Call for Submissions: Best Bondage Erotica 2011

I generally like to wait so I'm not juggling so many submissions as once, but now that I have help from my virtual assistant Inara and we make Excel spreadsheets, it's much easier. Still, I looooove the feeling of turning in an anthology.

I also can't stress enough how much reading my calls, in full, will further your chances of me in turn reading your submission. I want easy to read submissions: title, name, double spaced, etc. I get all sorts of bolding and underlining and single spacing and AAAHGGHGHGHGH. Just follow the directions. Someday I'll get a sample posted on my site for easy question answering. It's not that I don't actually consider the ones that fall outside the guidelines, I just don't read them first. They often languish because the formatting is so off-putting to my eyes I'd much rather read something that my eyes like.

Call for Submissions
Best Bondage Erotica 2011
To be published by Cleis Press in late 2010
Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel
Deadline: April 1, 2010 (but earlier is better!)

Best Bondage Erotica 2011 will collect the best bondage erotica stories, original and previously published, focusing on a range of techniques, implements, characters and scenarios, from newbies to seasoned bondage players and everything in between. Bondage should be a central focus of the erotic element of the story. As befitting the title, I’m looking for the best, hottest, most creative bondage erotica for this collection. All genders/sexual orientations. Original stories preferred, but reprints of work published (or slated to be published) between September 2009 and December 2010 will be considered. All characters must be over 18; no incest or bestiality. Please see my other kinky Cleis Press anthologies (Bottoms Up, Spanked, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am, He’s on Top, She’s on Top) for an idea of the kinds of stories I prefer.

How to submit: Send double spaced Times or Times New Roman 12 point black font Word document with pages numbered (.doc, not .docx) OR RTF of 1,500-5,000 word story. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch and double space (regular double spacing, do not add extra lines between paragraphs or do any other irregular spacing). US grammar (double quotation marks around dialogue, etc.) required. Include your legal name (and pseudonym if applicable), mailing address, and 50 word or less bio in the third person to bestbondage2011@gmail.com. If you are using a pseudonym, please provide your real name and pseudonym and make it clear which one you'd like to be credited as. I will get back to you by September 2010.

Payment: $50 and 2 copies of the book on publication

I've been seeing numerous recent submissions that do not conform to my guidelines. They are there for a reason. Please read and follow them or risk your submission being rejected or returned for reformatting. If you have any questions, please contact me at
Bestbondage2011@gmail.com

About the editor: Rachel Kramer Bussel is the editor of over 25 anthologies, including Peep Show, Bottoms Up, Spanked, The Mile High Club, Do Not Disturb, He’s on Top, She’s on Top, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, Crossdressing, Dirty Girls, and is Best Sex Writing Series Editor. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations, wrote the Lusty Lady column for The Village Voice, and has hosted and curated In The Flesh Reading Series, named Best Reading Series by New York Press, in since October 2005. Her writing has been published in over 100 anthologies, including Susie Bright’s X: The Erotic Treasury, Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006, and Zane’s Purple Panties and the New York Times bestseller Succulent: Chocolate Flava II. She has written for Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast, Fresh Yarn, Mediabistro, Newsday, New York Post, Penthouse, Time Out New York, Zink and other publications.