[Publisher] Anthology Builder

Perhaps custom anthologies for classroom use?

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The contract isn't terrible, but the income for authors might be--according to the contract, "[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The total royalty amount to be shared between all authors will be at least $1.50 per anthology." Authors aren't paid till their royalties add up to at least $20--which could take a while.

The [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]database includes a bunch of public domain works, and also stories by some non-public domain writers whose names I recognize--mostly SF and fantasy writers. Seems to be a spinoff from Baen's Universe. Here's some info on one of the people in charge.

It looks legit, if not lucrative, to me.

- Victoria[/FONT]

I have three reprints on Anthology Builder. I just figured it was something to do with them in retirement. Few places for reprints.

Anyway, I wandered through and picked up 344 pages of short stories that looked interesting to me (Previews on all stories) and built an anthology. Got it yesterday and it's lovely. Of course, I included my three stories, but I got a ton of others by super writers, friends, stuff that just looked cool.

The books are produced by Lulu. The covers and interiors paper are fine. Of course, formatting is fairly simply and I did find a widow or two, but nothing looked horrible by any means. With a total of 355 pages of great stories, I think I got a bargain for $14.95 plus shipping (a little less than 20 bucks). I know I'll like all the stories because I got to read the first few pages of each.

Will I get up to the $20? Probably not for a long, long time, but it's nice to let my retreads live on.

I think they've got at least a couple hundred stories available. Want your own set of Edgar Allen Poe printed with your own horror tales? Nice to rub elbows with the greats, eh?

It's vanity, but a fun kind of vanity. I'm not selling the anthology I built; I just get to have a neato customized book.

I took a look at it when people on the Broad Universe list started talking about it last month. The contract looked sane, and it's the sort of thing that I as a reader have been wishing for a while that someone would build as a front end to Lulu.

I posted a story on Anthology Builder back in August 2009, and basically forgot about it. The memory of this story just reared its head, and I managed to guess at my old login and password, and checked on how it been doing.

Let's just say I won't retire on that $.08 I've earned so far anytime soon. (It's apparently listed in 3 anthologies, and has sold once, for whatever that's worth.)

I'm now sort of contemplating what to do with the story. Heck, for all I know, repackaging it and selling it on Amazon might (probably would) be more profitable. But it's not exactly a burning issue.