Coming to Power: Writings and Graphics on Lesbian S/M, published in 1981, is a primary document of lesbian sadomasochism in print, not a side pamphlet. Members of Samois edited it. Samois was the pioneering lesbian-feminist S/M group. The book gathers that circle’s writing and images and gave modern lesbian BDSM culture a text it could hand to someone else.
Samois was already in the feminist sex wars, arguing that lesbian S/M could be ethical feminist practice. Coming to Power arrived in the middle of that fight. Stories, graphics, and practical notes left the San Francisco meeting rooms inside one set of covers. The first edition sold through and went out of print. The next year Alyson Publications reprinted it and put the book in front of readers well beyond that city.
The anthology alternates short fiction with technique and practice advice. Erotic story sits next to skill notes. Later BDSM books copied that mix. The contributors write sadomasochism as a high point of erotic intensity, not as a pathology they are supposed to apologize for. Coming on Strong: Gay Politics and Culture describes the volume as containing lesbian erotica.
A sequel, The Second Coming: A Leatherdyke Reader, appeared in 1996, edited by Pat Califia and Robin Sweeney. When people trace a publishing history for lesbian BDSM, they still come back to the 1981 book: Samois edited it, Alyson brought it back, and it is built as story plus technique.
