CHRISTMAS GIFTS WRITERS REALLY WANT (Because they already have too many mugs and candles!)

With December well and truly here you might be thinking about what Christmas or festive gift to buy for the writer in your life. While we all love a coffee mug with a witty writing quote on it to drink from while we draft our future bestseller, or a candle that smells like an old bookshop here are some ideas that we think authors will love!

And if you're a writer yourself then send this post to someone else, as a not-so-subtle hint, so Santa knows what to get you for the big day!

1) An e-gift card for Secret Writing Retreats. Obviously, we would suggest this but it can also be a budget friendly option as they can be in any denomination from £1 upwards and are sent by email so great for that last minute Christmas Eve purchase. They can be redeemed against any of our writing retreats, or prose and pastries events. Buy here.

E-gift card example from Secret Writing Retreats

2) Up your notebook game with a personalised journal. We love the ones from papier (Why not get it personalised with a future pen name or book title 😊)

Personalised notebook from Papier

3) A subscription to something writing themed. We particularly love Mslexia for women writers, Writers Online for online and magazine subscriptions and Bookishly for their bookish subscription boxes.

4) If you're looking for something that's going to set them up for writing for the whole of 2026 then check out our retreat day for January with award winning writer Liam Brown as our guest author. There's currently still early bird tickets available for £100. It promises to be an amazing event that will transform your writing and give you a workable plan to keep you going throughout the year. Check out the event here.

Author, Liam Brown

5) And finally, every writer loves books! There's lots of fantastic independent bookshops to buy from, ensuring you're supporting local businesses too.

Some of our favourites across Warwickshire where we are based, include Kenilworth Books Warwick Books and we also love The Spicy Librarian for Romantasy and Romance books.