Free erotica story from Candy Lovers on The Kiss Me Quick's Podcast

Good news for sexy audio fans (which I hope means you): There's a new free erotica story narrated by Rose Caraway up on The Kiss Me Quick's Podcast! It's "Lemonade" by Melina Greenport (no relation to the Beyoncé album. I'm so thrilled that this story, one of 35 in Candy Lovers: Sugar Erotica, is available for your listening pleasure. If you like it, you'll want to check out the whole juicy, sexy audiobook. And if you do read and/or listen, I'd love it if you'd leave a review. Candy Lovers was my first venture into self-publishing and I'm excited for it to reach more eyes and ears because it's such a fun group of stories.

Candy Lovers audiobook is out now!

I've been quietly working on several anthology projects, but the biggest so far this year has been my self-published anthology ebook Candy Lovers: Sugar Erotica, available exclusively for Kindle. I'm thrilled to share that the Audible audiobook was just published and is narrated by my absolute favorite narrator, Rose Caraway. If you're an Audible member, which offers you the best deal, you can get it for just one credit or $14.99 and if you have the ebook, you'll be able to purchase the audiobook at a discounted price shortly.



Whether you're new to audio erotica or a longtime listener, I hope you'll check out Candy Lovers, which has 35 full-length stories all about a different type of sweet treat. I've been so honored and lucky to get to work with Rose on over a dozen audiobooks, and needless to say, those are far and away the most popular. This project is near and dear to my heart and I look forward to hearing what listeners think! Self-published has been a lot of work and a giant learning curve, and so far, it's been a labor of love (my costs have up until now greatly exceeded my earnings), but I believe in this book and also know my erotic books have a huge audience on audio. My hope is that if this book does well, I can put out some others, thus reviving old out-of-print books that are essentially unavailable in any format. Either way, I'm proud of getting to work with so many authors and bring a book back to life ten years later (Candy Lovers is an updated, expanded version of Sex & Candy, which came out in print in 2008 from a now defunct publisher).

Why I self-published Candy Lovers: Sugar Erotica instead of using traditional publishing

Learn why I self-published Candy Lovers: Sugar Erotica over at Medium. And of course, it's free on Kindle Unlimited or $4.99 for 35 sexy stories of food play all involving sweet treats. Follow me on Medium for more on self-publishing later this month as part of my month of Medium (30 posts in the 30 days of June) and of course if you like what I have to say, your shares or claps (holding down the hands button on the left of the essay 1-50 times) are much appreciated and help more people see it and me get paid.

New by me: Facebook's marketing problem when it comes to sex

This morning I was fired up and wrote a Medium essay/rant, "Facebook Has a Marketing Problem, and It's Spelled S-E-X."



You can see by the responses that I'm not the only one. If you read it, you'll learn I actually respect their decision to refuse adult product ads (though it's frustrating as an erotica editor). However, I'm specifically calling them out on sending me emails and courting my ad dollars on my page, when they will never accept said ads. To me, that's a bad user experience and bad business.

If you like the piece, please click the hands on the left and "clap" for it by holding it down for 1 to 50 claps. The more claps it gets, the more people who see it, and the more I get paid. I'm being told that someone from Facebook will be checking it out, but I'm not holding my breath.

Candy Lovers: Sugar Erotica is out now!

After a lot of time and effort and trial and error, I'm thrilled to share the news that my first self-published anthology, Candy Lovers: Sugar Erotica, with 35 very sexy and delicious food erotic adult stories, is now available on Kindle. If you're outside the U.S., use the universal Kindle link. I'd also love, love, love it if you'd add it as want to read on Goodreads (and, of course, rate and review it if you've read it). Fun fact: Amazon reviews are the #1 way to help new readers find out about a book like Candy Lovers, which is competing with the 600,000 to 1,000,000 books published every year in the United States (and that's a 2013 statistic, so I bet the numbers are even higher). I am putting my heart and soul into making this ebook succeed, while also preparing my next two traditionally published releases, which will be out November 19 and January 21, but I'm good at juggling tasks.



If you're one of the very small number of people who read my 2008 anthology Sex & Candy, you'll recognize 26 of the stories as reprints. There are nine all new original stories as well, some of which taught me new terms like cuberdons and De La Rosa. The whole reason I put this book out is because that original title was print only and when the original publisher closed, access to the stories closed since there was never an ebook or audiobook. I have several other books in the same dead-end situation that I may look into reviving down the road, if I make a profit with Candy Lovers, which I've spent a little over $2,100 on so far (I'll break down those numbers in a Medium post soon.

Official description:

If you love the sweet taste of sugar melting on your tongue, the allure of chocolate and the exciting feeling of licking a creamy ice cream cone, you'll adore Candy Lovers: Sugar Erotica. These 35 enticing stories of food play delve into the fun of popular desserts used in the most tactile, sensual ways. These men and women pursue their sexual fantasies, opening wide to indulge an offered treat or presenting their bodies to be used for sticky, arousing, totally hot carnal celebrations.

