I stumbled upon this and thought it was a new form of vanity press.  Well, it is, and it isn’t.

This is a rather gray area market which is seeking previously published works of fiction (up to 50,000 words).  Your work has to be accepted, and when it is, it goes into the digital equivalent of a big pile at the center of the website.

Readers then comb through the stories, figure out which ones look interesting, and add them to their custom built anthology.  When their anthology is full, the reader picks a pretty picture for the cover, ads a title, forks over $14.95 and a freshly minted copy of the book is POD’ed and sent directly to them through the mail.

If they choose one of your stories (or one of your covers, for you artists out there) your account gets credited a set royalty for the sale.

I have my doubts about the ultimate viability of this business model, but you never know.  It could be the next big thing.

Did I submit any of my previously published stories to AnthologyBuilder.com?  No, I did not.  Legit or not it still smells of vanity press to me.

Back in March of last year, I had signed on to my dream job, or at least what I thought was my dream job:  Full Time Writer

But now I have my uber-dream job:  Digital Marketing Specialist.

Now it’s back to most of my writing being for my own projects.  What I’m doing professionally, now, is being a sort of hands-on project manager for several large important corporate websites.

I love creating websites, as you can no doubt tell from my large collection of them.

And now I won’t be burning up all my writing fuel cells at work, which means more writing on these blogs again, and more time spent on my novel.

I am honored to be one of the guest writers / publishers at ConDFW 2008 this weekend.  Anyone showing up can find me on the following panels:

Saturday 10 am    Panel Room 2 (Rose/Magnolia)
Does Fantasy Mean Paranormal?
Hosted by Jerry J. Davis, Lillian Stewart Carl, Lee Killough and Nina Romberg.

Industry Pros discuss the difference between the genres of fantasy and paranormal fiction.  Are these just synonyms or are there real differences?    How does understanding the difference help you to get published?

Saturday 11 am    Panel Room 4 (Pecan)
Starting Your Own Publishing Company
Hosted by Jerry Davis, Glenn Yeffeth, and Thomas W. Knowles.

Sure … sure … everybody wants to be the writer.   But writers never get anything in print without the unsung hero of the industry – the publisher.    Industry pros discuss the career of publishing, what it takes to enter this field and what it takes to succeed.

Saturday 12 pm    Reading Room (Live Oak)
The author will be reading.

Saturday 1 pm        Panel Room 2 (Rose/Magnolia)
The Haunted City:  Urban Fantasy Today
Hosted by Rachel Caine, Jerry J. Davis, Carole Nelson Douglas, Brad Sinor, and Lee Killough

Industry pros discuss the urban fantasy genre.   What makes this style essential, vital, beautiful and what needs to be paved over?    And is there any room left in this haunted city?

Sunday 12 pm        Panel Room 2 (Rose/Magnolia)    
Published in the Periodicals: The Sci-Fi/Fantasy Magazine Market
Hosted by Lou Antonelli, Jerry J. Davis, Linda Donahue, Rhonda Eudaly and J.M. McDermott

Industry pros discuss the getting published in magazines.    Who is really looking?   What are the really exciting markets?   And what can you do to maximize your chances of escaping from the slush pile?

Short stories are harder to write than novels.  It’s a completely different mindset and style, and if you’ve been writing novel scenes and then suddenly try to write a short story … your short story will be 30,000 words before you realize it.

If you ever do want to tackle it, think of it like this.  Try to write a story within the structure of poem (a cinquain or a string of two or three haiku).  Then use that as your outline for the short story.  Shoot for 4000 words or less.

It can be very Zen, and after a while the challenge will be like doing a really fun puzzle.  "How can I fit the story into this little box?"  By paring it down to only the very essential parts.  Nothing more.

- Quoting myself from a comment I left to a writer
friend on her blog, which I thought I’d share
with everyone else

You know those hilarious "Demotivator" posters put out by Despair, Inc.?  Here’s a publisher called Knock Knock Books who put out hilarious anti-self-help books in the same vein.  I already showcased their guide to procrastinating on GroovyMojo, but here I wanted to honor the one I think is the most brilliant.

The Complete Manual of THINGS THAT MIGHT KILL YOU.

From their website:  "Hypochondriacs have long had to satisfy their needs for self-diagnosis with medical reference materials written for the masses, but this revolutionary book is dedicated entirely to the hypochondriac’s unique perspective on health. The world’s worst maladies, conveniently organized by symptom (real or imagined), will ignite even the mildest hypochondriac’s fantasy life. We’re all going to die of something—why not choose an ailment that’s rare and hard to pronounce?"

It features: 

• Profiles of over 300 deadly diseases
• Organized by symptom for ease of self-diagnosis
• At-a-glance ratings system of contagion, pain, suffering, and death
• Fascinating spotlights on terrifying medical phenomena

Society is not doomed so long as humor survives.  This book just might save your life.

I’m working seriously on my current novel, back in the saddle after only lightly touching it for the past six months.

I write a bit, then have to check email. I write a bit, or — worse — just stare at the screen a bit, then decide I have to go read a blog or two. Or go get my hourly fix from that new SF website called io9.com (it’s crack for SF&F fans, I’m completely hooked).

Then I write a page or two, and think … wow, I’m lonely.

Sometimes I sit at Starbucks with my friend William Ledbetter, both of us whacking happily away at our laptop keyboards, each working on our various stories or projects. That, I realize, is when I’m most at ease with my writing. Writing is best done with a partner, even if you’re working on separate projects.

