Submit a Story I am looking for stories about sex, sexuality, body image, and everything in between to be included in my forthcoming book, EVERY BODY. These can be funny, sad, happy, informative, short, long, everyday, surprising, times when you learned something, times when you felt afraid — anything that would inspire, teach, or make someone feel less alone. We want to include stories from any and everyone across the sexual and political spectrum. All points of view are welcome and valuable. If we missed something, or if you have a suggestion, please contact us. This will always be a work in progress. Read some sample stories Story Subject * Select Story Subject Abortions Abstinence Aromance Aging Affairs Anal Sex Anxiety Asexuality BDSM Birth Control Body Image Breakups Breasts Celibacy Circumcision Codependency Coming Out Commitment Communes Confession Consent Cults Dating Depression Desire Disability Discrimination Ejaculation Endometriosis Erections Fantasies Fertility Fetishes Foreplay Friends with Benefits Gender Labels and Identities Harassment Health Hormones Incest Intercourse Intergenerational Relationships Intersex Intimacy Kink Kissing Laws Marriage Masturbation Media Menopause Menstruation Mental Health #MeToo Miscarriage Monogamy Oral Sex Orgasms Orgies Pain Physical Abnormalities Pleasure Polyamory Pornography Power Dynamics Pregnancy Queerness Race Relationships Religion Role Play Sex Drive Sex Education Sex Toys Sexual Abuse and Assault Sexual Dysfunction Sexual Exploration Sexually Transmitted Infections Sex vs. Love Sex Work Slut Shaming Stereotypes Substance Abuse Sugaring/ Financial Domination Talking with Parents Trans/Transitioning Trauma Virginity Vulnerability Please choose a topic that fits your story’s subject.

Story * If you can’t fit your story in 600 words, feel free to email it to us at: juliaaprilrothman@gmail.com. We will keep your email address confidential.

We’re committed to including stories from a wide-ranging and diverse group of people. To help us know how we’re doing, we are collecting data. please choose the descriptors that apply to you below. THESE WILL NOT BE ATTACHED TO YOUR STORY. THEY ARE JUST DATA COLLECTION. If your identity doesn’t match what we’ve listed, please click Other and add it to the blank field.

Gender * Female Male Trans/Transitioning Gender Non-Conforming/ Non-Binary Other Select all that apply by pressing Command

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Sexual Preference * Select Sexual Preference Heterosexual Gay Lesbian Bisexual/ Pansexual/ Omnisexual Queer Asexual Other

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Age Range * Select Age 18-25 26-32 33-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71+

Ethnicity * Select Ethnicity African American/Black American Indian/Alaska Native Asian/American Hispanic/Latinx Middle Eastern Multiracial Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander White Caucasian Other

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Political Views * Your politics liberal(1) to conservative (10), or apolitical (0) Please enter a number from 0 to 10 .

Location * Select Location East Coast (US) West Coast (US) Midwest (US) South (US) Asia Africa Australia/New Zealand Europe Canada Caribbean Central America Mexico Middle East South America

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Consent * Yes, I’d like my Story (my written submission and/or statements and/or information provided by me) to be considered for use in Julia Rothman’s forthcoming book, currently entitled Every Body. In consideration of my desire to assist you with respect to your book, which I believe will be of benefit to the public, I grant you and your publishers, their licensees and assigns the right to use my Story throughout the world in all formats of the book, including promotion of the book. I confirm that I am over 18 years old, and that I exclusively own all rights in my Story, including copyright in my written submission, and that the Story I have provided is truthful and accurate. I acknowledge that you and your publishers are not obligated to use my Story, or to give me compensation for any use or reference to my Story in the book.

Consent * I consent to you contacting me regarding my Story, including to confirm facts and discuss any edits if necessary. I consent to editing, condensing and excerpting of my Story and/or written submission, as necessary. I further consent to your collection, storage and use of my personal information (name, contact information, and other personal details), and consent to your sharing my information with my publishers for purposes of editing and publishing the book only.

Email * YOU WILL ONLY BE CONTACTED FOR EDITS OR LEGAL REASONS CONCERNING YOUR STORY. YOUR EMAIL WILL IN NO WAY BE ATTACHED TO YOUR STORY OR SHARED WITH ANYONE EXCEPT THE AUTHOR, JULIA ROTHMAN, AND THE PUBLISHER.

