by Lynn Huggins Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn
Lynn Huggins Blackburn believes in the power of stories, especially those that remind us that true love exists, a gift from the Truest Love. She’s passionate about CrossFit, coffee, and chocolate (don’t make her choose) and experimenting with recipes that feed both body and soul. She lives in South Carolina with her true love, Brian, and their three children. You can follow her real life happily ever after at http://www.lynnhugginsblackburn.com.
I love
giving gifts.
If I could, I would give gifts to
E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y. My husband argues that I come close, but he has no idea how
much effort I put into restraining myself!
In an effort
to stick to my budget, I’ve been thinking of ways to give gifts to some of my
favorite people…the writers who touch my life in so many meaningful and
positive ways.
Most of these suggestions won’t cost you more than
few minutes of your time, but will mean the world to the recipient.
(Feel free to share this list with the people in
your life who don’t write, but love a writer or two!)
For the pre-published writer:
1. Pray. This costs you nothing, but will have eternal
impact. Writing is often a solitary and emotionally draining endeavor. Pray for
strength, creativity and for their words to light the world on fire.
2. Send a note. Shoot them an email or
send them a message on Facebook. If you know their mailing address, send them a
Christmas card with a handwritten note. Tell them how much you enjoyed their
last post or that you’ve been praying for them as they re-write their novel. I
keep every note anyone has ever written me because that kind of encouragement
is worth far more than any monetary gift.
3. Share Their Posts. Do you have friends who
don’t have a book contract, but they are blogging their hearts out? Share the
love. Repost on Facebook. Tweet their tweetables. You know people they
don’t and you can reach people they can’t. Help them get their message out.
4. Give Them a +1 on Their Posts. This is another way to share a post, and you do have to have a Google account. But's only one click and is valuable. A lot of publishers (and agents) check to see how many +1s a site racks up.
5. Subscribe to their Blog/Newsletter. For reasons we do not have
time to go into here, there is no way to be sure you are seeing every post from
your favorite writer unless you’ve subscribed via email. Publishers know
this, and the number of Twitter followers or Facebook friends don’t mean nearly
as much to them as the number of e-mail subscribers. Help your writer
friends and SUBSCRIBE. You can usually find the “subscribe” button in the
sidebar or at the bottom of a post. If you can’t find it, ask! Your writer
friend will thank you!
6. Comment. This is super easy when
you see a post on Facebook, and it means a lot to the writer to know someone
read it and liked it. If you’ve got a few more seconds, take the time to leave
a comment on the actual blog post. You’ll make your favorite writer smile.
7. Time. If you know the writer personally and want to
go big this Christmas, give them the gift of time. It can be as simple as
watching the kids for an afternoon so they can work, or as big as sending them
on a writing retreat or encouraging them to go to a conference and helping them
figure out how to swing the childcare/travel/work issues involved. No writer
would be sad to see that kind of gift under the tree!
For the published author:
1. All of the above. Most published authors
have Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and Newsletters. Many blog regularly or
semi-regularly. Subscribe, follow, repost, retweet, comment. They need that!
They also still have to find time to write and their “numbers” matter more than
ever before.
2. Pray harder. The stress that comes with
publication is a whole new animal. Pray for wisdom and endurance. Pray for
favor with their audience, for grace when the negative reviews come (they will)
and a level head when the positive reviews come (they will).
3. Share your excitement. When an author signs a
contract or releases a new book, share it on your own social media sites.
Encourage friends to buy their books. Even if you haven’t read it yet, you can
still spread the news. If you have read it, talk about it on Facebook or
Twitter. A brief post that says, “I just read THE BEST BOOK EVER by “THE
MOST AWESOME AUTHOR” is all it takes. Tag the author when you do it so they can
see it.
4. Buy their books. I know you can’t buy them
all. But many of us spent more on coffee this week than we have on books in the
last month (or year). **Bonus gift points if you pre-order a book, order it the
day it comes out, or support both your favorite author and your local bookstore
and buy it in person.** Those sales numbers matter and none of the authors I
know are getting rich. Every sale makes a difference!
5. REVIEW THE BOOK! Once you’ve read it, get
on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, or Christianbook and post a review.
**Bonus gift points for posting a review on multiple sites!** It doesn’t have
to be long. Just a few words that say how much you enjoyed the book and why.
Positive reviews on these sites are gold to authors.
6. Give their books as gifts. You’ve got to buy
presents anyway, right? So why not give books! (And don't forget you can give ebooks just as easily as the print version.)
As you can see, most of these gifts focus on
encouraging the writers in your life. Can you think of other ways to support
writers?
Don’t forget to join the conversation!
Lynn
TWEETABLES
Great post! Sharing on (ugh) Facebook & G+!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the love, Tom!
DeleteCreative gift giving ideas, Lynn!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michelle!
DeleteAwesome and timely info. Thanks, Lynn. Volunteering as a beta reader is another great gift.
ReplyDeleteAndrea,
DeleteThat's an awesome idea. Excellent addition to the list! Thank you!
Lynn, you and I were on the same writers' wavelength this morning with our blog posts. I wrote about writers gifts that last all year long (Under the title Gift Ideas for Writers: Think Hot Tamales and Sonic Cherry Limeade). It's code for things like support, prayer, and time. :)
ReplyDeleteBeth,
DeleteLove being on the same wavelength with you! I have a friend who has been known to pop by my house with a McDonald's tea, just to help me through a deadline. Hot tamales and Sonic Cherry Limeade - I bet a writer could burn up the keyboard with an infusion like that!
Loved all your suggestions. As a pre-pubbed writer, your list of gifts would be fabulous! :) And, you've given me some great tips on what to "gift" to my published friends. I like giving their books as gifts. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Lynn!
Jeanne - I'm glad you like the list. I'm with you...I'd be pretty happy to find any of these under my tree, in my stocking, pretty much anywhere...I'm not picky! Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteI try to do these things, but your post is a good reminder of just how important each one is. If we want to be encouraged, we have to be encouragers. Thanks for a great post, Lynn.
ReplyDeleteI would like to say that this blog really convinced me to do it! Thanks, very good post.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.luckies.co.uk
Good ideas! Those gift for writers are perfect.
ReplyDelete