Anthem Book Blog

I'm working on a mix tape for a friend who is going through a difficult time. There are some strong emotions at play and I think some music would help. I also think words would help, but I'm at a loss on how to collect stories that are relevant to what he's going through. Photocopying a bunch of chapters and sending them with a big binder clip seems less than appropriate for this.

I wondered, is there a good way to make a mix-tape of short stories?

Then I thought, how cool would it be if there were a web site of great short stories to read. In a time like this, I could read new stories or classic shorts and select which ones work well together. Then I'd order them in a print on demand book and pick a cover.

At first I thought emerging authors would submit stories to be approved for inclusion. But that's what literary journals are doing already. Why not have the best lit mags get the rights to include them on a site, get permissions for older stories, and collect payment and royalties when the stories are chosen for a collection?

This way I can make my own mix tape of stories to send friends based on a certain theme, or type of writer, or anything.

There's the idea, we'll see if it still haunts me in a few days.