Last week, after writing the post “Uncle Henry never dies,” I got to thinking about the role of money in this writing life. These issues of money and success pop up in every American’s mind at one time or another, I think, and I’m not immune to the rumination either. I’ve worked hard at this writing thing for more than two decades now, first as a college English major penning a few poems, on to being a struggling writer who worked various day jobs to support myself, finally making it my profession in my late twenties. A lot of work . . .

To produce this blog for the last eight years, I’ve spent hundreds and hundreds of (unpaid) hours writing and revising the posts, not to mention the time (and money) spent on researching and fact-checking. I know from the statistics, which WordPress provides, that thousands of people have accessed posts thousands of times, so I’m passing the electronic/internet version of the hat. Many of you have stuck around to watch the show, so it’s like the Creedence Clearwater Revival song, “Willie and the Poor Boys” says, “You don’t need a penny just to hang around / but if you got a nickel, won’t you lay your money down?”

Unlike many internet publications, I’ve never put a subscription rate on this blog, never asked for your contact information, nor have I limited the number of posts that a person can read. With that in mind, there is now a Support page on the blog that allows readers to throw a little something in that electronic hat. All I ask is that, if you’ve been reading, enjoying, and appreciating what you’ve read here, show some love, knowing that the money will be used to keep it going so you can read, enjoy, and appreciate some more.

That love can be shown in $5 increments, using the quantity function. For example, to throw in $50, you would tick the quantity up to 10, effectively making that many $5 donations all at once.