Deadline: January 31st, 2026
Payment: 10 cents per word
Theme: Dark speculative fiction stories in which the city isn’t just a setting, it’s a character.
Ruadán Books is looking for original dark fantasy (or other speculative fiction) stories where the city isn’t just a setting, it’s a character. The city in your story should exist (or have existed) in our world; see our guidelines for more details.
This is the third volume in our In the City anthology series: you can check out Winter in the City and Spring in the City if you’d like to see what kind of work we’ve accepted in the past.
Our reading period is December 1, 2025 – January 31, 2026. No reprints. Stories should be between 3,000 to 7,500 words. Payment is 10 cents a word. Submissions accepted through Moksha.
***SHORT SHORT STORY manuscripts must be ORIGINAL works and be at least 3,000 and no more than 7,500 words in length***
Frequently Asked Questiuons (FAQ)
- What do we consider “a city”? A population center of MORE than 700,000 residents. In the 2024 World Population review website statistics on cities, there are listed 802 cities with a population over 700k (https://worldpopulationreview.com/cities).
- How do you determine if a city has been spoken for? We don’t. We tried that with WITC and it became a logistical nightmare. Understand that we are looking for cities world-wide and that your story should make a reader feel like they have been there. Rich descriptions and even a sentient setting will be looked at favorably. Understand that if we receive 19 stories about “New York” your chance of acceptance is markedly lower than if you send us a story about San Paulo, Lahore or Kinshasa.
- Do I have to have lived in the city I’m writing about? No. But it certainly helps with the details. We will accept well-researched stories, but we shouldn’t be able to tell you HAVEN’T “been there, done that.”
- How many stories will you be accepting? We will take between 14-19 stories, depending on length and quality.
- What is the pay? We will pay 10 cents a word for an accepted story. We will also provide two paperback copies of the anthology upon release.
To understand the type of stories we like, check out our previous anthologies Winter in the City and Spring in the City.
How to Send Your Work: Submissions must be anonymous for specific open calls via our MOKSHA system. We do not accept submissions through postal services or email. Your manuscript must be in one of the following file forms: .doc, .docx, and .rtf
The exception is when we request an author to submit a specific piece of work.
Technical Difficulties: Contact Us if you have questions or encounter technical difficulties.
How to Format Your Manuscript:
- Use 12-point type
- Use a serif font; the most common choice is Times Roman
- Double space your manuscript
- No extra space between paragraphs
- Only one space between sentences
- Indent each paragraph half an inch (PLEASE set a TAB using your writing application software. Help for this feature should be found in the application)
- Text should be flush left and ragged right, not justified
- Please add a line with a centered typographical dingbat (for example: ***) between paragraphs to indicate a change of location or passage of time.
- Black text on a white background only
- One-inch margins (the default in Word)
- Only the page number and title of the book/story should appear in any headers in your submitted manuscript.. The header should appear on each page after the title page.
As all submissions via our system should be anonymous, we ask that NO BIOGRAPHICAL DATA be in your submitted manuscript. You will be prompted for your bio via Moshka and only when a decision is made on your manuscript will the system make that information available to readers and editors.
Timing: Notice regarding Open Calls will be announced via our website and social media accounts. We encourage you to subscribe to our newsletter, as Newsletter subscribers will be the first to know about open calls.
Simultaneous Submissions: We welcome simultaneous submissions! Our philosophy is that it’s unreasonable to expect writers to give a publishing house an exclusive look at a work unless we can respond quickly. Since this is not always the case, we are willing to risk losing out on a story if another publisher has made an offer before we have. Our mission is to support writers, help them succeed and cheer them on even when we lose out on publishing a piece.
Response Time: Our response time varies from four to twelve weeks, with the slowest times usually being during Open Calls.
Submission Fees: There are no fees for submitting work.
Payment to Authors: We pay professional rates—currently 10 cents a word for new/original short stories. NO REPRINTS will be accepted for Summer in the City.
Via: Ruadán Books.
