It’s that time of year again: time to think of something your writer friend or family member will actually use. Fear not! Once more, we come bearing gift ideas for the writer in your life. Here are 50 great ideas for your writer that will have them dancing with joy beside the Christmas tree.
Writer’s Digest Critiques ($40+) – Your writer will appreciate a personal critique from Writer’s Digest’s Second Draft service. Prices vary based on what is being critiqued and how many words or pages there are.
Writer’s Market 2020 (Kindle $20; Paperback $23-$28.50) – You can’t go wrong with the latest edition of Writer’s Market. This is the encyclopedia for writers, with submission information, marketing advice, magazines and book publishers, and even how to write a good query letter.
Rory’s Story Cubes ($15) – Roll the nine dice for over a million different story ideas. For ages 6+.
Writer Emergency Pack ($14) – 26 illustrated idea cards and 26 detail cards to help break writer’s block.
The 3 am Epiphany (paperback; prices vary) – Over 200 writing exercises to help you think, write, and revise.
The Emotion Thesaurus (Kindle $6; paperback prices vary) – Tons of information to help your characters express their emotions without using cliches.
Bathtub Book Caddy (around $50 depending on which version you choose) – Luxury bamboo caddy that fits across the bathtub to hold whatever you’re reading, along with other bath essentials.
T-shirt ($20-22 depending on size) – “I’m not quiet; I’m plotting.” The perfect t-shirt for the introvert at work.
Wireless Typewriter Keyboard ($300) – Looks and feels like an old-fashioned typewriter.
Grammerly Premium ($25/month) – This software is an upgrade on the free grammar-check program. Worth it if your writer struggles with word tenses or spelling.
Scapple ($18 for Mac or Windows) – This is a virtual whiteboard where you can jot down notes or ideas and connect them to see how the whole plot line will work.
Scrivener ($50) – This is a word processing program that combines Microsoft Word with a corkboard – write your manuscript, divide it into chapters and move those around however you want, keep track of research and story details, and even import websites for later.
Kate & Laurel Calter Framed Linen Fabric Pin Board ($55.20) – A luxury pin board for your writer’s maps, notes, photos, etc.
Quartet Magnetic Whiteboard ($18) – The magnetic part means you can also pin photos and other papers onto the whiteboard.
Sony ICDUX560BLK Digital Voice Recorder ($157) – A slim, pocket-sized recorder for your writer.
Pilot Varsity Fountain Pen 6-Pack ($13) – A six-pack of inexpensive fountain pens for the writer who loses theirs.
Tripar Postcard Stand ($8.50) – A tiny (4”) easel to hold a postcard or photo to inspire your writer.
Rayo & Honey Let the Work Speak Pennant ($75) – A quality pennant to inspire your writer.
Noise-Canceling Headphones ($180+) – Just what the writer needs to get away from the distractions of the world.
Literary Insults Poster ($25) – An entertaining poster full of literary insults to inspire your writer.GFDA
Classic Advice Poster ($50) or family friendly version (censored) – The original version drops the F-bomb, while the family-friendly version whites them out.
Masterclass Writing Courses $180/year or $15/month) – Hundreds of different classes, many of them by authors and screenwriters. Right now they’re doing a “Buy One, Send One to a Friend” sale.
Membership in a Writing Group or Guild (Price will vary)
You’ll need to do a bit of Googling for this one. Find the national or international guild for your writer’s genre (nearly every genre has one) and pay for a year’s membership. Or seek out the local writing group and do the same.
Scrabble Themed Edition ($40) – The original game packaged in a hardback “book.” Also comes in a Harry Potter themed version or a Retro 1949 version.
Magnetic Poetry Kit ($20) – Magnetic words to arrange and rearrange; also comes in a Happiness Kit, F-Word Kit, Little Box of Smut Kit, Queer Kit, Obscenities Kit, and Moist & Other Awful Words Kit.
Bananagrams ($10) – Scrabble in a bag; this is a timed anagram game that will test your writer’s vocabulary.
Storymatic ($30) – “Six trillion stories in one little box.” A card game you can play alone or with a group.
Bookends (prices vary) – Gift your writer with a unique set of bookends for their collection (we know they have one).
Bookworm Ring ($15) – A silver wrap-around ring that says “Bookworm.” Who doesn’t need one?
