Free books for life giveaway and Book Angel program helping kids in need

My November articles (so far) for Forbes.com are below, where I've been covering all things books, publishing, libraries, authors, literary agents, book clubs and more since November 2018, are about some cool things independent bookstores are doing. You can follow me there so you don't miss anything, and I'm now working on January 2021 articles and beyond, so if you're a book publicist, editor, agent, bookseller, librarian or book club organizer or anyone else doing something new and unique in the book world, feel free to pitch me (rachelkb at gmail dot com with "Forbes" in the subject line).

Having this beat has totally changed my freelance writing career and given me a great way to focus my interests, and cover books for other outlets like Publishers Weekly and Washington Post Book World.

Here are two articles I hope you'll appreciate. You can nominate someone to WIN A BOOK A MONTH FOR LIFE from London, UK bookstore Heywood Hill through Sunday, November 8, and you can donate a book to a child in need with Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, New York, either in person or online. More details in the pieces.

"Why UK Bookstore Heywood Hill Is Giving Away A Book A Month For Life"





"Bookstore’s Book Angel Program Ensures Kids In Need Receive Books For The Holidays"

Happy publication day, Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica

Today is the official release date of Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica, which is racking up some great reviews on Amazon! So much work goes into an anthology, from reading dozens of submissions, selecting the stories, which in this case had to balance gender of protagonists and a variety of toys, both the types that exist, fictional ones and household items, then editing, copyediting, cover copy and now the happiest stage, sending books out to reviewers, paying authors and promoting the finished book. I have big dreams for this one, but one book promotion at a time. I hope you'll check it out and spread the word, and I will be sharing all over (@comeagainbook on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook) when I hear of stores stocking it. Right now I know indie bookstore Red Emma's in Baltimore has signed copies, it's on its way to indie bookstore Charis Circle in Atlanta, and Early to Bed in Chicago will be ordering it soon.



You can buy it there in print or at your local bookstore or sex toy store (ask them for it and they will order it if they don't have it in stock), as well as on Kindle, Nook and iBooks. I'm hosting a Facebook book release party online until midnight EST and at the official site, comeagainbook.com there's more info about the book and Q&As with some of the contributors. Happy pub day to my second favorite book I've ever edited!

Feminist bookstore I want to move into: Book Woman in Austin

Really: just give me a cot and I'll give up the apartment I can't get home to anyway and move in to feminist bookstore Book Woman in Austin. It is amazing! I went there last night to see my friend Shanna Katz, sex educator and author of Oral Sex That'll Blow Her Mind, give a workshop about sexuality, complete with vulva puppet. She was hilarious and informative and in half an hour I learned a lot and had a lot to think about, like the compliment sandwich. My friend Kambri Crews is reading from her memoir Burn Down The Ground on Friday.

I saw that the Delicious Issue (shouldn't every publication have one?) of Curve is out with an article I wrote about Cupcake Royale owner Jody Hall. I discovered on their new books table two by Naomi Shihab Nye I'm coveting, plus Transfer which I'm already a fan of, and the memoir Not Quite Nirvana: A Skeptic's Journey to Mindfulness by Rachel Neuman, which I obviously need to read, not just because she shares my name. I discovered the very first anthology I was ever published in, back in 2000, Best Lesbian Erotica 2001. I was just in awe of the entire place and impressed that while feminist bookstores have come and gone, this one is around and thriving and putting on amazing events. They had a bunch of my erotica books and a healthy sexuality bookcase too! I'm loving it here so much that am half tempted to try to talk my guy into moving here. So yay Austin!


me with ten of my books (and Suite Encounters was on the shelf below)


Shanna Katz with vulva puppet



If you're in Brooklyn and can get out safely, BCakeNY in Prospect Heights is giving out free cupcakes from 5 to 6 today. I will be giving out free candy to trick or treaters at a friend's in Austin!

Free wine, cheese, haiku and single girls tonight at WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Firstly, Happy National Whipped Cream Day! Yes, it's today.

Join me tonight at 7 at 126 Franklin Street (G train) at WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with Anna David and Beth Griffenhagen. Free wine and cheese and skin care products!







I just got Beth's book Haiku for the Single Girl and it's hysterical! I have SO many favorites, among them:

On my kitchen floor
We fucked loudly, more than once.
Take that, married friends!

