At the end of July, Ploughshares will launch a new monthly digital-only series of individual stories and novellas, making it one of the first digital story series offered by a literary publication. The series, called Pshares Singles, will feature longer stories of around 10,000 words and novellas between 30,000 and 60,000 words. Readers will be able to purchase Pshares Singles for $1.99 for stories and $3.99 for novellas at pshares.org, Amazon’s Kindle store, and Barnes & Noble’s Nook store.

Now in its forty-first year, Ploughshares magazine, based at Emerson College, is published three times a year. The decision to develop the new series came in part because its printed short stories were limited to a 5,000-word maximum.

“I’m excited to expand on what we do—creating a new forum for longer works, and a new opportunity for writers,” said Ladette Randolph, director and editor-in-chief of Ploughshares. “It creates a new experience for readers—substantive stories, in smaller doses.”

Randolph added that she hopes the new format will appeal to modern readers’ needs.

The inaugural short story, available on July 31, is Timothy Schaffert’s “Lady of the Burlesque Ballet.”

As of June 1, Pshares Singles is open to unsolicited submissions of longer short stories and novellas. For guidelines, visit http://www.pshares.org/submit/guidelines.cfm.