Ahead of Father’s Day, the latest Open Secrets essay is “Daddyo” by Robert Hudson, about being a father to Schuyler. Here’s a snippet:

If I allowed myself to sink without a fight, I suppose Father’s Day could be a reminder of my perceived helplessness, of all the times I got it wrong, of the moments in which I felt that I let Schuyler down. But the thing is, that’s never been the case. I may feel those things, and frequently do. But on Father’s Day, I give the day to Schuyler, and I embrace the version of me that she is so keen to celebrate. She doesn’t focus on my uncertainty or my mistakes, although I know she is probably all too aware of them both.

Open Secrets is a reader-supported publication for memorable, revealing personal essays. To receive new posts, support our work, and help us continue to publish, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

What's it like to be gay in Zambia? Read Katherine King's powerful essay from last week at Open Secrets, and stay tuned for more queer content this Pride Month and all year. This is a personal essay publication I started in April as a labor of love; it's funded by me and readers, and free and paid subscribers help keep us going!

The latest essay at my Substack personal essay publication Open Secrets fits right into National Mental Health Month. I’m grateful to Meg Weber for sharing this insightful and powerful essay on parenting a teenager dealing with a mental health crisis.

Watch me on CBS Sunday Morning

I’m thrilled to have been interviewed with my boyfriend, abstract artist Drew Griffiths, on CBS Sunday Morning this past Sunday, about having separate bedrooms. I wrote a Refinery29 essay in 2014 on the topic, and as I tell my essay writing students, you never know where your words will wind up! Watch us here:

Ahead of Mother’s Day, here’s the latest essay at my Substack personal essay publication Open Secrets is “Secret Keeping” by Carla Bruce, about her daughter’s diary, motherhood, and her own middle school communal private notebook (and what happens when it’s discovered). I hope you’ll check it out and consider becoming a free or paid subscriber to Open Secrets to help me keep publishing weekly essays well into the future.

I started a new personal essay publication, Open Secrets, on Substack last week, that will publish a new personal essay through at least early December (longer depending on paying subscribers). I’m funding the first 26 weeks and subscribers have funded the next 10. I hope you’ll check out Christina Berry’s essay on having a stroke last year in her mid-forties and what her life, health, reading, and writing have been like since then. If you like the post and essays and/or want to support this new self- and reader-funded publication, please subscribe! It’s free, and if you want to become a paying subscriber and get access to essayist audio and video Q&As, private chat threads, writing tips, and other bonus content, you can become a paying subscriber for $8/month or $80/year.

Win a copy of How to Write Erotica

I’m doing a giveaway at Goodreads of 5 copies of How to Write Erotica! U.S. only. Enter by March 19.

I’m launching a self-funded Substack newsletter called Open Secrets that will run personal essays every Monday from April-September 2023, and hopefully much longer depending on subscriptions. Details at the link. The first few months of essays are by invitation only for my essay writing students and authors I’m reaching out to but there will be a limited public submissions window down the road. I’m paying $100/essay or a lifetime subscription to Open Secrets. I have some amazing essays lined up so far and am so excited and proud to not just have an idea, but be putting it into action. With the closing of many recent outlets for essays, I wanted to provide another one, plus essays are one of my favorite genres to read and write. So please subscribe and spread the word and stay tuned for our first essay on April 3rd!

My latest newsletter includes a 10% discount code for my classes and some thoughts on essay writing and news about a new personal essay publication I’m editing called Open Secrets! I’ll post the Open Secrets info in a separate Tumblr post. 

Laura McKowen’s Substack Love Story

Zoom Erotica Writing 101 classes January 29 and February 4

I'm teaching some Erotica Writing 101 Zoom classes leading up to the How to Write Erotica release. Classes are Sunday, January 29, 3-5 pm ET and Saturday, February 4, 1-3 pm ET. $25/class, each class limited to 30 people. Details and signup: https://www.eroticawriting101.com/upcoming-classes/

Questions about my classes? Email mail at rachelkramerbussel.com with “Classes” in the subject line.

Sunday, January 29, 3-5 pm ET

Erotica Writing 101 Online Class (taught via Zoom)

In this workshop Rachel Kramer Bussel, professional erotica writer, author of the nonfiction guide How to Write Erotica, and editor of over 70 erotica anthologies, such as The Big Book of Orgasms, Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica and the Best Women’s Erotica of the Year series, will take you through the ins and outs of modern erotic writing. Learn how to get started, find your voice, and write against type. You’ll discover how to incorporate everyday scenarios as well as outlandish fantasies into your writing, and make them fit for particular publications. She’ll also talk about submitting your work and keeping up with the thriving erotica market, including anthologies, ebooks and print books, apps, magazines and websites, as well as getting started with self-publishing, creating a pseudonym and building your author brand. Please have paper and writing implements or a computer to use for writing exercises. A bibliography with erotica resources will be provided.