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Sample Stories Here’s a variety of sample stories about sexual exploration, abuse, pregnancy, first times, with the sort of relaxed story-telling style we’re looking for. read some sample stories

About the Book Sex with Every Body is a modern guide to real sex written by everybody, for everybody. Sex is complicated, and it’s never been more complicated than now. From a president who brags about grabbing pussies while simultaneously pushing abstinence-only sex education, to the proliferation of porn, to the explosion of identities and sexual preferences, our expectations about what’s “normal” shift constantly. But there’s no one way to have sex, and there’s nothing “normal” about any body, orientation, identity, or experience. This book will corral hundreds of voices and pictures into a single inclusive, nonjudgmental, and visually arresting volume. There isn’t anything this book won’t talk about. Hundreds of deeply personal stories—both humorous and serious—will take the shame out of stigmatized topics and help readers feel less alone. Realizing that other people have had similar feelings of excitement and pleasure, as well as all the embarrassing, scary, or unfulfilling situations, helps us become more confident in our life choices, and ultimately better understand and accept ourselves and one another. Reading these stories is more than a voyeuristic thrill; it’s an important empathy-building, consciousness-raising exercise. And it’s how we’ll start to build a radically more inclusive dialogue around sex and our bodies. We’ll also include essays and interviews from perspectives as wide-ranging as a high school health teacher, a sex shop clerk, a gynecologist, a urologist, a social worker, a disability activist, a sex columnist, a trans-activist, a senior couple, teen parents, a sexual assault survivor, a sex addict, a person living with HIV, a dominatrix, and more. Aesthetically, instead of feeling like a dry educational textbook, the book will be jam-packed with colorful artwork on every page. Julia Rothman (the book’s editor) will create some of the artwork herself but, echoing the “every voice” angle of the text, Rothman also taps her deep network of artist friends to contribute illustrations and comics. From this diverse group of artists, we see authentic inclusion of the full spectrum of body types, identities, sexual orientations, and experiences. Julia Rothman authored/illustrated twelve books and collaborated with distinguished others like Jane Fonda (on her YA body and sex book Being A Teen), Liv Tyler, Design Sponge, Top Chef’s Gail Simmons and chef Anita Lo. Her illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Harper’s, The Atlantic, Popular Science, Food & Wine and more. She co-founded Women Who Draw, teaches at the School of Visual Arts, and leads workshops around New York City. She is open to suggestion and wants to hear from everybody. Get in touch at juliaaprilrothman@gmail.com

Author’s Note My mom was always open with me about sex. When I was eleven years old, she sat me down on my bed and said, “You can ask me anything you want about sex. Anything!” Before that moment, I had accidentally seen a book of sex positions, looked up orgasm in the dictionary, and read a book rife with incest by V.C. Andrews. I felt pretty educated. But, there was something I still wanted to know. So I asked my mom, “How often do you and Daddy have sex?” My mom took a deep breath, “That, I can’t tell you. That’s personal.” I grew up on City Island in the Bronx, New York. When my best friend and I were sixteen, we snuck into Manhattan to go dancing at clubs using fake IDs. Once, I met an older college guy and he drove to our house to visit me. He wasn’t allowed in my bedroom, so we took a walk. I don’t want to tell you what happened when we went into the schoolyard. But, I do want to write about it anonymously in this book. And I also want to write about my first time, an STI scare, and how much fun I once had in the back of a taxi. The summer before I started high school, the book, Our Bodies, Ourselves, moved from my older sister’s shelf to mine. It was full of real people’s stories about first times, masturbation, and self-esteem. I cherished it—so much so that I also bought teen magazines just to read the sections where readers wrote in their most embarrassing moments: A period stain in math class, farting on a date, a French kiss gone wrong. These made me feel less alone. For many years, I imagined making an entire book of stories like those—frank, real, warm, personal stories about sex, bodies, sexuality, and so much more. But I sat on the book proposal for a long time because I was scared. I didn’t know if I could be the editor of a book about sex, especially when I was no expert. I didn’t know if I would be able to convince enough people to share their experiences. And, I didn’t know if a publisher would believe in the concept. But, I started pitching it to friends and colleagues at social gatherings. “Oh! I’ve got a story for your book!” many of them would say. People were eager to be a part of it. They told me stories that were funny, sad, scary and surprising. They told me tales about sex work, fetishes, abusive relationships, threesomes, their pregnancy, and visiting sex clubs. Sometimes I asked them if I could record their accounts and we’d move to the back of the bar where it was quieter. I would turn on my phone’s voice memo. Once I collected enough stories, I knew there was no turning back. I’m so happy to be sharing this project with you. I can’t wait to hear your stories. xoJulia

Also Looking For… We are looking for paid contributors from the following backgrounds or experiences to sit for an interview or to write an essay about their experiences. These are not anonymous, and Julia will paint a portrait to run alongside the story. If you’re interested in participating, or if you can recommend someone who might be interested, please contact us. And let us know if you have a suggestion for another topic we haven’t covered: High School Health Teacher

Gynecologist

Urologist

Sex Therapist

Teen Parents

Religious Leader

Someone who had an Abortion

Living with Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Sex Columnist

Trans/Transitioning

Sexually-Active Senior Citizen

Disability Activist

Sexual Assault/ Abuse survivor

Child Abuse survivor

Sex Addict

HIV+

Dominatrix

Adult Virgin

Porn/Webcam Workers

Experience with Revenge Porn

Sex Shop Clerk

Sex Worker

Stripper

Counselor at Planned Parenthood

Asexual

Voluntary and/or Involuntarily Celibate

Polygamist

Couple in an open relationship

Neuroatypical