Cyber Monday ~ Gift Ideas for the Writer in Your Life

/ Joan Hall

Hi, SE readers. Joan here today on this Monday after Thanksgiving, AKA Cyber Monday. Hope all of you in the US had a wonderful holiday and for those of you brave enough to fight the Black Friday crowds, I hope you survived relatively unscathed.

I’m not a shopper. I don’t like crowds and I’m not one to window shop. I go only if I need something, get what I want, and leave the stores as soon as possible. (My husband loves that.) However, online shopping is another matter.

Speaking of which, Christmas is just around the corner and I thought it would be fun to quiz my fellow SE authors on what they thought are the best gifts for authors. Needless to say, we came up with a few ideas. (Of note, whenever I post a link, I don’t have any affiliation with the site and receive no monetary compensation for mentioning their product.)

  • Scrivener – in my opinion, this is one of the best tools a writer can have. If you’ve followed Story Empire for a while, you’ve probably read a few posts by P. H. on using this software. It comes in both Mac and PC versions. You can purchase a copy for the writer in your life from Literature and Latte.
  • One Stop for Writers – I’m a big fan of the thesaurus collection of books by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. Some of these are The Emotion Thesaurus, The Positive Trait Thesaurus, and The Rural Setting Thesaurus. A year or so ago, Angela and Becca began the One Stop for Writers Website. There you will find all the thesaurus collections as well as idea generators, checklists and templates, story maps and more. Gift certificates are available.
  • Laptops – does the writer in your life need a new computer? Many places offer some awesome Cyber Monday deals.
  • Post-it notes, pens, and small notebooks. Writers look for ideas wherever we go, so having plenty of pens and pocket size notebooks are essential. Story ideas often come at the oddest times or unusual places.
  • Coffee – we writers often burn the midnight oil, so we need plenty of caffeine to keep us awake. Staci says that anyone who buys her espresso gets bonus points. Even our UK author, Harmony, mentioned coffee. Of course, I’m the weird one who doesn’t drink it. Iced tea serves me fine, morning or evening, winter or summer.
  • Chocolate – because we all need a little comfort food.
  • Gift cards for books – most writers are also readers. Amazon gift cards are a great idea.
  • Writing apps – these are available from various retailers. Make sure you know if your writer uses a Mac or PC.
  • Music – many writers listen to music while they write. An iTunes gift card or a subscription for Spotify is a great idea.
  • An under the desk bicycle – because we sit for hours and need the exercise. These range in price, but I found a relatively inexpensive one on Amazon.
  • Electric tea kettle and Russian Caravan Tea – these are on Craig’s wish list.
  • Lava lamp – Mae said she asked her husband for one a few years back. These are great for ambiance.
  • I mentioned gift cards for books, but who doesn’t like any type of gift card? Treat the writer in your life with a gift card to their favorite restaurant, Starbucks, or their favorite retailer.

As you can see, we’ve come up with a few ideas here. One of the best things you can do for your favorite author is buy their books. And don’t forget to leave a review. We need (and appreciate) them.

How about you other authors out there? What are some of your favorite writing-related gifts?

34 thoughts on “Cyber Monday ~ Gift Ideas for the Writer in Your Life”

  1. Pingback: What’s New With Scrivener 3? | Story Empire

  5. I love to shop, though not so much this time of year when I have to battle crowds and worry about packed parking lots. I did brave Good Friday for a short while, but headed home before things got too crazy.

    I love the way this post came together. What fun! And although I have two of the thesauruses you mentioned, I had no idea about the website. I’ve already hopped over and created an account!

    Liked by 2 people

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  9. A nice fun post, Joan, with lots of great ideas getting thrown around. I’ll be sure to check out the resources you’ve mentioned! Coffee and music keep me going 😃

    Liked by 3 people

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  10. Already some good ideas being added to the list by our trusty viewers. I’m going to have to send my family a link to this post… and remind them to check the comments, too!

    Joan, I used to love shopping, but not anymore. I’ll be partaking in Cyber Monday sales… anything to avoid the stores! (My daughter, on the other hand, loves to shop and got great deals on Black Friday. To each her own, I guess.)

    Great post, Joan.

    Liked by 3 people

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    • Absolutely forward this to your family. I’ll point mine in this direction also. 😉 I used to shop but I just don’t like the crowds these days. When I do go, I go with a purpose, get what I need, and return home. We went to the movies on Friday and believe it or not, the malls and shopping center parking lots weren’t that crowded. Either people are losing interest or they go on Thursday nights now.

      Liked by 3 people

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  13. Joan, I’m not a fan of crowds too but I love shopping and I try to do my shopping when I’m less likely to be crushed by the crowd (if I can). For instance, yesterday I went to a local fair with my mom. It’s the event that starts the Christmas season for me and I usually find a lot of presents there. We went early in the morning and left as soon as the crowd of midday arrived.

    For what concerns presents for writers… If the writer in your life is an early bird or a night owl something to keep her warm might be a good idea (i.e. I saw a pair of slippers you can connect to your laptop through a usb port and they get warm).

    I think there isn’t a writer who doesn’t love mugs with quotes. Why don’t have a personalized one with a quote from his/her own book?

    And notebooks… You already said but it’s never stated too often. A notebook given to a writer isn’t only a pretty piece of office supply. It has a purpose… And they are never enough.

    Liked by 4 people

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    • Shopping at a local fair sounds like fun. I might even get into that. I used to spend hours in book and music stores, perusing the aisles for a new novel or new album to buy. (Yes, with vinyl records, I’m dating myself.) Now that online shopping has arrived, I just don’t get out to the stores that often.

      Great idea about the coffee mugs. I should have remembered to add that!

      Liked by 3 people

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