Whether whipping up the perfect confection in the kitchen, feeding a partner a sweet treat direct from your fingertips (or other body parts) or indulging all their senses in a sugar orgy, the characters in these sexy stories are sure to whet your appetite and turn you on. From couples using dessert to add even more intimacy to their relationships to new passions fueled by a shared love of the pleasures of the tongue, Candy Lovers is sure to arouse you. Edited by the award-winning Rachel Kramer Bussel, these are the perfect erotic tales to read whenever you're in the mood…with your favorite candy nearby.

And here's a rave for it (aka, social proof):

"Like a delicious box of gourmet chocolates, Rachel Kramer Bussel's Candy Lovers: Sugar Erotica serves up a broad variety of sticky sweet and sexy goodness! This collection of treat-themed erotica includes refined classics from the likes of Shanna Germain, R. Gay, Salome Wilde, Tenille Brown, and Sacchi Green alongside new goodies from Jules Thorne, Kristina Wright, and more. 'Playfulness is one of the keys to youthfulness,' we read in Tsaurah Litzky's 'Old Fashioned Fudge,' and this anthology contains plenty of it with its sugary theme, plus a few heavier, seductive literary treats—resulting in the perfect sampler of desserts for any candy or erotica connoisseur. The trick will be choosing which sweet bite to take first!
Jade A. Waters, author of A Love Affair, From A to Z

As of now, I only plan to publish on Kindle, with an audiobook to follow later this year. I chose that partly because I get a better royalty rate from Amazon for being exclusive (70% instead of 35%), but even more so because the process was more complicated than I had expected and I wanted to simplify it, lest I give up entirely. So right now I'm simply relieved it's for sale. I still have to investigate getting into better categories than Fiction/Erotica, getting a sales rank, and have to send out copies to my authors. I'm sure there's an infinite number of things I could've done better, but I feel good about this first effort. I'll be posting about the resources I used and my self-published journey at Medium in the next few weeks, so follow me there if you want to learn more about it. I will say a huge thank you to Dayv Caraway of Stupid Fish Productions for the cover design and Jade A. Waters for formatting help. I also highly recommend checking out their ebooks and audiobooks; Stupid Fish has published many, and Jade just published her first, which I'll be posting more about soon. Without them, either there wouldn't be a Candy Lovers ebook, or it would be dreadfully ugly inside and out.

August is for innovation, or escaping the scary freelance financial life cycle

August has been flying by, faster than I'd like, especially because on Friday I'll be heading off for 9 days and am not quite ready. This is my month for two big new projects that are both exciting and a little panic-inducing: prepping my first self-published anthology (a reprint/expansion of 2007's Sex and Candy, whites now out of print), and preparing the launch of my first new set of online classes. I was going to say "self-hosted" online classes, but that's not strictly true; I'll be doing them through Teachable, which is a whole learning curve unto itself. I want to start with three classes, so that's a whole lot of writing and video content to create.

Both are a lot of work for zero money upfront; in fact, the anthology will cost me at least $2,000, and that's just for author and copyeditor payments, not the actual costs involved of getting it online. The Teachable classes has required me to buy a microphone and likely will require dozens of hours of my time, but doesn't cost anything to upload; they take a small percentage of course fees. I'm doing these things not just so I can "feel like a businesswoman," but so I can slowly wean myself from the gross, needy, helpless feeling that being a freelancer produces in me. Everything I do requires someone's approval in order for me to get paid: with my books, it's my publisher's approval and then, of course, readers' approval; if nobody buys my books, I make nothing (I get a small advance on each anthology but almost all, and sometimes more than that advance, gets paid to authors and copyeditors and also my assistant, who helps me with promotion). With freelance writing, whether my pitches are accepted or not is at editors' whims, then whether I get paid in a timely manner or not remains to be seen. Those are stress-inducing situations, where from one month to the next I don't really know how much cash I'll have on hand. Sure, right now I have a weekly copywriting job, but as a freelancer, that could end at any second.

So I chose August as my month to set these new projects into motion. My goal is to release the self-published book in September and hopefully launch the first of my classes then too, and add some more in the new year. Meanwhile, I'm also reading everything I can about marketing and trying to learn how to get my books and audiobooks into the hands of new readers and listeners. I'm trying to think like a beginner because there's really no point in pumping out anthologies if the sales are stagnant, if I'm not reaching new readers, if I'm not innovating. I don't want my forties to go by and just feel like I repeated my thirties ad nauseam professionally, and even more, I don't want my forties, as I inch ever closer to retirement, to go by and not have stacked up a good amount of savings. Obviously, both these projects are gambles, albeit small stakes ones. I could invest my money and time in them and they could bomb, hard. But I don't think they will. Rose Caraway is going to be recording the audiobook of the Sex and Candy reprint, and her audiobooks earn me more in royalties than my print and ebook titles. I trust that her podcast listeners will enjoy these sweet and luscious stories. And I've asked some of the alumni of my classes if they'd be interested in the first few topics I'm planning, and they are.

