22+ Great Gifts for Writers in Your Life
It’s that time of year again…the holidays. With that comes gift giving. If you have a writer in your life and you’re not sure what to give them, or perhaps you’re a writer and need ideas on what to ask for, here is a list of 22 (plus a few more) holiday gift ideas.
FIRST…BEFORE YOU SHOP
Before you start shopping, be sure to sign up for Swagbucks and/or Rakuten. So many online retailers earn you points through these programs that you can use for cash back or giftcards. I let my points ride until this time of year, when I use them to buy gifts or get giftcards for gifts. This year, I used my Swagbucks points to buy hundreds of dollars worth of stuff to make swag (mugs, tumblers, t-shirts, etc).
Gifts
The writer in your life will get a kick out of this unique and memorable gift of literary insults from Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twaine, Jane Austen and more.
Caskers Tears of Writers Whiskey
From the website: A gold Medal winner at the International Spirits Challenge in London and one of the highest rated Irish Whiskeys in Jim Murrays Iconic “Whiskey Bible.” It was also featured in Ian Buxton’s publication “101 Whiskeys to try before you die.” (This on my list to get for my sister!)
Support the writer in your life with this fun Writer’s Block mug from Write with Harte.
The Writer’s Block graphic can also be purchased on a tote or t-shirt.
See more romance writing merch from Write with Harte here
Retro Vintage Typewriter Pencil Holder
This 4″ x 4″ vintage typewriter pen holder for makes a fun gift for writers.
Next Mug Temperature Controlled Mug
Make sure writing isn’t interrupted because of tepid tea or coffee with the Nextmug. It will keep coffee, tea, or hot chocolate at the perfect temperature: Warm (130°), Hot (140°), or Piping (150°) and enjoy for hours. (This on my list to get!)
Stay hydrated and inspired with tea bags tagged with literary quotes from the world over. Included 25-English Breakfast tea bags.
Book Themed Purse
Give the romance author and Jane Austen lover the gift of Pride and Prejudice in a purse. Or select a different literary themed purse such as The Raven, Beauty and the Beast, and more.
These Jane Austen gloves are perfect for cold writing rooms.
Keep your hands warm and fingers free with Writing Gloves from Storiarts.
These beautiful statement pieces are hand made from cut to finish and feature text from great literature.
- 100% super soft cotton jersey knit
- Fingerless design keeps hands warm and working
- Heat-set ink won’t wash out or fade for lasting beauty
- Handmade locally in Portland, Oregon from U.S.-sourced fabric
This 150-blank page 6” x 9” journal is small enough to carry with you, or keep by your desk for notes and inspiration.
Books
Help get the romance author in your life organized. This Romance Author’s Novel Organizer workbook helps authors from story idea, through plotting, writing, publishing, and marketing.
Full Time Author is a tome that helps new, emerging, or struggling authors build a career from writing. It covers everything from mindset, business, branding, marketing, and more.
Writing and Launching a Best Seller is a quick overview of how Elena Johnson has been able to write and launch bestsellers in multiple pen names. Particularly helpful are her various launch lists.
Writing the Romantic Comedy is geared toward screenwriting, but offers some insights into the genre for rom-com authors as well.
Pack more oomph and excitement into your writing by plucking just the right verb for what you’re trying to convey with this book of 1,000 strong verbs. (This on my list to get!)
Character Reactions from Head to Toe
If your writing includes a few to many sighs or head nods, this book can help you find other character reactions to include instead. (This on my list to get!)
Journal of the Month
Not a book per se, but instead a subscription that sends a different literary journal every month.
Learn more at Journal of the Month
Author Tools
This is the recorder I use when I dictate. Authors can use their phone, but I like this Sony Digital Recorder better as it’s easier to pause and record, and it has a USB port built in for easy audio file transfer.
Scrivener
Plan, plot, store research, organize, write and format your novel all from one app…Scrivener. Templates can help you get started (WWH has a plot template). You can set writing targets to help you keep on pace, easily re-arrange your writing, use outlines or a corkboard to organize your ideas, and more.
Learn more about Scrivener here.
While Canva has a free option, the paid version offers a ton of extra bells and whistles to help an author especially when it comes to marketing and social media. With Canva, authors can create social media graphics to promote their books, email lists, events and more. They can create book covers and book trailers (videos). Romance authors can great pretty freebies such as book order lists, series lists, and more. It has a growing app library with AI tools as well.
Here are a few benefits to the pro-Canva Plan:
- 100+ Million premium images, photos, videos, audio graphics, etc
- Hundreds of thousands premium templates
- Branding Kit – Set your colors, fonts, etc for easy use
- Folders for Organizing – You can organize from book series, pen name, etc
- One click resize – Make a design and with a click, resize it for any and all social media or other types of media
- Remove backgrounds from images – this is great for marketing and cover designs
- Social Media scheduling on 8 platforms
- Allow PA or other virtual support access
- 1 TB of cloud storage
- 24/7 Customer support
Learn more about Canva Pro here
ProWritingAid will not only help the writer in your life find grammar and spelling errors, but also it can help them improve the quality of writing. It finds passive voice, highlights when too many sentences in a row start with the same word, offers suggestions for better word choices, and more.
For authors looking to get an agent and traditional publisher, using this software will help their manuscript stand out by sending the tightest, cleanest submission possible, short of hiring an editor. If they’re an indie author, this software can clean up the manuscript, which makes it easier for the editor hired to edit the book.
Learn more about ProWritingAid
Autocrit offers editing similar to ProWritingAid, along with a few more bells and whistles, including assessing the book against best sellers in the genre, AI brainstorming, digital notecards and note boards displayed alongside your writing to keep organized, and developmental feedback on the story’s timeline, character arcs, conflicts, potential contradictions, foreshadowing and more.
Learn more about Autocrit here.
Social Bee doesn’t seem to be as well-known as other social media tools such as Hootsuite, but I love this tool and recommend it whenever I can. Social Bee does more than just allow you to schedule social media posts. With the Canva integration, you can create your sharable graphic from within Social Bee. Plus it works with all the major platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest), including the ability to schedule Reels and TikToks!
My favorite feature is the reschedule option that will automatically repost a post forever or you can set a number of times it will post or an expiration date. The automatic repost forever is ideal for evergreen content, such as sharing newsletter sign up. The time limited option is ideal for special sales or event promotions. Authors can organize post types by categories (e.g. promotion, blog post, etc) and set up a posting schedule, which again, used in conjunction with the reposting feature, means content is sent out regularly even if the author forgets or doesn’t have time to create a new post.
Learn more about Social Bee
More Ideas
Need more ideas? Here are other gifts you or the writer in your life may enjoy:
- Subscription to a writer magazine, such as The Writer or Writer’s Digest
- Meal box subscription
- House cleaning service
- Office supplies like printer paper, binders, pens and pencils, paperclips, printer ink, etc
- Comfortable pajamas, yoga pants, or sweats
- Registration to a writing or book event
- Hotel accommodations for a weekend writing retreat
- Neck massager
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