Quotation Wall Art ($29) – This “floating” art quotes Ben Franklin: “Either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.
Litographs T-Shirt or Poster (prices vary) – Litographs uses the text of literary classics to create artwork from that novel. They sell tote bags, pillows, blankets, scarves, hoodies, and puzzles too.
Dixit Game ($44) – For three to six players; use the beautifully-illustrated cards to tell a story.
Do Not Disturb Sign ($8) – This is a hotel-style “Do Not Disturb: Writer at Work” sign for your doorknob.
Enamel Pins ($15) – This is a set of two pins: a cup of coffee and a typewriter to show the world what your writer does.
Punk Rock Authors Tote ($20) – A canvas tote bag with various classical authors reimagined as punk rockers.
My Coffee & Book Club ($32/month) – Choose whole bean or ground coffee and a book genre from their list. Each month your writer will get 12-oz of coffee and two new hardbacks in the genre you pick.
Scribbler Gift Subscription ($28/month) – Every month your writer gets a surprise box of gifts, teaching booklets, a signed novel and a chat with an editor.BestSelf
Wordsmith Card Deck ($25) – 150 writing prompts to cure writer’s block and sharpen writing skills.
Magnetic Notebook ($9-$30) – These notebooks have magnetic pages so you can rearrange them any way you wish.
Lumio Book Lamp ($200) – It looks like a book, but when you open it and fan out the pages, it’s an LED lamp.
Typewriter Keychain ($2.50) – A silver typewriter on a keychain.
Tequila Mockingbird $15) – “Cocktails with a Literary Twist.” This is a book of literary cocktails like “The Last of the Mojitos” and “Romeo and Juliep.”
Novel Teas ($13.50) – “Read ‘em and steep.” A box of teabags with literary quotes.
Literary Enamel Pins (prices vary – and are in euros) – This international company sells a variety of imaginative enamel pins, from a stack of books to the cover of a literary classic.
Adult Coloring Books ($10-15) – Coloring books for the writer, with versions like Edgar Allen Poe or William Shakespeare.
Book Coasters ($20) – Wooden coasters disguised as famous novels.
Literary Puzzles (prices vary – and are in euros) – This international company also makes literary jigsaw puzzles.
The Little Library Cookbook ($25) – 100 recipes from your favorite classics.
BookBook for Mac ($90-100) – This is a zippered leather shell for your 13- or 16-inch Macbook laptop. It looks just like an antique book and I can’t tell you the number of compliments I’ve gotten for mine.
Dead Writer Perfumes ($5+ with a $30 sample pack) – Perfumes inspired by famous (dead) writers.
Literary Scarves ($48) – These scarves are covered with quotations from your favorite books.
Your writer will be overjoyed to receive any of these gifts or stocking stuffers. And you’ve still got nearly a week to order!
What do you get for that writer in your life?
Here are some great gift ideas for you:
- Software: Scrivener is one of the best writing platforms out there in my humble opinion – it’s $45 (unless you won NaNoWriMo and got the discounted price) and it’s fantastic. It’s like a virtual cork board where you can post not only your scenes (and move them around however you want), but research ideas, websites, photos, character sketches and settings.
- A spa day: check out your local spa and get your writer away from the keyboard for a couple of hours of relaxation. They’ll thank you afterwards.
- A new notebook – Here’s a great Top 10 List of the sorts of notebooks out there today. I like Moleskine myself, but there are lots of different types available. Pick something your writer would love.
- A keyboard for their iPad – I’ve got one of these and it’s great. You can type just like a laptop, but you’ve got the portability of the iPad. Plus, it comes in a nice leather case.
- A laptop bag or general tote bag – there are so many choices out there that I’m not going to pick just one. Browse your local leather store for a high-end bag, or just check out Amazon or Cafepress.
- A magazine subscription – get your writer a subscription to their favorite magazine, whether it’s Writer’s Digest or Poets & Writers.
- A writing conference – for this, you’ll have to either consult with your writer or be super-sneaky because you have to know which conference your writer wants to attend. Either pay the entire fee or contribute toward the total. This might make a good group gift.
- New pens – you can spend anything from a few bucks to several thousand, depending on what sort of pen you’d like to gift.
- Free time – arrange for your writer to have the time they need to write. Do the chores for a day. Take the kids to the zoo. Give your writer a day at a local hotel. Whatever it takes.