I like trysts with guys
From other countries. It's like
Stamping your passport!

Dear Future Husband,
Hope you like a.m. blow jobs
And pizza. Call me!

My latest at Open Salon: Why I Love Greenpoint, Brooklyn indie bookstore WORD

"Why I Love Greenpoint, Brooklyn indie bookstore WORD! It's not just for the pencils, I promise:

Powell's loves Please, Sir!

I'm blogging from the cafe at Powell's Books, where I bought two books by the poet Naomi Shihab Nye, whose work I've been eager to read but wasn't sure where to start, so getting to browse the shelves helped, and the new Ms. magazine and ogled the extensive erotica section and saw this:



Plus I walked by Voodoo Doughnut but will save a taste for Sunday. I am sleepy and heading off to Eugene and will have some exciting publication news to announce soonish.

Free cupcakes and short erotica tonight at Bluestockings in NYC

I'm doing a lot fewer readings these days, and I have my sanity back, but tonight I'm hosting two In The Flesh alums, Christen Clifford and D.L. King, reading about long-term relationship sex and librarian/library patron BDSM, respectively, plus serving up free mini cupcakes, as we all read from my new book Gotta Have It: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex from 7-8 pm at Bluestockings, 72 Allen Street, NYC. I know there are a bazillion events this Valentine's Day in NYC (feels like more than ever), but mine is free, fast, sexy and you'll be out of there in time to go off and have a romantic dinner. And enjoy free cupcakes. What more could you ask for? See below for excerpts from their Gotta Have It stories and Christen, in the Gotta Have It book trailer. You'll also get to find out the two pseudonyms I use in the book!

And here's the Facebook invite if you want to tell your friends.



From "After Ten Years" by Christen Clifford:

“Touch me,” I say.

And he does, lightly, softly. I feel like he is really touching meæthe me he used to know and fuck. He traces the curve from my rib cage to waist to hip, slowly, up and down. He adds in my shoulder and thigh. I feel, not exactly beautiful, but well-shaped, for the moment. I breathe there with him; I leave my arms above my head as if I’m bound; I don’t start in on his cock. I lie there and let myself be touched.
He brushes my nipple. The next time he gives it a tight squeeze. I exhale, moan and voice an intake of breath. I turn to him for a kiss. His mouth is hot and wet and open and searching.

Now his hand is between my legs. I hate that my wetness doesn’t drip anymore; he has to go in and find it and coax it out. But it’s there. I shift so my back is to him. I have a very sensitive back. He reaches around so his hand is still on my cunt, the other on my nipple. I want him to hurt me a little. He’s never liked it when I’ve asked him to hurt me in a big way, to slap me or hit me; he can’t do that kind of violence to me. That’s okay. We have our limitations.

Another breath.

“Bite me a little,” I say.



Christen Clifford is a writer and performer in New York. Find her @cd_clifford or christenclifford.com.

From "Punishment Befitting the Crime" by D.L. King:

It seemed the rumors might actually be true. Ted had been working on finding out for himself for quite a while now. He’d been diligently bringing books back late ever since that friend of Frank’s had brought it up at the poker game. He’d said, “That bitch of a head librarian punishes guys who break the library rules.” He’d said that he heard she’d actually spanked some guy for bringing his books back late. He’d said it like it was a bad thing. Everybody laughed and made lewd remarks. That was all right; they weren’t library types. He’d have been surprised if they read much more than the back of the cereal box or the sports page.

But he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He began to fantasize about what kinds of punishments Ms. Carmichael might mete out to guys who didn’t follow the rules--and now he was going to find out.

He walked around the desk and fidgeted as he waited for her to open the door. He felt like a little boy who’d been sent to the principal’s office with the exception that a trip to the office in elementary school had never produced a hard-on. He crossed his hands in front of him just as the door opened and Ms. Carmichael, red lips pursed, gave him her most severe look yet. She led him to an office behind the desk.

Editor of Where the Girls Are, The Sweetest Kiss, Spank and Carnal Machines, D.L. King also publishes the review site, Erotica Revealed. Find her stories in Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Women’s Erotica, Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, Sweet Love, Please, Ma’am, Fast Girls and Sex in the City: New York, among others. She’s published two novels. Find her at http://www.dlkingerotica.com.

