| Hey, I got my first Kindle on this holiest of days fourteen years ago. Yegads. I was a print diehard at the time and only really bought it to check my formatting. And I guess you could say that it changed how I write too because I immediately realized how long and unwieldy many of my paragraphs were for readers who consumed my books this way. Aside from changing how I write, it changed how I read, and how I shop for books. How I discover books, more fundamentally. I suppose it also got me hooked on Black Friday too because I've built half my business using cheap tools, software, and equipment I picked up on this happiest of holidays. You see, when I started self-publishing, I barely had two pennies to rub together. I had moved to Sweden to be with my partner who was just starting grad school in Stockholm, and I couldn't get a job over there – not even shoveling snow! And they had plenty of that to go around, says you. Anyway, I gave myself a job instead and haven't looked back since. Black Friday allowed me to buy the tools and equipment I needed to turn pro, and to grow my operation year after year. It's also handy when I do things slightly less smart like leaving my Kindle on a bus. Which means I'm paying particular attention to the first item on this year's list of the 25 best Black Friday Deals for Writers – helping you with everything from creation to promotion, and all ports between. That's right, your trusty Deals Sherpa is back to guide you towards the Range of Good Purchases and – even more importantly – steer you clear of the dreaded Crevice of False Bargains. Although he could also do with a little help from you this year… big kindle discounts I think I'm going back to the basic entry-level Kindle I started out with all those years ago – currently reduced to $79.99 on Amazon, with similar deals internationally. I had upgraded to the Kindle Paperwhite several years ago (down to $125 right now). While I was a fan of the crisper text and (particularly) the ability to change the color temperature of the light for a golden late-night reading sesh… it just never felt quite right in the hand. I think the device was just a little bit bigger and heavier and despite possessing a decent pair of meat-shovels, it just never felt as comfortable. What do you guys think? Are you #TeamBasic or #Paperwhite4Life? Let me know! Amazon doesn't do the top-of-the-range Oasis anymore, so don't suggest that, but instead has three premium devices now which do different things. The Kindle Colorsoft adds, well, color. And that will either be a huge deal for you or something you don't really care about. I'm in the latter camp but if you want more color in your reading life – and clearly people do, it's selling like hotcakes – then it's a massive $80 off right now and available for $169.99. The Kindle Scribe is Amazon's version of my beloved Remarkable 2 (deal on that below BTW). I haven't played with this one personally as I don't think it's a better device but if you want to keep all your wotsits rooted in Planet Bezos then this is a solid choice, especially now that they have updated the firmware and improved the interface from launch. It's also $140 off right now meaning you can pick it up for $279.99. Worth noting that this discount is probably that large because there is a new model on the way (for $429/$499 tho). And then if you want all those things together and don't care who knows it, the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is coming soon too, but will retail for a whopping $679.99. Please note that you might get a further discount of 15% on all those devices by entering GETKINDLE15on checkout. No guarantees with codes like this, but worth trying. You also have the option of trading in your older devices for a further discount. Please also note that these are affiliate links. Well, almost all the links in this email are affiliate links but I particularly want to highlight this as lots of authors seem unaware that we can now use Amazon affiliate links in our emails. We should talk about this soon! It's basically like a pay raise for every author! remarkable offers The reason I'm not tempted by the Kindle Scribe is because I already own what I think is a better device: the reMarkable 2. Regular readers will have heard me rhapsodize about this at length, so I won't go back to that particular well, except to say that I use it more than my computer now. It goes everywhere with me. I don't just do all my writing on it; I organize my life with it. I have also referred to this magical device as a flow state generator, and I don't think that was hyperbolic at all. You can get the reMarkable 2 for $50 off when buying a Type Folio/Book Folio bundle. I've had both and I can tell you the Book Folio is nicer looking, despite being cheaper. The grey polymer weave is just gorgeous and looks like a notebook. However, the cover isn't as practical because it's absorbent and if you bring it everywhere (which you will totally end up doing), then it's bound to get dirty at some point which will give you a sad. The Type Folio is made from that less-attractive "Dad's iPad cover" plastic, as I like to call it, but which is eminently more practical. It's also a keyboard cover which is revolutionary and allows me to draft from start to finish – all without needing a computer. This device came out a few years ago but it is exceedingly well supported and gets regular