Spoiling the Writer in Your Life: Gifts for the Author & Aspiring Author
Do you have an author or an aspiring writer in your life? If they are still aspiring then they may not know how expensive this writing life can be… if they are an author, then they definitely know how all of your royalties can be gobbled up quickly.
As a “indie” author and publisher, I have eleven author “bills” or expenses each month plus some annual subscriptions. Yes, I know eleven bills that’s more than many houses, but I run a pretty lean model, because I devour business books. There are authors and publishers with more and some with less.
Long gone are the days when all you needed was a good imagination, pen and paper or a typewriter and ribbon, even though many writers are closet journal and planner hoarders. And I’ve got dreams of finding a typewriter to sit in my writing space. I won’t use it, I’ll just stare at it for inspiration.
Here is my author gift guide for the holiday season that lets you spoil your author or future author.
Let’s start with the Free Stuff…
2020 has been a terrible year for almost everyone’s wallet. So, if you can’t shell out cash for a gift. How about sharing some information?
Connect your writer with local writer and author groups if they don’t already belong to one. Search your library and local bookstores for group postings, or introduce them to an organization like Shut Up & Write, or NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month.
Help them find writing contests and writing fellowships! Providing them with a list of places to start if they don’t know, or haven’t started to research can be a lovely gift.
Let’s shell out some money now… some under $10
A Kindle Unlimited subscription
I know this is gonna seem weird, but writers need to read. If you have a writer in your life who doesn't read, they're gonna burn out their creativity. Did you know you could purchase a Kindle Unlimited subscription for someone else? You can buy one month ($9.99) up to two years ($143.80)! Check out the different levels of KU gifting here.
If a two year KU subscription is a little too much, offer pay off their library fines!
My daughter FlamingoLegs got me one for my birthday and it's one of the best things that sits on my desk. I'd be one of those people who would go make myself a fresh cup of coffee, start writing, and then 40 minutes later look up to a cold cup of coffee. Check it out here
As much as I try to be paperless that means I have relied more on electronics. So the more things I have on my desk means the more cords I have - a digital picture frame, my laptop for home, my laptop for work, my charging cords for my phones, the printer cord, the headphones, all of these things just add up to me having a spider's web of electronic cords hanging everywhere! Detangle those cords!
Here are a few more items…
Get them a custom designed logo with their pen name, book them a literary consultant or developmental editor, or even a photographer for headshots.
A wax seal
This is gonna seem really irreverent, but if you have an author who's a friend and they already have their own logo. You can order a wax seal or rubber stamp with their autograph or their logo on it for them to use. I know this because my friend, Alexis D Craig (check out her latest, A Sugar Moon) bought me one with the R & U logo!
There are also the standards - external hard drive, blank journals, lined journals, and my favorite dotted journals (I’m using a Vivid Scribbles), planners.
Books on writing!
Dictionaries, thesaurus, and books on the writing craft.
Five of the top ones recommended to me, and I now recommend to others are –
1. The Art of War for Writers: Fiction Writing Strategies, Tactics, and Exercises
2. Manuscript Makeover: Revision Techniques No Fiction Writer Can Afford to Ignore
3. Writing the Breakout Novel: Winning Advice from a Top Agent and His Best-selling Client
4. 365 Erotic Writing Prompts: A Journal Of Daily Creativity Exercises
5. If your writer is looking to do traditional publishing, Writer's Market 2020: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published
I sourced out to some of my other author friends for things that they would like to receive. Marina J. (check out her latest, Speak. Say. Do. said she wants stuff that makes her office and her writing environment more peaceful. I couldn’t agree more, I have candles by the caseload, and often sage my space. Not everyone is into candles the way I am, but they may love this essential oil diffuser.
Nikki Clarke (check out her latest, Nothing but the Wolf in Me ) said cash! Many of her other writer friends are doing fellowships and those may look inexpensive, but they are definitely not for those low on funds. Nikki also recommends a good writing chair.
All of my other writer buddies mentioned one subscription or another: everything from Adobe to Grammarly to Photoshop to Vellum. Stella Williams (check out her latest, Earnest) suggested a tea subscription.
I’ll add to the subscription list with a stock photo or bookkeeping software because we need some way to add up the money when those royalties start rolling in!