Last night at Booksmith, in photos

I have to run a few errands, like buying a case for my pretty new laptop (though I must admit, Tantek showed up and pulled out his 11-inch MacBook Air last night and it was so light, I wondered if that would't have been the better option), then catch a plane to Los Angeles - I'm on the Dr. Susan Block Show tonight, and I want to get me and all my huge amount of belongings settled into my hotel and just write. No dates, no ice skating, no phone calls, at least, for one day. I've been running around nonstop and have been feeling physically off. I Tweeted that the reading would be a success if I didn't cry. I didn't, at least, not on the outside, not there. At Booksmith I was proud of myself for reading that totally fraught story and so happy to hear my fellow authors. The after where I was a little sad, where I could recall exact phone calls made from exact streets, plans and dreams and fantasies, that was, well, after. That's another story for another time, but I was happy to remember some of the good parts, the ones that make anything not-so-good worth it.




photo of me before the reading by Violet Blue via Flickr - to be totally vain for a moment, I love this photo!

I will write more about how Booksmith is the best place ever to do readings; if you want to watch last night's, Click here. Thanks to everyone who showed up, to the guy who had me sign his birthday card with my lips, to the Sarge and Reputation and Wild Flag fan, to all my friends and to the Booksmith staff, who not only hosted a wonderful evening but really know their books. Thank you to Violet Blue, Susie Hara, Dusty Horn and Donna George Storey, who all breathed life into their stories that, much as I love the written word, it just doesn't have in the same way on the page. Dusty sold sexy calendars to benefit Lyon Martin Health Services (see photo below and, incidentally, I'll spank you anytime!). One of the highlights for me was chatting afterward with them about all manner of books.






Donna George Storey, Susie Hara, me, Dusty Horn, Violet Blue


Thanks, Josh, I hope you had a fabulous birthday! You were very cute - I kindof wanted to pinch your cheeks and make out with you, but in a friendly way. I was happy to sign your card with my eyeliner (before I was given a lovely purple pen) and lipstick.




Pin Up calendar as sold by the sexy Dusty Horn


I bought these at Booksmith (and they gave me the tote bag for free, which I will wear proudly). Looking forward to reading The People Who Watched Her Pass By by Scott Bradfield, Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin and Stuff: Compuslive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost and Gail Streketee.

And welcome to my hotel life world (which, I will say, has been greatly improved by the use of Skype):


Since editing Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, I always take these. I've liked the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, but think they don't need to make the staff where crazy uniforms. I booked this via Quikbook for $93/night!


I kicked these off my bed getting comfortable. Oops!

Thank you especially Booksmith, everyone at Cleis Press, especially Kat for driving me to Emeryville, and Violet Blue, for whom I promise to return for a proper vacation and longer stay and mayhem and fun!

Free cupcakes at San Francisco reading with Violet Blue January 28th at Booksmith

To those who were at our last fabulous reading, it was packed, and we signed lots of books and gave out lots of cupcakes. I hope to do so again so pretty please, tell your SF friends about this one. I'll be reading "Espionage" from Best Women's Erotica 2011 (and it'll soon be available for your listening pleasure). Plus I get to host Dusty Horn (who Violet introduced me to at Litquake in 2009!), Susie Hara and Donna George Storey, both of whom I met via working with Susie Bright. See you at Booksmith! (And Donna George Storey and I also read the night before, January 27th, at Good Vibrations in Berkeley.)

Eat. Sleep. Read. with indie bookstore Russo's Books in Bakersfield, California

Check out this cool display of me alongside my book Fast Girls: Erotica for Womenand a bunch of other authors wearing our "Eat. Sleep. Read." t-shirts at Russo's Books in Bakersfield, California, where I hope to do a reading in 2011!

Historical romance author Sarah MacLean joins Passion reading November 11th with free cupcakes!

I'm thrilled to share the news that romance author Sarah MacLean will be joining us on November 11th at 7 pm at Greenpoint, Brooklyn bookstore Word for my 35th birthday Passion reading, with free cupcakes from mini cupcake company Kumquat Cupcakery. I'm working out the flavors now but they will be red and white to match the cover of Passion.

official Facebook invite if you want to pass the word along.