updates. In fact, we just got another game-changing update this week – something that has been on my wish list for ages. (We can now import Word documents and edit them fully on the Remarkable 2 – so you can now go back and forth between your computer and your Remarkable with ease. It's really cool. They also released an update recently where you can search handwritten notes; this device keeps surprising me!) I'm slightly less enamored with the reMarkable Paper Pro – which is a little bigger and adds color, a technological wonder which lots of people raved about but I don't personally need. But if that's of interest to you, they are also doing $50 off those bundles, which I believe is the first sale on this device. What did catch my eye, though, was the reMarkable Paper Pro Move which I decided to splurge on. Can't give you a review on that quite yet but keep an eye out for an unboxing on my YouTube channel. I'm very attracted to the idea of being able to slip it into my pocket and leave home without a bag; I'll let you know how it goes! Quick demo of the reMarkable 2 here:  more amazon deals When on the move, I often like to bring a power bank with me so I can keep my devices fully charged and work uninterrupted. I've had a few power banks over the years but nothing beats these Anker devices which you can get for just $29.99 (down from $54.99). I have a couple of these. They are very robust and hold a lot of juice. I've also had no issue flying with these but YMMV. Equally robust – and cheap – is this Anker Speaker, available for just $27.99 (reduced from $44.99). The battery lasts forever, and the sound puts many more expensive speakers to shame. I've also dropped this a godawful number of times and haven't put a dent in it – plus it's IPX7 waterproof. And if I'm beginning to sound like the kind of gal who writes at the beach, with music in the background, and then posts on social media about it to annoy everyone, well, you have me pegged. But maybe you're more of a homebody. This isn't a personal recommendation but I admit to being a little bit intrigued by this fast-selling lap desk – just $29.74 right now. Have you tried one of these? I'm curious. Especially because it is winter and the idea of working in bed is quite appealing some days! freewriters If writing freehand isn't part of your process, some popular alternatives to both the Kindle Scribe and the reMarkable might be more appealing. Full-on keyboard junkies might prefer Freewrite's range of what they call drafting devices. There's deals now on their entire range, each with their ardent fans. - The Hemingway is the heavier duty distraction-free device, the OG smart typewriter.
- The Traveler is the more mobile version.
- The Alpha is the newest and cheapest offering (which I will be unboxing soon also).
There's 20% off all three devices, plus lots of free gifts being dangled (and more again if you sign up to your mailing list). Not an affiliate link, just a good deal you might be interested in. lovely fonts My favorite font foundry – Set Sail Studios – is doing a big sale. That's an affiliate link but if you pop in my code BF50 you'll get 50% off everything on checkout. I just picked up the lovely looking Bold Souls Font Duo myself and I've been using this store for years; it's great. Unique fonts to make your images really stand out from the crowd. millions of stock photos Speaking of images, I've been talking about this deal for a few weeks because it's the most popular Black Friday deal for authors every single year. And also because AppSumo let me know in advance that the early Black Friday pricing of $39 would be increasing to $49 for the day itself – and I didn't want you to miss out. But $49 is still a stonking deal for 100 credits at DepositPhotos, where you have over 300m images to choose from. So, if you missed out previously, you can still get that deal until December 4. Not only that, if you grab it before Dec 2, you'll get 10% off the sticker price automatically added at checkout. Remember, you can stack this deal as much as you like and credits never expire. Get 100 Stock Photo Credits for $49. bargain book covers GoOnWrite.com is doing its annual sale on pre-made covers across a huge range of genres – reduced to €20 (around $23). That's more than half off BTW. There's also deals on print covers (half off also) and things like Amazon A+ content. He'll also knock you up a cover from an image you provide, if that's your preference, with options for print and digital. mailerlite madness Black Friday is always the best time to upgrade from a free plan or switch your email marketing service. This is an affiliate link, but I've personally used MailerLite for years and it remains my go-to recommendation for most authors. Competitors come and go but MailerLite remains at the top because it's really hard to beat its combination of price, feature set, and deliverability. The last one there is the least talked about when people discuss email marketing services but is by far the most important – getting your emails into inboxes is the most critical thing and something that the cheapest services often aren't very good it by comparison. MailerLite is offering 25% off annual plans. Which is a pretty big discount. Who can play? Anyone... - switching from another service
- on the MailerLite free plan
- on a monthly plan
- or even those already on an annual plan but who are moving to a higher tier.