I remember my college days when I and a loose knit group of writing friends would all hang out at the local restaurant for hours, scribbling away with paper and pencil. Breaking every once in a while to ask a question or to read a passage. Those were the days.

And now I’ll return to writing my novel, and see how long I can go without interrupting myself like this again.

Merry Christmas to all my writer friends!

Merry Christmas to William Ledbetter, who is on the brink of great things. His stories are making it on the award ballots and he’s rubbing shoulders with some of the big names in SF. One of these days soon he will be one of those big names. All that aside, he is one of my closest friends, confidant, and fellow brain stormer.

Merry Christmas to Tim Nunes, another of my closest friends, a writer working for a big computer company in Chicago who, in his spare time, writes and publishes accomplished prose. His flights of fancy are truly literary in depth, though he has the disturbing habit of killing off his protagonists. (I guess they deserve it.) Tim and I go way back to Stockton, California, where we worked at the same ComputerLand computer store … where I would use company paper and ink to print out entire novel manuscripts on dot matrix printers.

Merry Christmas to Melanie Fletcher, who (like Bill) has her stories on award ballots, and is soon to launch into big-name-authorness. While living here in the Dallas area, she is from Chicago … I’m seeking some sort of synchronistic pattern here … here’s wishing her and her husband total awesomeness in 2008.

Merry Christmas to Lycan, a terrific blog writer and good friend of my daughter Danielle. Thank you for keeping tabs on me here! May you and yours have a wonderful new year.

Merry Christmas to Delilah Rehm, who will one day be known as Queen of the Zombies (not that she is a zombie, but she is a master of writing zombie stories). 2008 is going to be wild and wicked cool, just you wait.

Merry Christmas to Heather Anastasiu, who this year finished up the first draft of a novel retelling the tale of Persephone and Hades. Here’s wishing her and her family a breakthrough 2008!

Merry Christmas to Gloria Oliver, who writes terrific historical fantasies especially when it has something to do with Samurai. She gives a mean critique. Literally. Here’s wishing her a breakthrough new year as well!

Merry Christmas to Jeff Turner, who I don’t ever see anymore, but is sure to make a name for himself in Hollywood. May he and his family live long and prosper, and may 2008 bring him much joy and satisfaction.

Same with Derek James, who left SF to go off and become a real scientist. Merry Christmas and happy quantum nanobots to you!

Merry Christmas to Jessica Fritsche, who I’ve know for years as “Diva Jess” — I’d discovered her via her poetry some years ago. May her and her new husband have a wonderful, joyous, and bountiful new year! And I hope she’s feeling better.

Merry Christmas to Saadia Ali Aschemann, talented poet, mother, and trophy wife. Her book Lavish Lines / Luscious Lies should arrive in my mailbox today. May 2008 bring you even more success and happiness!

Merry Christmas, as well, to the newest writer in my circle of friends, Chrissy Davis, my nephew’s wife, who this year has made her first long-overdue steps into the world of poetic publishing. I know you don’t celebrate holidays but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year anyway!

To all my friends at Future Classics and Black Hole Surfers, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

And to YOU, you who are reading this, have a wonderful holiday season and may you grow and prosper and find your happy place.

For those of you out there who are sick and tired of your Word 2007 crashing 11 times a day, Microsoft has released a Office 2007 SP1 service pack that is supposed to fix it (and a myriad other bugs).

Honestly, if it weren’t for the amazing ability they built into Word 2007 to save your work 99.9% of the time right before it crashes, I would have abandoned it for trusty old Word 2003 months ago, despite all the fantastic features.

Let’s hope this SP1 patch really does fix these crashes.

Get the update from the Office Update website

My current novel is about the search for the Holy Beer.

One of my websites, GroovyBrew, is also about the search for the Holy Beer. The difference is that one is fiction, the other reality.

Pictured to the left, here, is the closest thing I’ve found yet to the Holy Beer. It’s called “Chicken Killer Barley Wine Ale” from Santa Fe Brewing. It’s the not the Holy Grail itself but it’s darn close.

Reviewing beer for GroovyBrew is my research for the novel, and on GroovyBrew I also talk about my novel, which in turn is generating publicity for it even as I write it.

Over the last few months I’ve slacked off on my novel writing, concentrating more on a couple short stories and other projects, but now I’m back on it. I just gave a read through of the 37,000 words I’ve written so far, glanced over my notes, and found it to be just as compelling and fun as I did when I first started.

Even more so, as the perspective a little time gave me away from the project has enabled me to see, with fresh eyes, that it really is worth working on.

Excuse my ego here for a moment, but this story rocks. I’m writing the stuff I want to read. This is Tim Powers mixed with Philip K. Dick mixed with Hemmingway.

Like I said, excuse my ego a moment. But allow me my enthusiasm. If I didn’t feel this way, why would I bother to finish writing it?

All you writers out there, you should also feel this way about your projects. It’s perfectly okay to think you’re writing the great [American] [English] [Canadian] [South African] [Etc.] novel. For the first draft, especially, this mindset is absolutely necessary.

So go ahead. Let your ego out. Let it roar!

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you have a good one. And for those of you out there who celebrate something different, or don’t celebrate anything at all, well, I hope you have a great new year.

Group hug! Come on now! Don’t be shy!

Peace.