Something happened. I’d made a big decision, a big one, without even noticing. I’d made a hard turn into something that felt wonderful, and before I even knew it was happening, it happened!

I withdrew submissions and decided I was done with writing contests. I have dozens of stories and poems and essays published in literary journals. Why was I still submitting. (It’s more than a word, submitting.)

In my 74th year, I can look back at a life invested in exploring and mastering skills. I read widely and enjoy making. I can bake a cherry pie and sourdough bread, cook an entire dinner with recipes from any country. My interests have carried me from judging field trials to mentoring other writers. I can wire a lamp, draw complete plans for a house, and raise an eight inch sterling cup from a disk of sheet metal. I can forge, enamel, and cast in wax. I have batiked fabric, woven, quilted, knit, and crocheted. I’ve built a ceramic kiln from scratch and dug clay from a hillside. I’ve printed on clay and with linoleum blocks and silkscreen. I’ve drawn in pen&ink and pencil, painted in gauche and oils and acrylics and watercolors, and written a sonnet. None of this comes easily, and some skills have required hours or weeks or years of struggle. It took me most of a day to figure out Venmo, but I was once skilled using PageMaker and InDesign. I have no skill in other languages despite two years of Latin and a year of French a million years ago but I can show you how to fold a square of paper into a box. Making things—that’s what I can do.

Years ago. a former student told me he was considering a dramatic change of occupation. He would need to go back to school but believed the work would suit him because he had “the right skill set.” I did my research, and sure enough, he had exactly the skills and experience required for that work.

This should have carried right over to my own situation but it didn’t. It was yesterday—seriously, only yesterday—that it occurred to me that I have the skill set desirable to run a small press.

• degrees in both design (BFA) and writing (MFA)
• more than 20 years experience as a graphic designer
• designed covers and interiors for a dozen books, plus pamphlets
• experience in developmental editing and proofreading of others’ work
• edited an award-winning novel
• willingness to examine and replicate industry standards
• I have written my “million words”
• recently designed the cover and interior of a novel + ISBN, etc. and found a U.S. printer I trust
• I am a researcher and list-maker, a record-keeper

There is the problem of expense; printing books isn’t cheap. Nevertheless, I’ve had expensive hobbies in the past that I could not afford and served on Boards with investment bankers and a VP of J.C. Penney’s. I have credibility, I think. I can work with a budget, and I have no illusions about publishing best sellers or making a profit. I would like to break even, or close to it. I would like this first book to help pay for the next one.

Here I am, willing and able. I will publish beautiful books that are a pleasure to hold in hands and to read. Daughters is the first, but I am already at work on the next one, and I’ll make a decision in January about whether that’s a go.

If all goes extremely well, I should be able to publish others’ books in 2028. Finger’s crossed.