Showing Romance Some Love....

Ok, so when it comes to the literary community, we all know romance doesn't get the love it deserves. As writers of sweet words, we all know how difficult it is to place a romance story or an overly romantic poem in a college-run journal, a lit mag run by MFAs, or, well, most any lit mag - even those that advertise their sub calls as open to all themes and genres or those that do claim to accept romance. Thing is, they don't want romance, but maybe some sort of literary fiction that might feature a love interest - maybe…?

Last evening I found myself on the CLMP (Community of Literary Magazines and Presses) website. CLMP is an online community that charges lit mags anything from $150 to thousands a year (depending on profit) to be a member, and they offer benefits such as discounts at workshops and conferences like AWP, access to their staff, members only Facebook groups, etc. Not anything worth $150 to me, let alone thousands. But it is free to add your lit mag to their directory. And so I decided, why not?!

I began to fill out the form and when it asked for categories/genres, though I shouldn't have been, I was surprised to find romance was not on the list. I mean, a “prestigious” fraternity of lit mags should consider representing all genres of writing, right?

Well, check this out….

Notice in the “R’s” there's no romance ☹️… but notice what is on the list… erotica 😯!!

Are there erotica lit mags? Yes, there are. Several actually. And I have no issue with erotica being included on this list. BUT what I do have issue with is the omission of romance. Do the people running CLMP think all romance is erotica? Surely they’re not that ignorant. But how does erotica find its own place on the list, while romance is left out?

Does this list reflect the attitude of the literary community toward romance? Does it reflect the lack of romance-centered lit mags in the writing community? Is it simply an oversight? *shrugs*

I contacted CLMP to find out…. Here is what I wrote…

As the EIC of the only lit mag dedicated completely to flash romance, I find it quite disturbing and curious as to why romance isn't part of your list of categories/genres when applying to be included in the lit mag directory... I noticed erotica was included, but erotica is not romance, nor is it a blanket term for the genre.. on the contrary, erotica can fall as a sub genre of romance, as well as being a stand alone category. My lit mag, Micromance Magazine, receives 20,000 site visits a month - writers love romance, readers love romance. And when signing up for your directory, I couldn't even choose the genre/theme of my lit mag because it's not included on your list. Why the omission of romance/love stories? Could I just choose "flash fiction?" Certainly... But when there are other topics, like religion, listed, and, yes, erotica, why not romance? It's not an obscure genre... And the writers who create flash romance are among some of the most successful and talented I have ever come across, and for me to not be able to properly list my lit mag is not only troubling to me as the EIC, but upsets me that my contributors can't receive proper representation of what they do and do so well.... Please advise .... Thank you!

Will they reply? *shrugs* Will this mean I'm not approved to be in their directory? *shrugs* Doesn't matter. What matters is, as writers and readers of romance, we deserve the same love as writers and readers of any other genre…. And as long as Micromance Magazine exists, I'll advocate for romance writers… and I'll always provide that platform to uplift romance writers and continue to move to make flash romance/love lit the next big thing in the indie literary community!

Gail Lynn, EIC 🥰