When I'm 64

I'm not big on parties or presents, but my nonprofit loves them.

Hi Folks,

Will you still need me
Will you still feed me
When I’m 64?

So my beloved Paul McCartney sang so many years ago with his three buddies.

I turn 64 this week.

I know, right? I can’t believe it either.

Indolent Books, by the way, is 10 years old this year. For those of you who do not know me as well as others, Indolent Books is the boutique indie literary press I started in 2015 as a haven for writers over 50 without a first book, and a welcoming space for women writers, writers of color, queer and trans writers, and other who do not fit molds or conform to expectations.

In 2017 I started Indolent Arts, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, as a fiscal sponsor for Indolent Books. That way the press could accept grant funds directly without having to go through a platform like Fractured Atlas, and could accept tax-deductible donations from individual donors.

Back in the day, I used to do birthday fundraisers for Indolent Books on Facebook. They were quite successful. In 2019 I raised $2,040. In 2020 I raised $3,210. In 2022 I raised $3,270. The press published eight titles over the course of those four years, by authors including Kimberly Collins, Tony Medina, Daniel Nester, Ángelo Néstore (trans. Lawrence Schimel), Dennis Rhodes, Billie R. Tadros, Don Yorty, and Adam Zhou. The press also produced online poetry series during those years, including What Rough Beast, Poems in the Afterglow, A River Sings, and Flush Left.

And here we are, another birthday. As some of you may know, I’m taking the press in a number of new directions these days, and fundraising is no exception. Au revoir, Facebook; Enchanté, Substack.

I’m not going to state a dollar-amount goal or repost this day after day. This is just a one-time deal.

And the ask is: If Indolent Books has brought you any pleasure as a writer or reader or both over the past 10 years, please go to this page on the Indolent Books website and make a tax-deductible donation in honor of my birthday this week.

You can donate as little as $1.00. If you donate $25.00 or more, you can select up to six Indolent Books titles as a thank-you gift from the press, depending on how much you donate (the tiers are explained on the donation page).

As I have taken, inexplicably, to exclaiming: À la prochaine!