Don’t know what to get that writer for Christmas? Here are some great ideas:
A genuine Leather Notebook 
Aqua Notes for those ideas that pop up in the shower 
An iPad and tablet workstation
Writer’s Block … literally
An Out of Print shirt or tote bag – out of print book titles
Writer’s Remedy – a bottle of magnetic words
Space Age Pen – writes at any angle, any temperature
Typewriter key jewelry
Something from Litographs – literary shirts, totes, even tattoos
The Rumpus Mug – just read it … your writer will agree
A good, solid bag
Bookends, of course 
The Storymatic – 6 trillion stories in one box
Writer’s Block soap
A writer’s clock 
An antique (or reproduction) portable writing desk
Journals, of course
A smartass mug 
A really nice pen and/or pencil set
An actual typewriter
And, of course … books!
Books about writing or books just for reading
And for those with a little more money to spend:
- A session with a literary editor
- A stay at a writing retreat (or just a nice, quiet hotel)
- The mod notebook – a notebook that syncs to the cloud
Here are some shots from the convention. We all had a great time, and it was a real pleasure to meet all of my online writing buddies!
Off to the largest science fiction convention in the US … perhaps the world.
For the next four days, we’ll be shoving our way through 65,000 people – most of whom will be in costumes – and trying to find our way to the next panel we want to see.
It’s going to be awesome!
Considering my genre, it’s natural for me to watch Westerns! Here are just a few of my favorites for you to check out.
Rio Bravo: John Wayne and Dean Martin defend the town from a corrupt rancher. Features a very young Ricky Nelson.
The Sacketts: based on Louis L’Amour’s books and starring Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott, and Jeff Osterhage. There’s another Elliott/Selleck/L’Amour story called The Shadow Riders, which is also very good.
El Dorado: another version of Rio Bravo actually, with John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and James Caan fighting evil Ed Asner.
Heck, I’ll watch almost anything with John Wayne in it!
Tombstone: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott and Bill Paxton as the Earps and Doc Holliday.
The Magnificent Seven: Seven gunslingers come to the aid of a Mexican village.
Dances with Wolves: Kevin Costner and Graham Greene in the story of a Civil War soldier learning about the Lakota tribe.
And for sheer silliness…
Blazing Saddles: Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder try to save the town of Rock Ridge from corrupt Harvey Korman.
10,000 Likes already! Wow, what a great bunch of fans you guys are.
The lads are giving away some swag again – Chance is donating a deck of cards (a Down the Owlhoot Trail style deck, of course) and Kye has tinkered something together for you from his workshop.
Along with this, I’m donating a copy of the anthology and some author swag to go with it.
Five lucky winners will be chosen at random.
TO ENTER: comment below and answer this question: What mischief should a couple of outlaws get up to while they’re trying to go straight? Remember to include a name and email address so that I can contact you if you win.
Who knows, I may even use your ideas in a future novel – credited, of course!
Contest ends February 14, 2015
I attended my first writing conference last year. Oh, I’ve been going to DragonCon’s writing track for years, so I figured I’d pretty much heard everything I needed about writing. I was going for the chance to pitch my book to an agent or editor. Maybe I’d pick up a couple of new ideas, but I was paying for that face-time.
Boy, was I wrong.
I did meet a lot of agents and editors – and other authors, who are not only great people to talk with, but can help you connect with even more agents, authors, and editors. I did pitch my ideas, and even got positive results from all of them.
But I also learned more than just a couple of new ideas. We had lectures like “Treating Your Story’s Setting as a Main Character” and “Crafting a Gripping Opening” and “World Building 101.” We wrote, and we critiqued each other’s work. We shared ideas and websites and contact information.
We had classes on social media, and on publicizing yourself and your books. I think I learned more in one day than I’d learned in two years of playing around on Facebook. My Facebook author page – and I learned to set up a separate page for that instead of using my personal page – went from a few friends to over 3,000 in around six months, and it’s still growing.
If you’ve never attended a writing conference, save up the funds and go! You’ll learn a lot more than you think you will, plus you’ll meet all those people who will play an important role in your career later on. The contacts you make now can only help you in the future.
Plus, it’s just a whole lot of fun.
What’s the best conference you’ve ever attended — or the one you’ve always dreamed of attending?