Register by sending $25 via PayPal to rachelkb@gmail.com or via Venmo to @Rachel-Bussel and I will send confirmation. Zoom link will be emailed by January 23.

NO REFUNDS.*

Registration is limited to 30 people. 

*In the unlikely event of an emergency on my part requiring me to cancel or reschedule, I will refund all payments.

Saturday, February 4, 1-3 pm ET

Erotica Writing 101 Online Class (taught via Zoom)

In this workshop Rachel Kramer Bussel, professional erotica writer, author of the nonfiction guide How to Write Erotica, and editor of over 70 erotica anthologies, such as The Big Book of Orgasms, Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica and the Best Women’s Erotica of the Year series, will take you through the ins and outs of modern erotic writing. Learn how to get started, find your voice, and write against type. You’ll discover how to incorporate everyday scenarios as well as outlandish fantasies into your writing, and make them fit for particular publications. She’ll also talk about submitting your work and keeping up with the thriving erotica market, including anthologies, ebooks and print books, apps, magazines and websites, as well as getting started with self-publishing, creating a pseudonym and building your author brand. Please have paper and writing implements or a computer to use for writing exercises. A bibliography with erotica resources will be provided.

Register by sending $25 via PayPal to rachelkb@gmail.com or via Venmo to @Rachel-Bussel and I will send confirmation. Zoom link will be emailed by January 30.

NO REFUNDS.*

Registration is limited to 30 people. 

*In the unlikely event of an emergency on my part requiring me to cancel or reschedule, I will refund all payments.

My book How to Write Erotica will be published February 14, 2023

**BOOK ALERT** My nonfiction guide How to Write Erotica will be published February 14, 2023 in print & ebook from Cleis Press! I've distilled everything I've learned about the erotica genre over the last 20+ years & interviewed over a dozen traditionally published & self-published authors. Makes a great Valentine's gift! Pre-order from your local indie bookstore, Bookshop.org or wherever you buy books. 

Select buy links:

Print

Amazon

Ebook

Kindle

iBooks

MEDIA/BOOK REVIEWERS: Want to cover How to Write Erotica? Contact Ashley Calvano at calvano at cleispress.com and she can arrange a review copy and/or interview.

Official description:

Learn the ropes of erotic writing from the renowned erotica maven herself, Rachel Kramer Bussel!

Have you had intimate fantasies or simmering plotlines you’ve wanted to write but weren’t sure how or where to start? Let renowned erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel show you how to turn those fragments into fully fleshed out erotic stories, novellas and novels. In this indispensable nonfiction craft guide, Bussel takes her 20+ years of experience in the genre and walks writers through the ins and outs of erotic writing. Whether you want to see your work on the shelves of bookstores, pen sexy stories or letters for a partner or simply explore your creativity, How to Write Erotica will put you on the path to becoming the next Anaïs Nin!

Having taught erotic writing workshops at universities, conferences and sex toy stores across the world and online, Bussel knows how to make even those who blush at the word “sex” feel comfortable putting pen to paper. Her easy-to-follow method to penning erotica is broken down utilizing helpful tactics that include:

Aspiring erotic authors of all genders will learn everything they need to know about gaining inspiration from their everyday surroundings, breaking into publishing, promoting their work and making a name for themselves. From pseudonyms to BDSM, overcoming writer’s block and crafting sultry, believable characters, Bussel’s advice will have you seeing erotic possibilities everywhere. You don’t need an advanced degree, previous writing experience or sexual experience to write good erotica. All you need is a keen imagination and a willingness to follow your lusty mind wherever it takes you.

Whatever is standing between you and good erotic writing can be found and overcome by looking inside this clear and comprehensive how-to guide. Terrific advice from one of the foremost writers and editors of the genre. -- Justine Elyot, author of On Demand, Kinky and Fallen Rachel Kramer Bussel explains the intricate craft of erotica writing perfectly. Every erotica writer should have this book in their toolkit. I thoroughly recommend it to new and established authors alike. -- Kay Jaybee, author of Making Him Wait, The Voyeur and The Fifth Floor

If you’ve ever read erotica and thought, ‘I could write better smut than this!,’ How to Write Erotica is the book that will actually help you do it. It treats erotic writing like the craft and business that it is — focusing on a level of professionalism and care that’s required in any other genre of writing. If a writer completed only half of the exercises listed throughout the book and took only half the advice given, they’d be further along than many other writers publishing their smut right now. You can take the craft of writing about sex seriously and write steamy stories that turn yourself and your readers on.  -- Kayla Lords, Sex Writer

Can you tell I’m excited that Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 8 is finally out in the world?