Micromance 2026 Preview

... The Best Is Yet To Come

Well, a few hours ago, we looked back and saw the fantastic year 2025 was. Now let's look ahead and see what 2026 has in store for us.

Katie and I have been working hard behind the scenes to come up with some new and exciting features at both MM and KQ designed to inspire, encourage, uplift and keep the flash romance community and all of you meet-cute experts engaged and always creating!!

So here we go….here are some of the things we have planned for you this year:

2026 Preview:

KissMet Quarterly:

This year, there are 5 issues planned…

• The Winter Issue, I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm, is due out 1/30/26… and what an amazing collection this one is … don't miss it….more info coming soon….

  

• The Spring Issue, Tip Toe Through The Tulips With Me…Submissions open 1/1/26 and will close 1/30….

  

• The Summer Issue, Dream A Little Dream With Me

  

• The Autumn Issue, Shine On Harvest Moon (cover not yet designed)

• And the special holiday edition, The Greatest Holiday Romance Stories Ever Written, Vol. 2 (cover not yet designed)

The Submissions Calendar for each issue… if you'd like, save this for your own reference…

Also, for those of you who follow KQ on X (and, if you don't, you might want to now), we are introducing a weekly writing challenge — #MondayMeetCute

Each Monday starting in February ’26, everyone is invited to write a twitter-sized meet-cute in 280 characters, based on a prompt…

A glance.

A moment.

A spark.

Let us feel the flirt…

The only rules:

Comment your story on the Monday Meet-Cute post and be sure to use the hashtag #mondaymeetcute.

A winner will be chosen from each week's entries and the following month all 4 winners will be mentioned and their little micro meet-cutes will be printed in a special Micromance newsletter the following month…

So if this sounds like something you'd be interested in participating in, be sure you follow KissMet Quarterly on X

2026 Preview:

Micromance Magazine:

Anthologies: We are planning on curating some pretty fantastic collections…

Saltwater & Ash, our first romantasy collection, received 47 fantastic submissions and is set to release late March ‘26;

Hometown Hearts, our collection of sweet, wholesome small-town romance, is slated for release in early summer with submission details coming very soon;

Ideas for two or three other anthologies are in the works, including one featuring all the authors we've given first publication credits to.

I've been tossing the idea of such an anthology around in my mind for many months now and after being voted one of the top lit mags for new/emerging writers it only makes sense to follow through in celebrating the firsts of MM. I ran the idea by Katie and she came up with “First Love” as a working title. And in the coming weeks, I will be putting out a call for all of those who have had MM or KQ as a first publication credit to “raise their hands”… this means first publication credit ever, first romance credit or first credit in poetry or drabble, etc.

More details coming soon!!

Our Anniversary Drabble Drop:

To celebrate our 2nd anniversary in June, we are planning a Drabble Drop. As most know, drabble are 100-word stories. And what we'll be looking for are romance and love stories in 100 words… and we're going to choose 24 of the best from those submitted to “drop” every hour for 24 hours on a selected day in June. The 24 chosen will then be compiled into a special PDF available to the contributors (and possibly others). We may come up with some other details or ideas by then…but this is the plan as of now! More info will be released in March/April.

And now for the most exciting new feature of all…

The Frantic Romantic Weekend Writing Challenge…

Beginning in February, the third Friday of every other month (excluding December), we will send out a newsletter with a prompt and other details. You’ll then have 48 hrs to write and submit a sweet romance in the number of words specified in the newsletter - never more than 500, never less than 350.

The winner of the challenge will be announced the third Saturday of the following month in a special newsletter and their story published in that newsletter. A handful of runners up will also be included, with all participants mentioned some way, somehow!! Annnnd, in December, all 5 winners will be put into a drawing for a special prize!!! (More deets to come)…

The Frantic Romantic Challenge will run the third weekend of February, April, June, August, and October (there will be no December due to the holidays)… stay tuned for more details and reminders!

And be sure you're subscribed to Micromance on Substack to receive the newsletters and, if you have any writing friends who aren't subscribed and you think will enjoy participating in The Frantic Romantic Challenge, please share the news and be sure they subscribe as well…. subscribing (and submitting) is always FREE!

Oh, and can't forget the Cupid Prize:

Nominees for the 2026 Cupid Prize will be announced in the next couple of weeks with winners announced on February 14, 2026. On (or about) Valentine's Day, the 2025 Cupid Prize Anthology will also release….

And, as we always have, Micromance Magazine will continue to bring the same daily dose of love and sunshine to your inboxes that you've come to look forward to… and we will continue to uplift and encourage our contributors and our community!

Submissions are always open! Just keep in mind, we are already scheduling into April, so if you have any Spring and Summer themed romances now is the time to send them in, with fall and holiday pieces being submitted late Spring and early Summer for best placement. If your stories aren't seasonally sensitive or you don't mind when they publish, then feel free to submit whenever you wish! 😁

Thank you all so much, and I can't wait to read your stories and poetry… and please, let us know in the comments what feature(s) you're most looking forward to… and be sure to spread the news about what we're up to… the more the merrier in 2026!!

Gail Lynn, EIC 🥰