Erotica Apps

Rachel Kramer Bussel

Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, anthology editor and writing teacher. Her own site says she has written erotica for 20 years, appeared in over 100 anthologies and edited over 70, including two long-running Cleis Press series, and she publishes a page of open calls for submissions alongside the books.

Updated

Lap Dance Lust, cover
How to Write Erotica, cover
Big Book of Submission, cover

Covers as Apple Books publishes them. We have not read the books.

Quick answer

  • Writes and edits: erotica short stories, the anthologies she edits, bondage and BDSM erotica, women's erotica, and nonfiction about writing sex.
  • Two roles: she is the author of Lap Dance Lust and How to Write Erotica, and the editor of the anthologies below. We say which is which for every title, because the credits are not interchangeable.
  • Where to read: paid books through Amazon and Apple Books, where her author page carries 75 ebook entries under Apple's Erotica label. There is no serial, no subscription and no coin model.
  • For writers: she keeps a public call-for-submissions page, teaches erotica workshops and consults on manuscripts under the Erotica Writing 101 name. Prices are not published on the pages we read.
  • Awards: her own pages name 8 IPPY awards and 3 National Leather Association-International Samois Anthology Awards. Those are her figures, quoted below.

What Rachel Kramer Bussel publishes

Short erotica and the books that collect it. Her erotica page describes two decades of writing in the form, appearances in over 100 anthologies and more than 70 edited, and that editing is the body of work she is best known for: the Cleis Press annuals Best Women's Erotica of the Year and Best Bondage Erotica of the Year, plus themed collections. Alongside those sit her own story collection and a craft guide.

If the single short story is the unit you like reading, this is the most concentrated catalogue on our author list: an anthology is dozens of writers in one purchase, and the annuals are built to be read that way.

The books, and who did what

Two of these are hers as author. Lap Dance Lust: A Collection of Erotic Stories is dated 13 February 2024 on Amazon under Cleis Press. How to Write Erotica, a craft guide, is dated 14 February 2023 by her own site.

Four are hers as editor. Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 10 (Cleis Press, 3 December 2024) and Best Bondage Erotica of the Year, Volume 2 (Cleis Press, 9 February 2021) are the annuals. The Big Book of Orgasms is dated 15 October 2013, and Big Book of Submission: 69 Kinky Tales carries Cleis Press as its publisher with no date recorded here.

Where to buy, and a problem with the publisher

Her books are publisher-issued rather than self-published, so the routes are the ordinary ones: her Amazon author page for the Kindle editions, where Amazon lists Simon & Schuster Digital Sales as the seller, and her Apple Books author page for 75 ebook entries.

The publisher itself is harder to reach. Cleis Press is named on her site and on the Amazon seller line as the publisher of the anthologies and of Lap Dance Lust, but on 27 October 2026 its own website did not resolve: one domain returned a DNS error and the other showed only a placeholder, which also means the link from her site to its author page is dead. We therefore name the imprint without linking it, and we cannot tell you whether it is still publishing new titles. The books themselves are on sale in both stores.

For writers: open calls, workshops and consulting

Her site carries a call-for-submissions page listing what she is currently reading for, which is a rarity worth bookmarking if you write short erotica: most anthology calls circulate privately. She also teaches erotica writing workshops and does manuscript consulting under the Erotica Writing 101 name, and she hosted In The Flesh, a New York erotic reading series, for five years.

No prices or dates for the teaching appear on the pages we read, so none are published here. For the wider picture of getting erotica into print and getting paid for it, see how to publish erotica and the platforms writers use.

What her own pages claim

Her About page and Amazon bio say she has edited over 70 anthologies and that her books have won 8 IPPY (Independent Publisher Book) Awards; her erotica page adds 3 National Leather Association-International Samois Anthology Awards. Those counts and awards are hers, quoted with the pages they sit on. She makes no bestseller claim, and we checked no ranking ourselves.

What is not confirmed

Her stated 20 years of writing erotica is not a calendar year, so no start date is published. Her Amazon bio points at her contact page for the newsletter, but we did not open the form, so we cannot describe what it sends. Kindle Unlimited status was not checked; these are publisher-issued books. One anthology above has no date recorded. She also edits a personal-essay magazine on Substack, Open Secrets, which is not erotica and is named here only so you are not surprised by it. Her location, family and the rest of the personal material on her About page is deliberately left out.

Our other author pages are listed on the authors hub.

FAQ

How do I submit a story to her anthologies?

Through the call-for-submissions page on her own site, which lists what she is reading for at the time. We did not record deadlines, because they change.

Did she write the Best Women's Erotica books or edit them?

Edited. The annuals and the Big Book collections are editing credits. Her own writing in this list is Lap Dance Lust (2024) and the craft guide How to Write Erotica (2023).

Is Cleis Press still publishing?

We cannot say. On 27 October 2026 its website did not resolve, and the link from her site to its author page is dead. The books it published are still sold in the Kindle and Apple stores.

Does she teach erotica writing?

Yes. Her site describes workshops and manuscript consulting under the Erotica Writing 101 name, and she hosted a New York erotic reading series for five years. No prices are published on the pages we read.

Where can I read her for free?

Nowhere that we found. Her books are paid, through the usual stores, and she runs no serial, subscription or free-story page for her fiction.

Sources

Official pages, documentation and store listings we read for this page (last check October 28, 2026).