Why Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 1 is the most important book I've ever edited

While I’m busy promoting this month’s release of Dirty Dates: Erotic Fantasies for Couples, I’m also looking ahead to January and the release of what I consider the most important book I’ve ever edited: Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 1.



I’ve been reading the Best Women’s Erotica series since the very first volume edited by Marcy Sheiner, and have had the honor of having several stories of mine published in the series, including some of my favorites, most notably my dishwashing fetish story “Doing the Dishes” and my oral sex restaurant story "Secret Service," inspired by a former restaurant where I used to live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. With this new volume, Cleis Press has shifted from using calendar years in the title to volumes, so that the books are not automatically returned by bookstores at the end of the year. This means that readers will have more opportunities to discover the book.

I put everything I’ve learned from my last decade plus of anthology editing into this book. My vision was for an anthology of varied erotica by and about women, and while of course no single book will speak to every aspect of female sexuality, I am incredibly proud of the result. There’s a story set in the past and a story set in the future. There’s a fictional superhero and a pop star. There's kink and tenderness, love, lust and flirtation. There's real life drama and plenty of fantasies.

As I discovered upon my recent copyedit, as befitting my turning 40, there wound up being several women in their forties. There are two trans men (and if I have the honor of editing another volume, I will make sure trans women are included). There are lesbian and heterosexual pairings; there are bisexual stories; there are single ladies and ones in committed relationships, as well as ones in relationships that could use a little improvement. And much more!

I think this is one of the most diverse collections I’ve edited, in terms of race, age, sexual orientation and types of story settings and storytelling. I had to turn down many amazing stories due to space, which is always gut-wrenching to me, but one of the rougher aspects of anthology editing. However, my hope is that this volume reaches readers around the world, as it contains stories written by authors in the United States, Canada, the UK and Japan.

It’s become my new favorite amongst my titles. When people ask me which anthology of mine they should try, I will say Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 1, because I think it’s both modern and timeless. And yes, these stories are by and about women, but I truly believe anyone interested in varied, well written erotica, will appreciate them. I just reread them and even though I already knew what would happen, I got a kick out of it. My story "Flying Solo," written in the second person, made me want to write more in second person because it's fun (if challenging, but a good challenge).

The other reason I’m so proud of this book has to do with me stepping up as a businesswoman in a way I never have before. When I was asked to edit this anthology, I hired a publishing lawyer to help me with my contract, and then I got on the phone with my publisher and negotiated a better deal for myself than I would have gotten otherwise. I got some terms that I hadn’t even asked for, and all of that makes me even more committed to devoting 100% of my energy in the first half of 2016 to spreading the word about this book wide and far.

Right now I’m working on arranging readings that I hope will take place in San Francisco and Chicago and possibly a few more cities. As a general rule, I only travel for paid speaking events, because that’s what I can afford and what’s best for my business, but I’m breaking that rule to invest in this book because I believe in it so much and want to share that passion in the form of live readings. If those pan out, I will be posting about them all over, especially on the social media accounts for the book on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. I hope you will consider pre-ordering the book in print or ebook, or just sharing this link with the cover, table of contents and introduction. I'll be sending postcards to any stores that want them (email me at rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com if you have a store or event where you can put postcards out).

This is the culmination of the work I’ve been doing since I wrote my very first erotica story in 1999, and since I worked on my first anthology in 2004. It’s a huge honor that I do not take lightly. I thank all the authors who’ve allowed me to publish their work, and Cleis Press for believing in me and putting a beautiful cover on this incredibly sexy book. I will be sharing much more about the stories in Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 1, as we approach the January 12 publication date.

What I’ve been learning in recent months is that if you want to achieve big goals, you have to first dream big. So here’s my big dream: that Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 1 becomes my bestselling anthology. I love all the books with my name on them, of course, but this one I truly believe speaks to modern sexuality in a way that’s, without explicitly using the word in its fiction, feminist. I can’t wait to share these 22 hot stories with you. If you're a blogger or journalist and would like to cover BWE of the Year (for short), email me at rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com with "BWE" in the subject line and in the body your name, mailing address and publication name.

Below you'll find the links where you can pre-order Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 1, edited by me, Rachel Kramer Bussel, and published by Cleis Press. I hope you’ll check it out, because these authors are all ones to watch.

