a deeper trust in your readers
• a softer relationship with your art
• a stronger belief in your ability to build a career slowly, beautifully, intentionally

Books don’t disappear when the calendar flips.
Your dreams don’t expire on December 31st.
Your worth as an author does not reset at midnight.

You’re in this for the long run.

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Your Call to Action (Soft, Honest, Author-to-Author)

If December already feels like too much, you don’t have to go through it alone.
My newsletter is full of warm, honest indie-author talk that helps you breathe, write, and grow without the burnout spiral.