Yes, that’s right, we’ve reached December again! That magical time when the weeks fly by in a flurry of to-do lists, gift buying, and trying to finish the goals we wanted to achieve this year before next year’s new ones kick in.

It’s a frantic time, especially for writers on deadlines or those fresh off NaNoWriMo. We might have had a big year of writing, achieving lifelong dreams, and releasing books. Or yet another year of shifting goalposts, rejections, and more of the waiting-for-my-turn sameness.

No matter the year a writer has had, their achievements deserve to be celebrated, and what better way to do that than with bookish gifts. And what better time to give gifts than during the holiday season!

For some classic writer gifts, check out, A Holiday Gift Guide For The Writer In Your Life. For some new ideas, keep reading…

More Holiday Gifts For The Writer In Your Life

A Whiteboard

One key to achieving writing goals is being organized enough to get the writing done, and a great way to get organized is with a whiteboard!

If the writer in your life doesn’t already have one, a whiteboard makes the perfect gift.

They can use it to write down their ideas, plan goals, brainstorm plots, or create a whiteboard to-do list of all their author tasks.

Whiteboards come in so many sizes and styles nowadays that there’s bound to be one to fit every writer’s needs and tastes. Don’t forget some colorful whiteboard markers and a cloth so they can write and erase to their heart’s content.

Book-Entrepreneur Equipment

Regardless of whether your writer’s words are reaching the world via a publishing house or their own publishing imprint, they need to be their own book-entrepreneur for promoting their work via social media. It’s a huge task, so anything that can help with that will be a gift well-received.

Lucky for you and your writer, equipment such as lightboxes (pictured above) for snapping quality images of their books, ring lights for videos or author photos, and microphones that’ll help them make professional videos, podcasts, or even their own audiobook, can be bought everywhere and for any budget, so track some equipment down and give the gift of book-entrepreneur!

Books About Writing

Writing is one of those crafts no one ever masters, which means there are always new tips and tricks to learn.

Thankfully, there’s an abundance of books regarding the craft of writing. A visit to your local bookshop or a browse of your favorite online store should give you plenty of options.

Anything on plot, structure, editing, drafting, or characters would be ideal for any writer, as would a volume or two from the super helpful Writers Helping Writers Thesaurus Collection by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.

Merch For Their Book

Every writer’s dream is to one day see their book on the shelf of a bookstore or in a reader’s shelfie on Instagram. We’d also like to see our book cover everywhere.

While that might only happen to a lucky few, and an even luckier few whose book cover will evolve into movie posters or shine from the bright screen of a Netflix adaption, there is a way to give the writer in your life a book merch fix.

Plenty of online stores will turn any image into an array of objects, including mugs, posters, cushions, throws, bookmarks, and even calendars! (see the image below for the book mech created when my debut novel, Blackbirch: The Beginning launched).

If your writer has a book cover, turn it into a work of art for them, or at the very least, a tote bag they can show off when shopping those post-Christmas sales.

If they don’t have a ready-made cover you can use, get creative and craft one for them or have it made by someone who knows how to create such things.

Seeing their book, or something related to it, in a framed picture they can hang above their writer’s desk or on their mug as they sip their tea is guaranteed to put a smile on your writer’s face, which turns it into a gift for you too.

Writing Courses

Another gift idea, and something a writer might not purchase for themselves, is an online course.

Online courses are great because they go at their own pace, which makes them ideal for any writer who works and/or parents full-time.

Writing courses in your area are only a Google search away, or I can recommend anything through the Writing Mastery Academy and the AWC, as someone who has completed numerous courses with both institutions.

A Reward Jar

One simple gift, and something that’s been a mainstay on my writing desk for a few years, is a reward jar (pictured below, photo taken in a lightbox).

The purpose of this jar is to hold goodies for when your writer hits a milestone like finishing a draft, editing an entire book, or for those days when the words aren’t flowing and they need a pick-me-up.

Fill the jar with lollies, chocolates, or ideas for rewards written on pieces of paper if foodstuffs aren’t your writer’s thing.

When it’s time to reward a job well done, a treat or ideas like a massage, a new book, or a night out will keep the gift-giving active all year round.

A Phone Jail

This time of year, you might have seen this stocking stuffer—which looks like a mini jail cell—presented as a gag gift. The truth is, it’s actually useful if your writer gets distracted easily (raises hand).

The desire to procrastinate is strong in writers, and our phones are the perfect way to do it, especially if we’ve been using our book-entrepreneur equipment to make new reels for Instagram and want to check how it’s doing every five minutes.

A phone jail could be the right gift to keep those distractions at bay. If you see one and think your writer will get a laugh out of it, but also secretly love it because taking away their phone will keep them on track, get them one!

It, or any of the other gift ideas on this list, could be just what your writer needs to put them on track to fulfilling their writing goals.

Happy gift-giving!

— K.M. Allan

What’s the best writing-related gift you’ve received or given? Let’s talk about it in the comments!

Find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.