Editor Interview: Ruadán Books

Deliciously dark fiction.

To name a few, and in no particular order: Crystal Lake Publishing, Bad Hand Books, Raw Dog Screaming Press, Nightfire (Tor), Locus Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine…

So many authors have delighted me over the years; I couldn’t possibly begin to list them. The beauty of being in this industry is that the list is always growing and changing. As of this moment, some favorites in our favorite genres are:
Horror: Paul Tremblay, Linda D. Addison, Cynthia Pelayo
Sci-Fi: Martha Wells, Liu Cixin, Nnedi Okorafor
Fantasy: T. Kingfisher, Fonda Lee, N. K. Jemisin
Thriller: Laird Barron, Oyinkan Braithwaite, S. A. Cosby

We actively seek out new voices as well as old hands, with an interest in publishing unique stories from underappreciated talent; our focus is to bring readers character-driven and genre-crossing storytelling in dark speculative fiction, including horror, thrillers, dark fantasy, and crime fiction.

Beyond following the submission guidelines, make absolutely sure your work is ready to share. It’s a real shame when someone sends something to us prematurely. I hate having to turn a story down that would have been absolutely amazing if the author had just held onto it long enough, and given it the time and effort it deserved.

The first indicator of an ideal submission is when I open a manuscript and it hooks me right away. To read further and discover an author who’s passionate about genre fiction as well as language itself will guarantee a deeper look.

Occasionally authors will ignore—or even reject—the guidelines. The basic requirement of submitting a manuscript to a publisher is to be professional and honor that publisher’s submission policies. Remember, respect goes both ways: the fastest way to lose ours is to ignore the guidelines.

Very little upon first submission, unless requested. If an author shares too much about themselves—particularly personal details that have no relevance to the work they’re submitting—it may not have the impact the submitter is hoping for. The focus should be on your writing.

It depends on each submission. With some, it is apparent right away that this is not a good fit. With others, I will read every page of the submission before making a determination.

We have had the wonderful opportunity to publish debut novels from a variety of authors, so while having an impressive resume can help, it doesn’t necessarily persuade me. As a team, we want to make sure you will be a good fit for us collaboratively, and we have multiple professionals in editing, marketing, and design weigh in before final acceptance.

One of the best things about my work with Ruadán is that I get to wear many hats, so the workday varies day by day. There are collaborations with the team, discussions with the authors, a heck of a lot of reading, and of course, editing. My favorite part of the job is working with the authors.

It really depends on the project. Some pieces need very little editing. Others need close attention. I’m all about the ones that need attention, because it allows me to partner with the author for an extended period of time.

I may be biased, but every piece we publish is a polished work of art with a story that the entire publishing house is proud of. So, absolutely! We submit our publications—novels, novellas, anthologies, individual short stories—to a variety of awards as appropriate.

We have a dedicated marketing department working furiously behind the scenes to promote our books directly to readers as well as to bookstores and libraries. You’ll see our books regularly appear on social media and in other genre spaces; we also work with an established distributor and their sales and marketing teams to expand our reach.