Introduction (read it on Tumblr)
A New Canvas Tara Betts
Demimonde Valerie Alexander
Ophelia the Second Jade A. Waters
Revisiting Youth J. Crichton and H. Keyes
Date Night D.R. Slaten
Flying Solo Rachel Kramer Bussel
Drawn by Nic Heidi Champa
The Ropes Elise King
Starstruck Lazuli Jones
The Altar of Lamented Toys Jessica Taylor
Matilda’s Secret L. Marie Adeline
Scents & Sexuality Doriana Chase
Alvin’s Night Elizabeth Coldwell
Enter Me Tabitha Rayne
The Wolf at His Door Deborah Castellano
Out of the Ordinary Rose P. Lethe
Lighting the Pyre Theda Hudson
Restitution Ria Restrepo
The Carnalarium Rose Caraway
Waiting to Pee Amy Butcher
Two Doms for Dinner Dorothy Freed
The Assistant Tiffany Reisz

Get your hands on Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 1:

Amazon (print)

Kindle

Barnes & Noble (print)

Nook

Powells

Books-a-Million

IndieBound (find your nearest local bookstore)

Cleis Press

Amazon UK (print)

Amazon UK Kindle

Amazon Canada (print)

Amazon Canada Kindle

I have a hot new book coming out in 2016!

At some point, when I have free time (ha ha ha), I will post more about what it means to me to have edited the forthcoming in January Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 1 (the new name for what what I had called Best Women's Erotica 2016), because it's an incredible career high, especially since the stories I've had published in previous editions are some of my absolute favorites I've written. But today I sent over 200 rejection emails and 20 acceptance emails, filed two articles and did so many other things that at one point, I looked up and legitimately wasn't sure where I was for a few seconds. It was like I'd woken up from a dream, but I was at my desk. Yes, that's how crazy this week is making me. If you submitted a story to the book and haven't heard back (check your inbox and spam folder too), email me ASAP at bwe2016 at gmail.com and I will respond.



So instead of everything I had planned to say about this book, which I am now in the paperwork/contracts/sending payment stage of, I will just share the cover. I will also say to all the people who submitted whose work I couldn't include, and anyone who had wanted to submit but didn't, if I am given the chance to edit another volume of this series, I hope to make it as smart and sexy and creative as this one. I have no idea if I will be editing any more anthologies, let alone this famed series, and today is not a day I even want to contemplate anything of the sort, given how exhausted I am. But if I should be so lucky as to edit another volume, I will once again make room in it for many new authors I've never worked with, and new voices. That was one of my top priorities with this volume and I can't wait for it to be out in the world in January. Postcards and readings and promotions to come! This is an important book for me for many reasons, and I will share more about that as soon as I can. Once the table of contents is finalized, I will post it and share why I selected the stories I did. I can promise you now: there's hotness, variety, threesomes, romance, kink, geekiness and much more.

Why I love The Big Book of Orgasms better than all my other books, or "the big little book that could"

Maybe you're not supposed to say you love one book more than all the others, but I'm not exactly the type to stand on propriety. So there, I will say it: I am so excited about and proud of The Big Book of Orgasms I'm not even sure it's worth keeping editing erotica books (though I would love to do a sequel should I be so lucky). I will for a while, but this is my career high, the one book I am going to bat for and doing crazy things like flying out to San Francisco for less than 48 hours, because I believe in it that much, because I want it to succeed so badly.

I've been trying to unlock why this book feels so make or break for me, and I think it's in part that I truly think this is a book anyone can enjoy. Don't have a lot of time? Each story can be read in about five minutes. Curious about kink but aren't sure how far you want to dip your toes? There's plenty of it, but also plenty of lighter stories. Sometimes I hear feedback that my books don't have enough, for example, gay male stories, or some other type of content. While this book doesn't have everything, it comes as close as I am likely to with any of my books. I won't lie, though: it's far easier to edit 20-25 stories, from a logistical perspective, than 69. The editorial freedom is the flipside to 3 times as much paperwork, email and wrangling. That's only worth it if the book is beautiful and hot, inside and out, and this one is, for me.

