Anders has had science fiction published in Strange Horizons, GUD, Flurb and Space&Time. Additional (non-SF) work has been published in McSweeney's, Pindeldyboz, the San Francisco Chronicle and the magazine Mother Jones.

In addition to her work as an author and publisher, Anders is also a performance artist. Among other events, she organized a "ballerina pie fight" in 2005 for other magazine. She won $1,000 on To Tell The Truth. She has been a juror for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award and for the Lambda Literary Awards. She formerly published the satirical website godhatesfigs.com which was featured by the Sunday Times as website of the week.Anders is also well-known as the MC of the monthly reading series Writers With Drinks, a San Francisco-based event begun in 2002 that features authors from a wide range of genres. She is also the co-editor, with Annalee Newitz, of the science fiction blog io9.

Anders was born in New England and was herself a choirboy. She stated that she has been crossdressing since "definitely in my early teens." Anders also self-identifies as genderqueer and a transwoman. She has lived in Boston and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Since 2000, Anders has been partners with author Annalee Newitz. The couple co-founded other.