With the holidays right around the corner, it’s time to pick out gifts for those folks on your shopping list. As the years go by, I often find it trickier to find the perfect present for the friends and family on my gift list.
One of the things I like to do is make a list of activities, collectibles, and interests for each person. Maybe someone on my list loves to cook and is always excited for the next kitchen gadget. Maybe someone else is an avid reader and I know the types of books they enjoy reading. Then, I brainstorm potential gifts that I think they might like.
So, as an avid reader and a published author, what gift items am I eyeing this year?
MUGS WITH SAYINGS
Some of my favorites include:
“This is what a published author looks like.”
“I am a writer. Anything you say or do may end up in my novel.”
“Be careful or you’ll end up in my book.”
Places to purchase mugs with sayings: Cafepress, Amazon and unique gift shops.
POST IT NOTES
As a writer, I use post it notes of varying sizes. The common square ones are perfect for ideas for my writing projects. I stick them inside folders or notebooks for each project. The smaller little squares are great when I have one thing I need to remember to do and I stick that on my computer monitor so I won’t forget. And the thin tab size make great placemarks in writing craft books or tabs in notebooks to denote sections like setting, characters etc. And a variety of colors in all the sizes make tasks and information so much easier to coordinate. Any office supply store, bookstore, or online seller like Amazon will have lots of choices.
BOOKS BY THEIR FAVORITE AUTHORS
People who know me well know that my genre preferences are suspense/thrillers, mysteries, cozies, and some horror. If I had to choose a few favorite authors, I would include Freida McFadden, Mary Higgins Clark, B.A. Paris, Paula Hawkins, Mary Kubica…the list goes on and on. But I love reading in many different genres from cozy Christmas books, books about bookshops, women’s fiction, and even some romance. I also enjoy a good memoir or biography and I will always have a spot for Dr. Seuss books and The Secret Garden. I’m just as happy receiving used books as new, but I will always have a preference for paper books over reading books on a device. I need to smell them and hold them in my hands.
NOTEBOOKS
I feel like I’m getting more picky about which notebooks I enjoy using. Moleskin notebooks are right up there, along with the classic Black and White lined ones and for very special projects, leather covers with vintage paper inside. I love colorful notebooks and those with inspiring sayings about writing on them. Bookstores, office supply stores, and lots of online sites can provide you with a ton of choices.
PENS/PENCILS/MARKERS
For handwriting scenes or chapters, I like a medium ball point. I think I press too hard to use the fine tip (risk tearing the paper). I prefer black ink to blue. But I also have a wide variety of different colored pens. One of my favorite uses for these is when I’m planning out a character’s arc. My protagonist might be written in pink, my antagonist in purple. Giving each character a color makes it easy to find what I’m looking for in my notes, especially when I’m revising. Highlighters of different colors have a similar purpose as well.
SHIRTS WITH “WRITING” SAYINGS
As with the mugs with sayings, nothing beats a shirt with a great saying on it, especially when I’m writing or doing a presentation. Currently, I own two long-sleeved black t-shirts. One says, “The Key to Writing Suspense is shh…” and the other has a graphic of a book and underneath that it says, “Published Author.” I’ve seen shirts like these online in several different places, but they can also be designed and printed by companies who do that sort of work.
WALL ART
I’ve always loved those old antique typewriters, and I was lucky enough to receive a painting of one a few years back. It hangs in my home office along with another painting my BFF commissioned from a local artist depicting a woman sitting by a fireplace reading my first book, and on the shelf beside her is my second book. An observant friend also noticed a saying I put on social media one day, “A Writer is a world trapped in a person,” by Victor Hugo. She got a digital artist to make a print of it with a stack of books and a quill pen and had it framed. Be creative. Your writer friends will definitely appreciate that.
SUBSCRIPTIONS TO PAID NEWSLETTERS
There is a lot of information available to writers of all levels, and I do mean a lot. But if you ask your writer friends, they may be wishing they could afford a paid subscription to one online. Just think what a year’s subscription would mean to them. Two newsletters that I subscribe to are:
Jane Freidman’s, The Bottom Line, and on Substack, The Shit No One Tells You About Writing.
FEES TO AN UPCOMING COURSE
Maybe your writer friends have been eyeing an online course. With shorter courses and videos as little as $19.00, to month long programs costing anywhere from $149.00 or more, maybe gifting them with a writing course is something they would find useful and enjoyable. I know I sure would. But I would highly recommend asking them to give you a few that interest them, because if they’re like me, they’ve probably already taken quite a few.
TREATS TO INDULGE IN WHEN WRITING
What writer doesn’t want to make their writing time feel like their special time? Yes, it’s work, but it’s also likely their creative sanctuary. I know that especially in the winter, it’s great to sit down with a mug of peppermint tea, hot chocolate, or even a steaming cup of coffee. A gift card, or a box of teabags, coffee pods, or hot chocolate sachets would certainly be something many writers would enjoy while writing. And if that’s not for them, maybe it’s a box of individually wrapped sweat treats, or a candle with their favorite scent that can add indulgence to a writing session.
There are lots of other great suggestions, like tote bags, laptop cases, writing décor, puzzles, stickers…you get the idea. Buying for a writer is easier than you might think.