You’ve pillaged the nearest towns. You’ve ransacked every bookery you can find. And yet, your desperate search has not ended.
What can you get your writer friends for Christmas?
Have no fear! I’m here to present to you a list of items for you to get them that they are sure to enjoy and thank you endlessly for!
- Buy yourself their book(s). So, yes, this means you get to get something for yourself, but it’s insanely encouraging when a friend picks up a book that I’m in. If you’re looking to get something for me, might I suggest picking up A Celebration of Storytelling?
- Once you’ve bought their book(s), read them. And if it’s an anthology, read the whole thing. You might find other authors you like, too! Those authors need Christmas gifts, too. Not as much as your author friend, sure, but it’s the season of giving, right?
- If you enjoyed what your author friend wrote, tell them! Drop them a line. And please tell them more than, “I liked it!” Tell them something specific, like, “When that living lasagna turned out to be the hero and not the villain, I literally squeeed!”
- Generally, if their writing makes you squee, let them know. We all need a good squee every once in a while.
- Leave a review of their book on Amazon and Goodreads. Other than actually purchasing their works, this is literally the best gift you could give. The more reviews a book has, the more the algorithm will push that book so other people get the chance to see it. The more people who see it, the more people who buy it. And then your writer friend is one step closer to global domination, and that’s what they’re really after.
- If it fits in your budget, give your writer friends global domination.
- Recommend their book(s) to friends or give them as gifts. Giving the gift of more loyal readers is a gift that keeps on giving. You don’t have to wrap up your friends and give them to the writer, though. I mean, you could, I suppose, but usually writers don’t need more people running around their domiciles.
- Cookies.
- If you live with or near the author, offer to free up some time so the writer can write more. This might mean watching their children, doing their laundry, going to work for them if they’re not a full-time writer, taking care of their pet dragons, or even doing their Christmas shopping for them. If you’ve already gotten them global domination, this gift is probably redundant.
- Or just do all this all the time, since most writers are in such a word-induced haze that they don’t realize what time of year it is anyway. Any of these gifts are appropriate at any time, really, and if the writer tried to write something seasonal, they probably had to finish it months ago to prep it in time for seasonal publication.
So if you happen to have writer friends, I hope this list was helpful! Whatever holidays you celebrate, I hope this time gives you a chance to find some rest!
Jonathon Mast: Author 