This one was just a perfect storm of me getting everything I want as an editor, and, I hope, offering everything an erotica reader could want--except meaty stories; these are brief and will likely have you wanting to read more by these authors. If they were longer, the book would be too unwieldy to fit in a pocket and would lose some of its charm, in my opinion. I like that the minute you pick this book up, if you're the type who reads print, it looks and feels different than most erotica books. It can fit in a purse or pocket. It's handy and hopefully something you'll want to handle, hold, savor. I also think that because it has such a mix of writing styles, perspectives and scenarios, from multi-published authors and newcomers to the erotica genre, it gives readers a depth of sexual diversity.



I worked very hard to make sure "orgasm" didn't lose its luster as a theme from "The Beginning" by B.D. Swain to "The Final Challenge" by Heather Day. I think that is the potential danger of a themed anthology, but this theme was so wide open that there was room for plenty of ways of approaching it, including things I never in a billion years would have thought of myself, like the gender-bending technology of "Remote Control" by Logan Zachary. That's the kind of story I love to publish, because it's just so far out of how I write that it's like a gift to my brain. At Delilah Devlin's blog, I talk a bit about why there are 69 stories--yes, it's to get readers enticed, but as an editor, that format gives me so much more freedom, and I hope, in turn, that I'm giving readers more of what they want, including things they might not have thought they wanted.

This post is kicking off the virtual book tour (my post is late, but I will be linking to all the posts this month and next on a timely basis). I do hope you will join me and 9 contributors for a free reading this Wednesday at Good Vibrations, 1620 Polk Street in San Francisco, and if you can't, that you'll tell people in the area. It's my last San Francisco reading for a very long time, possibly ever. I think as I prepare to turn 38, with all the weight and pressure of that birthday, I'm starting to realize that I need to celebrate the parts of my work life I'm proud of, and this book is one I am unabashedly proud of. I gave a postcard for the book as I was mailing 70 copies to the clerk at my local post office, so now I'm known as "the one with the dirty book." I will give that postcard to anyone who asks (literally: want one? If you're in the U.S., email orgassmantho at gmail.com with "Postcard" in the subject line and your name and mailing address in the body and I'll mail one to you!)

This book has made me proud again to be an erotica writer and editor. Rather than my usual mumble with strangers, for fear of getting into an awkward conversation or having them spill some unwanted sexual secret, I'm boldly claiming it. This is what I do. This is my life's work (so far). This is the highlight of the trip I started as I left law school and wrote a little story called "Monica and Me," all in one beautiful little package. It's the big little book that could, and I hope it does, in every way. If you want to help make this best book of mine a success, I'd love it if you'd spread the word about the reading, join me January 3rd in New York City at Between the Covers at the Museum of Sex, 233 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and share your thought son the book at Goodreads and Amazon (My dream goal is to get to 100 Amazon reviews by my birthday, November 10th.). Thank you, and thank you to all the authors in the book for making this book one I'm honored to have my name on. You can read excerpts from all 69 stories on the book's Tumblr and keep up with the news at @BigBookofOrgasm on Tumblr. win a copy from Johnny FunCheap through November 11th.

November: I'm touring 5 cities and The Big Book of Orgasms is touring lots of blogs!

I've got 7 events lined up in November in Northampton, Massachusetts, San Francisco, Albuquerque, Erotica 101 and Bedpost Confessions in Austin and New York, as well as a few days later, my December 3rd Erotica 101 workshop at Nomia in Portland, Maine. All those details are on my website and in the links above. Also happening from November into December is The Big Book of Orgasms (aka, my favorite book I've ever edited!) virtual book tour. Below are the confirmed blogger tour dates as of now, and I will be updating them as we fill in more. If you're a blogger and want to be part of the tour, email me at orgasmantho at gmail.com with your URL and mailing address and we'll get you added to the tour.