I even have a cool new fishnet stockings logo I'll be sharing here soon (if you want to see it first, subscribe to my newsletter). I'm excited, but being your own boss takes a great dose of vision and belief in yourself, and I don't possess that every day. Yesterday I got really down on myself, wondering what the hell I'm doing, whether I'm in over my head technically, whether it's worth it or if I should just stay with what I know. I keep returning the realization, though, that I want to try something new, even if it fails, because either way I'll learn. Both of these new systems will mean I'll see sales data in real time, which will enable me to change things like book covers and prices as needed. That's the part I'm most excited about: feeling in charge, rather than passively waiting around, fingers crossed (or more like, nails being bitten to shreds). I'll be sharing more about these projects as they get closer to completion, but for right now, this month I'm in the thick of learning and exploring and trying to take a little bit of control in such an unpredictable career path.

Join me for 29 days of erotica writing in my LitReactor class starting February 11th

I just wrote out my daily lesson plan and posting schedule for my upcoming LitReactor online erotica writing class, which runs February 11-March 10, and I'm so excited about it and wanted to share because the last day to register is next Wednesday, February 10th. There's information about each week's topics, lectures and assignments at the LitReactor site, but I wanted to give you a breakdown of what else happens in class. I just mapped out my 29 days of posting which cover everything from threesomes to humor to point of view to author branding to self-publishing to pen names, and beyond.



In addition to the weekly writing assignments and critiques (from me and fellow students) which form the core of the class, I will be posting daily in the LitReactor bulletin board with additional information. That includes at least 17 exclusive to the class Q&As with successful erotica writers (both traditionally published and self-published) as well as publishers, anthology editors and literary agents seeking new erotica authors. Want the inside scoop on a publisher but don't know who to ask? I will get as much information for you as I can.

You may be thinking, Wow, that sounds great, but I have a job and a family and a life, how am I going to keep up with posts every day? Well, the good news is, LitReactor will give you access to the classroom materials indefinitely (pretty much forever, as far as I know). I prefer students focus on turning in their homework every week so they can get feedback, and read the additional materials if/when they can. But your login and class access won't expire so if there's something you're interested in and want to return to, you can.

I'm also available throughout the 29-day period to answer any questions students may have about their writing process, publishing, marketing, branding, etc. Plus, not an official part of LitReactor but part of what I give back to my students: you'll get invited to join my private online group to extend any questions and discussions and share camaraderie and information with others who've taken my classes.

What do I know about erotica? Well, I've been published in the genre since 2000, in over 100 anthologies, including the Best American Erotica, Best Women's Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica and Best Gay Erotica series. I've edited over 50 anthologies, hosted an erotic reading series in New York for five years, and use my journalism experience to go in depth with erotica writing professionals to bring my students practical tips about how to break into the field.

This will be my sixth time teaching the class, and I believe each one gets better as I learn and expand my knowledge to best offer students relevant, useful support, encouragement and feedback. I recommend having at least five hours a week to devote to the class in order to get the most out of it, but if you are interested in erotica writing at all, I believe you'll learn a lot. Questions? Email me at rachelkb at gmail.com with "LitReactor" in the subject line. Can't make the class but want one-on-one feedback? See rachelkramerbussel.com for private consultation rates (and stay tuned for my new erotica teaching focused site launching in the next few weeks).

Find out more:

Q&A with me at LitReactor

"6 reasons I encourage my erotica writing students to submit their work"

"How journalism helps me teach my erotica writing classes"

What my most recent LitReactor students said about the class

What previous LitReactor students have said

Cupcakes and Cocaine - a different kind of mommy memoir

Actually, I don't know what it's like yet, but how could I not purchase a memoir called Cupcakes and Cocaine: From Being Perfect to Being Real? It's by Brienne Joelle, and I found it on Amazon looking up cupcakes. Just ordered it, though realized I should've gotten the cheaper $9.99 e-book edition, but noticed it too late. Keep forgetting I have Kindle for iPhone. Guess what? It's, separately, also the name of a Tumblr blog.



Here's the official description from cupcakesandcocaine.com, which sounds like it should be some sort of delivery service:

In her poignant and honest memoir, Brienne shares the story of her real-life journey through the pressures of parenthood and into the darkness of drug addiction, the shame and guilt of divorce, and eventual rehabilitation.

As she accepts the gift of cocaine with the hope she will gain energy to propel her through the hectic days, Brienne narrates how she soon found herself on a painful roller coaster ride that took her from the depths of hell to a new path where she learned to embrace her imperfections, build her self-esteem, and heal her emotional wounds.