1. Sony ebook reader ($250 -300) or Amazon's Kindle ($400.00)
2. Gift basket: paper (minimum 20lbs quality), gift card to an office supply store, pens, small notebooks to carry around and jot ideas, $5.00 gift card to Bread Co/coffee shop with wifi, bookstore gift card, #10 envelopes, 9x12 envelopes, stamps - any combo ($30-?)
3. Subscription to mediabistro.com: They have how to pitch articles with the inside scoop on magazines and a great freelance job board. ($49.00)
4. Subscription to writersmarket.com: Lists writing markets and contact info on countless magazines and book publishers (One year is $29.00, two years is 44.99. Or pay by the month at $3.99 so they can see if they like it.
5. Christina Katz book Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids - an outstanding book for beginning writers plus great tips for those already published. She also has a great list of other writing books on her website. (10.19 plus shipping)
6. Writer's Digest ($19.96) or Poets and Writers Magazine ($14.97)
7. Laptop, if you have the funds for such things (they have some great sales at Dell right now)
8. Glimmer Train subscription - great short story writing to inspire the writer within
9. If your writer is aspiring to magazines, an online course at The Renegade Writer would be a great start for the new year (around $120 for a basic course).
10. My manservant, Manolo