Before joining Wired in 2001, he worked at The Economist, where he launched the magazine's coverage of the Internet. He has a degree in physics from George Washington University and did research at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He also has worked at the journals Nature and Science.

The Long Tail, which appeared on the New York Times Nonfiction Best Sellers list, argues that products in low demand or that have a low sales volume can collectively make up a market share that rivals or exceeds the relatively few current bestsellers and blockbusters, if the store or distribution channel is large enough

His newest book, entitled The Future of a Radical Price, which examines the rise of pricing models which give products and services to customers for free, was released on July 7, 2009, by Hyperion. The Long Tail: My Next Book: "FREE" About Me

Anderson generated controversy for plagiarizing content from the online encyclopedia Wikipedia in Free. Anderson responded to the claim on his The Long Tail blog that there were disagreements between him and the publisher over accurate citation of Wikipedia due to the changing nature of its content. Also on his blog, he took full responsibility for the mistakes and noted that the digital editions of Free were corrected.

Regardless of the controversy, the $29.99 hard copy version of Free debuted as #12 on the New York Times Best Seller List and was also available for $0.00 and downloaded by close to 300,000 individuals who wanted to read the book on their e-readers - lending credence to the "freemium" model proposed by the book.

In 2007, Mr. Anderson founded GeekDad, a do-it-yourself blog that became part of Wired.com. He acted as the editor until handing the title to Ken Denmead. Mr. Anderson now serves as editor emeritus of GeekDad.

In October 2007, Anderson, who has been described as an "aerial-reconnaissance enthusiast," flew a remote-controlled aircraft allegedly equipped with a camera over Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, causing security concerns when the aircraft crashed into a tree.

Anderson also founded Booktour.com, a free online service that connects authors on tour with audiences, and 3D Robotics, an open-source robotics company.