November 11, 7 pm
Passion: Erotic Romance for Women and Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord reading
Word, 126 Franklin Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn (G to Greenpoint Avenue)

Join Passion: Erotic Romance for Women editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and contributors Emerald and Donna George Storey, plus historical romance author Sarah MacLean (Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord) at Greenpoint, Brooklyn indie bookstore Word for readings, discussion, signing and free Kumquat Cupcakery cupcakes to celebrate Rachel turning 35. Free Passion buttons will be given out to all attendees.



By the way, Passion just came out this week! Click on the cover above to read the introduction. I have room left on the November virtual book tour if any bloggers want to join - just email passionateantho at gmail.com with "Book Tour" in subject line and your URL and name and mailing address in the body.

I actually met Sarah for the first time at Word and her first novel Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake was my first foray into historical romance in a long time and I loved it. I'll write more about it later, and why I think it's a feminist romance novel. I'll add my review of it to the end of this post, but first I want to share her bio and the cover of her new book, which you can hear her read from at Word and get a signed copy, Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord. Do visit her blog daily as she's doing some fun guest posts around the theme of Ten Ways plus book giveaways - I'm cribbing from those posts on which historical romance authors I should be reading!





New York Times and USA Today bestselling author SARAH MacLEAN grew up in Rhode Island, obsessed with historical romance. Her love of all things historical helped to earn her degrees from Smith College and Harvard University before she finally set pen to paper and wrote her first book. Sarah now lives in Brooklyn with her husband, their dog, and a ridiculously large collection of romance novels. She is the author of Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake and her latest, Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord. Please visit her at www.macleanspace.com.

Official book blurb from Sarah's site:

Ten Ways... is the follow-up to the New York Times & USA Today bestselling Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, and the second in a trio of Regency-set historicals about the Marquess of Ralston, his twin brother, and their half-sister:

"Lord Nicholas is a paragon of manhood. And his eyes, Dear Reader! So blue!”
Pearls & Pelisses, June 1823

Since being named on of London’s "Lords to Land" by a popular ladies’ magazine, Nicholas St. John has been relentlessly pursued by every matrimony-minded female in the ton. So when an opportunity to escape fashionable society presents itself, he eagerly jumps—only to land in the path of the most determined, damnably delicious woman he’s ever met! The daughter of a titled wastrel,

Lady Isabel Townsend has too many secrets and too little money. Though used to taking care of herself quite handily, her father’s recent passing has left Isabel at sea and in need of outside help to protect her young brother’s birthright. The sinfully handsome, eminently eligible Lord Nicholas could be the very salvation she seeks.

But the lady must be wary and not do anything reckless…like falling madly, passionately in love.

My review of Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, available in bookstores now. Ten Ways will be released October 26th from Avon. Read lots more reviews on Amazon



I do not read much historical romance but saw Sarah MacLean speak on a panel about romance writing and liked the premise of this book so I tried it and...I loved it! Callie's list of 9 rules she wants to break speak to the restrictions on women in society of her time, and how the single woman was basically left to simply husband hunt. That is not what Callie (Calpurnia) wants, and while she is not sitting around pining for Ralston, she knows in her heart that she loves him and won't settle for anything less. In the meantime, she is willing to go out of her way and risk her reputation to check off the items on her list, perhaps not quite realizing the risks involved and what she's setting in motion. MacLean adds enough twists, and paints Callie as both the perfect foil for rake Ralston as well as someone generally pitied by many in her social circle, as evidenced by the wager placed on who will marry her first. Throughout, Callie is feisty, headstrong and, most of all, holding out for true love, even when it means rejecting the only man she has ever loved. This is a clever romance that captures how each of its protagonists are changed by the experience of falling in love, even when they don't realize it. I'd recommend it to others who are newcomers, or even skeptics, when it comes to historicals, as well as anyone looking for a sensual, steamy romance.

Book karma at work in the "Ron Jeremy Area" at Shakespeare & Co. in Brooklyn

You know what I love so, so much about this post by Brooklyn independent bookstore Shakespeare & Co.? I mean, aside from the fact that they have three of my books out on their sex table, aka the "Ron Jeremy Area?" That I'd probably never have known about it if Normal People Don't Live Like This author Dylan Landis (who you MUST go see next Wednesday at Housing Works if you're in NYC) sent me those photos. Triple yay!