June Review.... July Look Ahead...

Hey all!! To our Canadian friends, Happy Canada Day! To our U.S. friends, Happy Independence Day!! To everyone else, Happy July!!

Well, we had a fantastic June!! Some may have seen that AuthorsPublish.com mentioned Micromance a couple weeks ago. We were part of their 50 genre magazines to submit to list, and what a boost that mention gave - over 1,000 views from 400+ unique users referred by Authors Publish. 30 new subscribers came from their site, plus 2 paid subscriptions (thank you so much!!). I received a huge surge in submissions as well. And all of the exposure gave us a terrific June traffic-wise:

We broke 18,000 views for the first time in a couple months. We received nearly 100 new subscribers in June alone, putting us at 752 That’s less than 250 away from 1,000 and THAT’S a number I’d love to reach by the end of summer!!

Engagement on posts has been awesome! I love seeing all the positive and encouraging comments. And I love it when I see new names pop up in the comment section. Post reads have been pushing 300 in the first day of publication, which, I think, is phenomenal. Likes have been higher, as well, often in double digits. And that’s exactly the kind of friendly and supportive community I hoped we’d be. You are all so awesome and I’ll say it over and over - we have the absolute BEST readers and contributors. Thank you all so much!

We received well over 100 submissions in June… a third of those being poetry. Unfortunately, I had to reject several of the poetry submissions without reading because of guideline violations. I am still going through some of the submissions, so am not certain how many I have accepted. And for those who have received acceptances, your emails with publication dates will be coming soon. I’ve been busy formatting the summer issue of KissMet Quarterly and have had some technical issues all around, so have not gotten many of the accepted pieces into the drafts for Katie to schedule. But rest assured, after the holiday that will be happening. I can also let everyone know that, if they’ve been accepted, publication will be in September/October, as we are filled up through August…And any submissions from here onward will then start filling in November/December, and we’ll soon be scheduling into 2026.

Some other news:

Speaking of poetry, there is a new poetry lit mag on Substack. Cataloguing Poetry Magazine is run by John Compton, a prolific poet in his own right. He has had several chapbooks published, he often does poetry readings and has previous editing/judging experience through another lit mag. He loves poetry, especially poetry by indie poets. MFAs are overrated and he wants to champion the poetic voices that are often hushed by the traditionally published status quo with literary degrees. Poetry comes from the heart and soul, not from academia, and he wants to lift up these indie hearts and souls so they can be loudly heard and proudly seen!! So many of you are such talented poets - you can still send me the romantic verses, but anything else you pen, send John’s way. He offers quick replies - no previously published, though, but simultaneous subs are okay with him… he rejected my pieces (oof!), but check him out here, anyway…lol… seriously, check it out… like Microamance, Cataloguing Poetry Magazine publishes daily and it’s free to subscribe:

cataloguing poetry magazine

Another new lit mag on the scene… Magique Publishing…from their facebook:

“a small indie publishing house that publishes mainly literary magazines. So far we're debuting our rescue cat and dog themed magazine, and submissions are open until July 7th! So send in your artwork, poetry, short stories, recipes, etc, for a chance to be featured! Submissions are free, non paying.”

I receive many stories, usually 100 word ones, about rescues… though they are adorable stories and so often well-written, they are not the kind of love I’m looking to publish about at Micromance. And I have many regular contributors who often include rescues in their romance stories. So, when I saw Magique open up with this magazine about rescues, I immediately thought of those who have submitted to me who I’ve had to decline, as well as those regular contributors who may have stories other than romantic ones that center around rescues… I reached out to Magique, and they confirmed that they will accept micros, 100 words and up. Right now, they’re subs close this week, but they hope to open again very soon… so be sure to follow them on facebook: Magique Publishing or checkout their website:

https://magiquepublishing.com/submissions/

And here is some exciting news from a huge friend of Micromance and KissMet Quarterly, and a repeat contributor to KQ, Desirae Gracyn…

Under the pen name Caroline Crews, Desirae has released her debut novel, a dark romantasy, A Bond of Blood and Lavender:

“His greatest desire just may be what gets him killed. Tartarus is dead inside, unable to love or fully care anymore—not after the goddess of paranormals ripped out his heart years ago, making him the most feared man in the realm. Now, his fate belongs to his mother, the queen, who orders him to find the last seer so she can kill her and reunite the realms. Easy enough, until a secret prophecy claims Tartarus’s protection of the seer will rebuild his heart. Not only does he believe it’s impossible, but saving the seer will place a target on his back. Tartarus now has two paths in front of him. Both could cost him everything.”

Desirae is beyond excited and proud to have A Bond of Blood and Lavender in the world, as she should be. This self-published novel by an extremely talented creative is a must read for the summer!! Check it out in ebook or paperback on Amazon or Barnes and Noble and learn a bit more about Desirae here:

Author website (has links to purchase book): https://www.startreebooks.com/

Micromance News:

Some may have noticed our new logos…

So far we've received nothing but positive feedback on how they look, most preferring them to the old logo - have to admit, I agree.

I think these capture the feel of MM and best reflect who we are as a lit mag…. Some changes will also be coming to the Substack, with updated guidelines, a complete contributors list and new Masthead tab — all matching the theme and aesthetic of the logos…

A new co-editor?

Congratulations to Katie Fitzgerald for becoming our co-editor … she does such a fantastic job at everything from scheduling to giving pieces their last proofreads/edits, that she deserved a proper title… so give her a huge round of applause… 👏🏼….

I'm sure there is something I'm forgetting to mention…there always is…. But as always, I want to thank everyone for their continued support!!

Oh! I remembered something else!

Women's Fiction Wednesday will be a new feature starting in September… I often receive stories that aren't exactly genre romance, or even love stories, but they are about heartbreak or dealing with matters of the heart …. I love them and have published several (most recently Love and Gas Money by M. Gail Stetler)… beginning in September, the second Wednesday will feature one of these stories. It doesn't mean other similar stories won't appear at other times, but these Wednesday features will be for stories that are especially moving and clear examples of women's fiction as we see it here at Micromance… there won't be any special calls for these stories - I just want them to appear in my inbox organically, as they have been…And based on the engagement these types of stories receive, Katie and I feel that WF Wednesday will be an awesome feature of MM!!

Ok..now I'm done…lol… Happy Holiday to those in the US and Canada… happy summer to everyone else - unless you're below the equator, then happy winter??! Lol…

Anyway… thanks to everyone for another awesome month!! Can't do it without you!!

Gail Lynn, EIC 🥰