Rachel Kramer Bussel is a New Jersey-based author, essayist, journalist, copywriter, anthology editor, writing teacher, podcaster, literary event organizer, and consultant. Rachel is the founder and editor-in-chief of personal essay literary magazine Open Secrets, which has published essays by over 200 writers, host of annual personal storytelling summit Open Secrets Live, and host of forthcoming podcast Finders and Keepers, on our attachments to our belongings. She’s the author of craft guide How to Write Erotica and short story collection Lap Dance Lust, and has edited over 70 anthologies. Rachel’s essays and journalism have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Elle, Fast Company, Glamour, Marie Claire, Newsweek, New York Post, Salon, SELF, Time, The Village Voice, and numerous other publications. Rachel is currently at work on a nonfiction anthology about our attachments to our belongings, which is represented by literary agent Iris Blasi of Arc Literary Management.
Long version:
She writes widely about books, culture, motherhood, family, personal finance, feminism, body image, belonging, and belongings. Rachel has written for numerous publications, including Another Jane Pratt Thing, The Arrow, BUST, CNN.com, The Daily Beast, DAME, Elle, Fast Company, Forbes.com, Fortune.com, The Frisky, Gothamist, The Guardian, The Hairpin, Harper's Bazaar, Inked, InStyle.com, Jezebel, Marie Claire, Mediabistro, Men’s Health, The Nervous Breakdown, Newsweek, New York Post, New York Observer, New York Press, The New York Times, O, The Oprah Magazine, Penthouse, Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy.com, Playgirl, The Root, Salon, San Francisco Chronicle, SELF, Slate, The Girlfriend, Time.com, Time Out New York, The Village Voice, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, among other publications.
Rachel’s magazine Open Secrets has published over 200 writers, and hosts the columns Truth Hurts by John DeVore and Radical Pleasure by Athena Dixon, along with her own The ADHD Diaries. The magazine’s personal storytelling summit Open Secrets Live over 80 speakers including Sari Botton, Murray Hill, Jeff Hiller, Minda Honey, Joseph Lee, Youngmi Mayer, Deesha Philyaw, Jane Pratt, Jesse James Rose, and more.
Rachel has edited over 70 anthologies, including two volumes of The Big Book of Orgasms, Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica, and edits the Best Women's Erotica of the Year series. Her books have won 8 IPPY (Independent Publisher Book) Awards and her short story “Necessary Roughness” from Best Bondage Erotica of the Year, Volume 1 won the Living in Leather John Preston Short Fiction Award from the National leather Association-International. As an erotica author, she has contributed to over 100 anthologies, including Susie Bright's Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006 and X: The Erotic Treasury and Zane’s Purple Panties and Chocolate Flava II.
She’s the author of the essay collection Sex and Cupcakes and the nonfiction guide How to Write Erotica. Her debut erotic short story collection Lap Dance Lust was published by Cleis Press in 2024. She is currently working on a nonfiction essay anthology about our attachments to our belongings, and her podcast Finders and Keepers, on the same topic, will launch in May 2026.
Rachel has been quoted widely as an expert about cupcakes, books, hoarding, sex and dating. Media appearances include CBS Sunday Morning on separate bedrooms, the topic of her Refinery29 essay, The Martha Stewart Show, The Gayle King Show, Berman & Berman, the Book Riot Annotated podcast, Derek and Romaine Show on SiriusXM, Feminist Erotica, The Globe and Mail, Keith and the Girl podcast, Lady Books podcast, Los Angeles Times, Marilu Henner’s podcast, Naked News, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, NPR’s On Point, Pleasure Mechanics, Popaganda podcast (Bitch magazine), Sex Out Loud podcast, and elsewhere.
Rachel has presented, spoken and taught at conferences including ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors), CatalystCon, Dark Odyssey, Erotic Authors Association, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Sex 2.0, SEXx, SXSW, and Texas Book Festival. For five years, she hosted In The Flesh Erotic Reading Series in New York City, which featured 300 readers including Susie Bright, Gael Greene, Michael Musto, and Zane. Rachel holds a bachelor's degree in political science and women's studies from the University of California at Berkeley.
Rachel is the founder and editor of Substack personal essays newsletter and website Open Secrets, which publishes memorable personal essays every week about relationships, family and parenting, work, finances, grief, mental health, physical health, LGBTQIA+ life, identity, climate, hobbies, and personal possessions. See the archives here.
Rachel has served as a copywriter for two major national retail companies and as an advisor to romance and erotica website Theo Reads.
She was Editor-in-Chief of the sexuality and relationships site Residence 11, where she also conducted video interviews with prominent nonfiction and fiction authors.
Select podcast appearances: