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The Literary Hub Gift Guide:
50 Gifts for Writers

EVERYTHING BUT BOOKS

Writers can be hard to shop for. Like everyone, really. Would the writer in your life enjoy a novelty notebook that says “Eat, Pray, Read”? (Probably not, but you know them best, if indeed you do know them at all.) Would the writer in your life prefer an all-expenses-paid writing retreat, or perhaps some kind of cruise? (Likely the former, but as for the latter, it really depends on the strength of their stomach.)

If you’re clueless, you’re not alone. For the record, we suspect that, no matter their individual proclivities, your personal favorite writer would enjoy positive online reviews, earnest praise, and/or your services turning their books face out in the bookstore, but alas, the best things in life cannot be linked.

So for those who like to wrap, Literary Hub is here to help, with fifty (50) suggestions, from the painfully practical to the absurdly frivolous, from the cool to the corny, from the obviously literary to more universal (but beloved by literary people, like our editors), from $6 to $6,000. The only rule is no books, because it’s actually impossible to buy books for writers. The ones they want, they usually already have.

READ THE FULL LIST

Kaweco Sport Fountain Pen, $100

If your personal writer drafts by hand, you can’t do any better than this pen, which our Podcasts Editor Drew Broussard calls “the nicest pen I have ever used.” There are many varieties; Drew specifies the metal, but if you just want to dip your toe in, the plastic ones are about a third of the price.

Oni!! Clips, $46

For your close personal surrealist, and/or the writer who has everything, consider an enormous paperclip (or two). Like degrees in English Literature, they seem frivolous, but are actually super versatile, if you can muster up a little imagination. So we keep telling our parents, anyway.

Meta Puzzle, $40

Managing Editor Emily Temple recommends pairing a Libro.fm membership with a puzzle (or several), for a relaxing evening activity perfect for writers who have been staring into a screen all day, and also who need a task they can actually finish (eventually). She likes both metafiction and metapuzzles, like the above,

but any will do.

Pocket Notepad, $10

Our Staff Writer Brittany Allen describes herself as “the unpaid spokesperson for all Appointed journal products,” so you can’t go wrong. This one will go wherever your favorite writer does; if they tend to be pocketless, Appointed also makes one that fits on a keychain. (There are regular sizes too.)