In addition to his work as a journalist and author, Roberts was the founder of the pioneering educational website Learn2.com, honored by Yahoo as "one of the ten most important websites of the 20th Century." He is also an authority on multimedia programming, and has written or co-written several volumes in the Director Demystified reference/instructional series (Peachpit Press).
Inaugural winner, Van Zorn Prize for short fiction "in the tradition of Edgar Allan Poe", an award established and judged by Michael Chabon, for his short story "7C", published in McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories (2004).