Wow! Just Wow!
Bye July, Hello August....
Another month has come and gone…. But what a month July has been! The most impressive of our stats are these numbers right here….
That blows our next highest viewed month out of the water by nearly 6,000 visits. And even when you consider the 750 (give or take) subscribers we have, that means there were 11,750 different other people who popped in at least once to read a post, check submissions, etc etc. That’s a big deal! Especially when you consider that summer is slow in the writing community!
Our other stats have been impressive as well. Our Engagement % of each post hovers between 4 and 9% (some a hair higher or lower) with an average of about 6.5% - the overall Substack average is 1-2%…. This percentage represents the # of people who read through the entire newsletter/post… As you can see we are way above average…Contributors, people WANT to read your stories and poems.
Our open rate stays fairly consistent at about 35%, but can go as high as 40% and drop to 33% .. those #’s put us above the 25% Substack average… this percentage represents the # of subscribers who actually open the emailed newsletter. Again, people are excited about the emails.
We're up to 775 subscribers. We have nearly 1,000 followers.
And, aside from great stats on Substack, we've also had our best month on Instagram - over 2,500 views…we've had 54 new followers and have reached nearly 250 followers.
So I want to
We couldn't do it without you - without all of your support and enthusiasm in sharing the love that is Micromance Magazine.
KissMet Quarterly
KQ has done super well, too. A Serendipitous Summer is still selling copies and receiving KDP unlimited reads… that makes 76 copies sold and nearly 1100 pages read!
Submissions for the holiday anthology closed on Thursday. We received 53 submissions. Some have received their reply. The rest are coming… hoping to have them all out this weekend, so keep an eye out. Thank you to everyone who submitted - it was the most submissions KQ has received so far.
Romantic Reader Newsletter by Mina Beckett
If you didn't read the newsletter Mina published yesterday, you need to. It is an insightful glimpse into how romance publishing is changing… how there are shifts occurring between traditional and self-publishing, book length pieces and flash, and digital content vs print… Mina is very much in the know on this subject, having published many books and even starting her own press… so it's worth a read…but she also mentioned Micromance… in part, she wrote:
“Meanwhile, new digital-first magazines like Micromance Magazine are rising to the top, built from the ground up for the digital landscape. These publications specialize in bite-sized romance stories perfect for today's busy readers. They’re quick, satisfying reads that deliver all the emotional punch of a full-length novel in just a few thousand words.”
To read what else she had to say about MM and to read the rest of her article (and if you're a romance writer, you need to) check out:
Authors Publish …
They mentioned us in another list. This time, a list of 12 lit mags accepting microfiction. To be included on such a short list, when there are so many great lit mags out there for micro, was impressive. But when you read the other 11 on the list, places like Paragraph Planet, Blink-Ink, The Citron Review… established, highly-regarded micro lit mags… it's beyond incredible! I still can't believe we were included! 😁
Miscellaneous…
Last week I put out a call for EICs of other magazines who subscribe or have submitted/contributed to MM to contact me so I could give their lit mags some shoutouts…. I heard from 2 EICs. Their info will be coming in the next few days!
Well, I guess that's it for this monthly update… submissions are open. We are now scheduling for 2026. Yes, we are scheduling 5 months out… when I started MM, I never thought we'd be one of those mags scheduling weeks ahead, let alone months… I am beyond grateful that writers are so excited to be a part of the community we've created! Thank you all so much.
Oh! Our contributor list - Cupid’s Scribes - has been updated through July - putting the # of different contributions at 165.
And the “About” section has been updated. It's more or less our FAQ section, so, if you'd like, check it out…
Thank you ALL.. let's make August another record breaker!!! 😄
I'll leave you with a little summer thought from our Cupid Prize winning poet Ash Douglas…
Have a great weekend… and here's to an awesome August!
Gail Lynn, EIC 🥰
So happy for you and the magazine. You should be proud of your hard work!
Yay!!! Amazing!