The Big Book of Orgasms virtual book tour

November 1 Lusty Lady
November 4 tgstonebutch/Xan West
November 5 Lula Lisbon
November 6 Sugarbutch Chronicles
November 7 Donuts and Desires
November 8 A.M. Hartnett
November 11 Kay Jaybee
November 12 Smut for Smarties/Lady Cheeky
November 13 Kinky World
November 14 Victoria Blisse
November 15 Robot Lovers Prey on the Lonely (Annabeth Leong)
November 18 Lillian Ann Slugocki
November 19 Valerie Alexander
November 20 Thea Landen
November 21 Lady Laid Bare
November 22 Kink, etc...
November 25 Quixotic Orchid
November 26 Ali's Addiction
November 27 The Ladygarden Project
November 29 Sex in Words
December 2 Tamsin's Supererotica
December 3 The Green Light District/Emerald
December 4 Tilly Hunter Erotia
December 5 Literary Vixens
December 6 The Feminist Librarian
December 9 Bitches n Prose
December 10 Clitical
December 11 Sommer Marsden
December 12 Stella Harris

Virtual book tour for Best Sex Writing 2013

Tomorrow kicks off the virtual book tour for my editorial pride and joy, Best Sex Writing 2013: The State of Today's Sexual Culture. I'll be updating the blog links below as they post about the book. The book has an amazing lineup of writers, not just because you probably know many of their names, but because they go there in terms of saying things we aren't "supposed to" say about sex. It's been a great honor to edit this book and series and I am still a little bit "pinch me" over how this edition turned out. See the full table of contents at bestsexwriting2013.com and if you also are a fan of this book, I'd love it if you'd review/rate it on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Your support means everything, especially with a book like this.



May 7 Lusty Lady

May 8 Naked at Our Age (Joan Price)

May 9 SEXPress

May 10 Pleasure Mechanics

May 13 The Gestalt Boudoir

May 14 Hunting for Sex

May 15 Geeky Nymph

May 16 Pleasure Saucer Podcast

May 17 Greta Christina's Blog

May 20 Feminist Allies

May 21 Victoria Blisse

May 22 My Whole Sex Life

May 23 Tamsin's Superotica

May 24 Danielle Paradis/Dispatches from Paradis

May 27 Justine Musk

May 28 Sunny Megatron

May 29 D.L. King

May 30 Julian Arancia/Me, My Life, and My Thoughts

May 31 Jade Melisande

June 3 The Sexy Feminist

June 4 Clitical

Jonathan Lethem article kicks off Best Sex Writing 2013

Best Sex Writing 2013 will be here in, fittingly, 2013, January, to be exact. Stay tuned for a special pre-Christmas promotion I'm running, and if you like the sound of this lineup, please show the book some online love and click "like" on Amazon. Thank you! I'm very proud of and excited about this book and will be posting lots more about it soon. The book features several original pieces, as well as reprints from Playboy, The Atlantic, New York, East Bay Express, Jacobin, Salon, and elsewhere. It touches on nude models, sex toys, polyamory, aging and sex, public sex, BDSM, role-playing, AIDS, sex work, sexual identity, the porn industry and Jean Harlow, among other topics. See my next post for a free book offer related to this one and again, if you want to support this series, a "like" on Amazon and/or rating on Goodreads goes a long way and is very much appreciated. Bloggers and reviewers interested in covering the book, please email bestsexwriting2013 at gmail.com with your publication and mailing address. Thank you!



Best Sex Writing 2013 table of contents

Foreword by Carol Queen
Introduction by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Live Nude Models Jonathan Lethem
Can a Better Vibrator Inspire an Age of Great American Sex? Andy Isaacson
Sex by Numbers Rachel Swan
Very Legal: Sex and Love in Retirement Alex Morris
Notes from a Unicorn Seth Fischer
Rest Stop Confidential Conner Habib
When On Fire Island…A Polyamorous Disaster Nicholas Garnett
Cherry Picking Julia Serano
Holy Fuck Jon Pressick
Baby Talk Rachel Kramer Bussel
Dear John Lori Selke
Sex by Any Other Name Insiya Ansari
Enhancing Masochism Patrick Califia
Ghosts: All My Men Are Dead Carol Queen
Happy Hookers Melissa Gira Grant
Christian Conservatives vs. Sex: The Long War Over Reproductive Freedom Rob Boston
Porn Defends the Money Shot Dennis Romero
Lost Boys Kristen Hinman
The Original Blonde Neil Gabler

Purchase Best Sex Writing 2013 from:

Amazon

Kindle (ebook)

Bn.com

Nook (ebook)

Books a Million

Indiebound (independent bookstores)

Cleis Press