It's Friday the 13th 🐈‍⬛

Good thing we're a romance magazine and not a horror journal ... Only good vibes here! 💗... And I think you're gonna love this update...

Hey, everybody! Hope you all had a great week!! Things here are good. Have to admit, I've been a bit under the weather since last Thursday. Have no idea what I got, but it hit hard, eased up, bounced back and now seems to be on the way out…but wow! Was the brain fog real with this one…!! And I’d like to take this moment to apologize to you, the readers, and to my recent contributors, for not being fully “here” and slacking a bit in sharing posts across social media. Hopefully this coming week will be less “foggy.” And thank you all for understanding…😊

Looking Forward…

Holiday Themed Story Submissions end Sunday, the 15th. As of this moment, no stories/poems will be rejected. They were THAT good. Responses with publication dates will still be emailed, and those replies will go out next week. Congratulations to everyone who has submitted so far. These stories are the absolute sweetest, warmest, cutest and most “romancey” we have seen so far. The call started slow, but did not disappoint.

We also received some awesome holiday serials, with a couple others still to come - and remember, if you go a couple days passed the 15th, that’s fine, I’m not tyrannical about it. I just can't wait to read them, because I know they'll be fabulous!! Hallmark, GAC, whatever channels show these silly holiday movies we all love so much, have nothing on these stories!

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Sunday, the 15th, is also the premiere of our very first serial, a delightful romcom, Blowing It, by Nina Miller. It will drop in 5 parts each Sunday from 9/15 til 10/13. Please don't miss an episode! You're gonna love this!

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Rolling submissions for general romance/love stories/poems open October 1. Stories and poems received during October will be considered for publication beginning January/February 2025, subs during November, for February/March and so on. Responses will be much quicker.

Submissions for serials will also be “forever open” on a rolling basis beginning October 1, with encouragement of themed pieces around holidays (Valentine's, St. Pat's, Easter, etc), but not necessary.

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Award Nominations will be coming. Nominations for the Pushcart Prize begin October 1 and nominations for Best Short Fictions in mid November. 6 pieces are allowed for Pushcart, 5 for Best Short Fictions. These are not easy decisions…

Since Best Short Fictions is for stories 1000 words or less, I intend to showcase stories from our Quickies category with nominations to that prize. With Pushcart, I intend to showcase poetry and the “Short & Sweet” stories. Our Sweet Nothings are best suited for BestMicrofiction, which does not open until next year.

But please know, there are a number of factors being considered for nomination, and I wish I could nominate all of you.

Pushcart Prize Nominations will be announced via one of these newsletters and across social media sometime in October. Stay tuned …

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Speaking of literary prizes… romance stories don't seem to do all that well in even getting nominated for awards like the Pushcart Prize. We intend to change that with our nominations. But we also intend on making a mark in the literary world - letting the writing community know that Love Lit is Legit. And so, I'd like to announce the

Details are still being thrashed out, but The Cupid Prize will begin as an internal prize, awarded to one story, one quickie, one sweet nothing, and one poem published in Micromance Magazine in 2024, as well as their being a short list for each category. The award will be given on Valentine's Day, 2025.

(⬆️ A preliminary design of the “prize”… a digital certificate suitable for printing and uploading to writer's website, social media, etc…)

My “dream” is for The Cupid Prize to become THE place for ALL writers of Flash Romance/Short Love Stories and Romantic Poetry published throughout the indie lit mag community to be nominated and recognized for their work in Love Lit - romance, love stories, chick lit/women's fic, and poetry…

As more information is available, I'll be sharing. So stay tuned! This is really exciting to me … hope it is for you, too!

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So, there we go… we have some really great things ahead to finish out 2024 and start off 2025. I hope you all agree and will continue to support Micromance Magazine and its awesome contributors, and Contributors, I hope you continue to trust us with your work… and anyone out there thinking of becoming a contributor, please submit your stories! We want to put your smiling faces in our gallery of contributors, a gallery that is ever growing.

Have a great weekend! Happy reading… happy writing…

Gail 😁