Good Vibrations Magazine

I’ve had the wonderful task over the course of the last three months to help re-envision our already-terrific web site. As fast as the Internet moves — and in as many directions — it became clear to us that we have been tapping only part of the web’s potential with goodvibes.com. It’s my pleasure to announce the launch of our new online publication, which you can check out in just a month. Join the Good Vibes Magazine in celebrating XXXmas, and if the winter holiday you celebrate doesn’t end in “mas,” make sure Winter Solstice, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, or your own personal holiday is full of XXX cheer.

Envisioning our new publication has been equally challenging and exhilarating. We know our customer base is as least as diverse as any other sex company’s: we appeal to women, men, and transgendered folks, bisexual, lesbian, gay, and heterosexual people, and adults of all ages. Some of our customers are coming to sex toys, indeed sexual exploration, for the first time; others have so many erotic playthings they’ve lost count. Some of the people who shop with us are married, some in long-term partnerships, some single; some have achieved (or would like to find) polyamorous families of choice; they have more than one lover, sometimes even living with both (or all) of them. Some of our customers see sex as innately political, full of social issues and implications; others understand their own and their partners’ sexuality as intensely private. In fact, our customer base may share only a couple of qualities: We know they appreciate our low-hype, high-quality focus, and we know they’re interested in sex, enough to go out of their way to shop at our stores, leaf through our catalogs, and surf to our site.

How to make sense of all this? Well, we want the Good Vibes Magazine to be a forum for all these sorts of people, with stories and articles of interest to as wide a range of folks as possible. To that end we’re including erotic stories from our favorite writers; how-to articles, Q&A, and sex tips; personal essays and articles on sex and culture. I’ll be talking to sexual celebrities — writers, porn personalities, activists and educators — and featuring sex tips and interviews. I’ll also be adding my Q&A column on sex and relationships, “Queen of Hearts,” which has already run for four wild years in our excellent local publication, East Bay Express (for a taste of what I’ve been up to there, you can check out their web site: www.eastbayexpress.com). Questions about sex toys, of course, are encouraged!

In short, we hope we have something to interest and appeal to everyone (and if you don’t see what you want within the first few months of launch, let us know what you think we’re missing). We’ve asked terrific writers and experts from many perspectives to weigh in on topics as various as pleasuring women and pleasuring men; S/M and sexual etiquette; sex and parenting; body diversity (size, disability, race, and other aspects of this highly personal and political issue); current events and more. Patrick Califia-Rice will still be a regular contributor. Darklady will intrigue and enlighten writing about S/M and other issues. Hanne Blank, author of the delightful new book Big Big Love, will write about sex and size (and, I bet, sexy size) in her column “XXL.” You can look forward to our old friend (and former Good Vibes colleague) Staci Haines, author of the best-selling Survivor’s Guide to Sex, writing about survivor issues. Drew Campbell, whose book The Bride Wore Black Leather — And He Looked Fabulous! is a big favorite among readers steering the shoals of alternative lovestyles, will address questions that would stump even Miss Manners.

And that’s not all — look for steamy and diverse erotica from Best American Erotica author M. Christian, Simon Sheppard’s “Celine and Julie Rent Porno” (a big hit at our “One-Handed Reading” Reading last May), and more. Our new Web Wrangler, Thomas Roche, is a veteran of many editing jobs — among other things, he’s responsible for the fine Noirotica erotic crime anthologies — and is a noted erotic author in his own right. I’m hoping we can get him to moonlight and include a story of his own now and then.

So tune in after December 1 to see what sexy and substantive new mischief we’re getting up to, and don’t forget to tell us what you think. After more than twenty years as the best erotic retail environment on the planet, we want to make an even bigger splash on the virtual world.