Mid-month Check-in

News, updates... a subscription book club? Take the poll...

Oct 14, 2024

Wow! We are halfway through October!! In the States, today we are observing Columbus Day, though here in the South it isn't the holiday it was in the Northeast. Here only federal offices close and banks - some local government offices, may, but schools are open…no one gets the day off from work… growing up in New Jersey, school closed, we had parades, many businesses closed. But we also had a much larger Italian-American population who celebrated the day with a swelling pride, much the way our Irish-Americans did St. Patrick's Day - another holiday that doesn't feel the love in Tennessee that it did up north.

And Happy Thanksgiving…

Today is another holiday for our Canadian friends, which we have a few subscribers and contributors from north of the border… Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Hope it's full of love and blessings…and great food!

But..

Halloween is in two weeks… which means the stores are full of Christmas decorations…lol….anyone have big Halloween plans? What are some of your costume ideas? (Let us know in the comments)

Micromance Magazine Report

Well, as already mentioned, we're halfway through the month. And what a fabulous month Micromance has had…

We passed 260 subscribers on Substack

We passed 100 followers on Facebook, reaching 4500 people in the last two weeks, 2900 of those views from our Pushcart Prize announcement on the 8th alone!!

We are only 150 followers away from 1000 on X

We've got 76 followers on Instagram (and growing)

We have had about 4600 views/visits to our Substack in the first two weeks - consistently averaging between 325/330 views per day… this is phenomenal…each post (story/poem) is averaging 200 views…

October submissions sit at 37 at the moment… that's about 3/per day…

These are all amazing numbers!! Thank you so much!

Some News…

Micromance Magazine’s very own literary award, The Cupid Prize, is really coming together, getting organized, and now it’s getting its own social media footprint…

Find and follow on X: @cupidprize

Follow on Facebook, search for The Cupid Prize

And its own webpage is currently under construction: thecupidprize.blogspot.com

For those unaware, The Cupid Prize is for Excellence in Love Lit - all the things Micromance publishes… genre romance, love stories, women's fiction, poetry…and is meant to promote the genre of love literature. There are 6 categories… 5 are for contributors of Micromance Magazine only - and they are the same as the five submission categories. The sixth category is open to non-contributors - flash romance of 500-1200 words - nominated by the lit mags that published the stories. All 6 categories will have a winner, a shortlist and longlist (decided by 6 independent judges)…

A print anthology is planned that will include all winning pieces in whole, along with writer biographies, shortlisted writers featured with name of piece and biography, longlisted pieces listed by title with author's name… participating lit mags nominating to the non-contributor category will also be featured for their support of love lit in the writing community…

More details and updates will be soon-coming and available on the website and social media…so be sure to follow wherever you scroll and post….

Sharing the Love….

Another award planned by Micromance is modeled after Spillwords Press’ Socialite of the Year honor, which I have received, and means more than some other “prizes” I’ve received… The Sharing the Love service award is for showing appreciation to those who actively share the love that is the content of Micromance Magazine… and who share their love by encouraging and supporting the writers of Micromance….

2025 is looking good…

If the first three months of Micromance Magazine are indicative of its future, then the future is very bright! We have some ideas that we hope can come to fruition, that will keep the magazine growing…

Speaking of ideas… Can I ask you something? Micromance plans on publishing some anthologies in 2025 (and beyond), and EIC Gail Lynn may publish her own (fingers crossed)…How do you feel about a “book club?” Subscribing at a flat fee and automatically receiving 3-5 books throughout the year (including The Cupid Prize Anthology and any of Gail’s publications), plus bookmarks matching each anthology/book, and other random surprises throughout the year (ex: stickers, magnets, all with a romance book/literary vibe)… (and yes, contributors to anthologies will receive a free author copy… )

Thank you so much for participating… I didn't plan on this poll, but as I talked it came to me… lol…the voting is anonymous, but if you have any other suggestion or thought on this, please comment… I appreciate the feedback…. Thank you..

Here's hoping you have a great week ahead!! Think happy thoughts…

Gail Lynn, EIC 😁