kit goes krazy Another email marketing service I have used for years is Kit (formerly ConvertKit). I still use MailerLite for my fiction and other side-projects, but I switched to ConvertKit for my non-fiction business several years ago because it has more robust automations, is great if you do things like sell digital products, and has tons of integrations, such as with my course platform. It also has the best deliverability team around, in my opinion (you can avail of their excellent resources even if you are not with Kit btw). Kit is my recommendation for more advanced authors who need more complex automations, or non-fiction authors who sell digital products or need more integrations, or perhaps have a course as well. Or anyone who wants the super advanced features that come with their premium plan (like Facebook Custom Audience integration, advanced deliverability reporting, referral schemes, as well as neat quality-of-life features like the ability to edit links in newsletters after they are sent – ah, technology, covering for my flubs since 2024!). Kit has a range of deals this year, depending on where you're at. (a) the Free plan is good for up to 10,000 subscribers (but do check the associated restrictions to ensure it's suitable). (b) the Creator plan is 60% off for 3 months (if you are coming from another service or upgrading from free – and have less than 20,000 subscribers). (c) And then the Creator Pro plan is 25% off for three months as well. my fave keyb Any time I post an "action shot" of my desk on social media everyone is all like "OMG what's that keyboard I love it." The answer is the NuPhy Air60. I own lots of keyboards at this point – because I obviously have some kind of problem – but the NuPhy Air60 gets the most use by far. It's light (but can take a pounding), easy on the eye, makes a nice clicky sound that makes me feel more productive, can work by wifi, Bluetooth, or by wire if you must. The battery lasts for weeks at a time which makes it perfect for travel if you do that also (and it even has these little feet so you can pop it right down on your laptop keyboard and have a much nicer typing experience on the go). Also, the cover is the cutest thing in the world (that isn't a dog). I own the version without a numpad, but you can get the NuPhy Air75 if that's a must for you. NuPhy are currently running their own Black Friday deal where the Air60 (what I have) is just $76.97 (down from $109.95) which includes free shipping. Get it here. That's an affiliate link but you can pick it up from Amazon if you prefer (but note the discount isn't quite as good: $97.16). publisher rocket If you want to get deep into keywords and categories, and see what the competition is up to, Publisher Rocket is $30 off and they are throwing in a free course (worth $50) to get the most out of it too (aff link). website wotsits Finally, a range of wotsits to make your website rip as the kids say. Darn kids. Divi is the most popular Wordpress theme in the world – and raved about by authors – no doubt in part because of the stellar Black Friday deal they run every year with up to 80% off and a bunch of prizes too. Yoast is the No. 1 SEO tool out there – helping you get more visible on Google. They are doing 30% off everything for Black Friday but, honestly, unless you have a big website with a ton of content and/or do a lot of video stuff, the free plug in is more than enough IMHO. (But you should get that!) Namecheap seems to be the world's go-to for competitively priced domains – and I've been using it myself for ten years or something. You can get 50% off .com domains right now. There's also a couple of codes you can try on top of that. NEWCOM649 if you are a new customer and MATRIXTLD25 if you are not. BTW, I specifically recommend the domains over the hosting. Because… Siteground is my preferred choice for hosting and they are running a huge sale with up to 88% off depending on the package you go for – and packages start at just $1.99 a month. That's yer lot. Phew! Alright, I'm finally off to eat some turkey. Better late than never… Dave P.S. Scoffing music this week is M. Ward with Chinese Translation. | 
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