Credit: Freestocks.org
Credit: Freestocks.org

Editor’s Note: Our deadline for submissions is now past. We’ll be rolling out our top picks, starting later this month.

Around the world, holidays are celebrated with family, friends and colleagues — often with a treat and a toast. In the United States and abroad, the winter holiday season is an especially indulgent time of year. So we decided to join in on the revelry with an Indulgences Gift Guide that can help holiday shoppers support women-run businesses that offer all things yummy.

For this guide, we’re seeking female chocolatiers, cheesemongers, cooks, bakers and candy makers. We want winemakers, drink mixers and craft brewers. We also hope to hear from women who help folks create wonders in the kitchen or at the bar. Cookbook writers, apron designers, utensil makers, punch bowl purveyors and their kin, we’re talking to you.

If your product or service would make the perfect addition to a delicious holiday celebration, we want to hear all about it!

(And if we get too indulgent, the selections in last year’s Resolutions Gift Guide can help us get back on track in 2017.)

Between now and Tuesday, Nov. 1, tell us about ONE product you sell or service you offer that costs $100 or less and would make a fabulous gift for either a loved one, a valued employee or an important client this holiday season. We want to hear the story behind your product, the type of person it’s suitable for, and why it deserves to be included in our Indulgences Gift Guide.

Our final picks will be showcased on our site starting Tuesday, Nov. 22 — just in time for early-bird shoppers who like to splurge on Black Friday and Cyber Monday — and shared with our media partners.

Additional criteria:

  • You cannot be a franchisee, independent distributor or sales representative.
  • You must have created the product or service yourself; it can’t be sourced from a supplier.
  • Your product or service must be food- or drink-related in some way, and must cost $100 or less.
  • Your submission will become part of our 1,000+ Stories project, an ongoing research project with Babson College, if you are not already a part of this campaign. Information provided for the gift guide may be published as part of that effort.
  • You must submit a high-resolution image of the product or service with your application.
  • A team of judges at The Story Exchange may ask you to send a sample for review.

Note: If you have already submitted your story to our 1,000+ Stories campaign and would like to be considered for our Indulgences Gift Guide, please fill out this form as well, as it contains additional questions.

After you apply, be sure to spread the word! Tell your friends, colleagues and networks about the The Story Exchange’s Indulgences Gift Guide, and encourage others to submit applications by sharing via email, Twitter and Facebook.

Questions? Contact us by writing to [email protected].