In the 1970s and 1980s, Stross published some role-playing game articles about Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the White Dwarf magazine. Some of his creatures, such as the death knight, githyanki (borrowed from George R. R. Martin's book, Dying of the Light), githzerai, and slaad (a chaotic race notable for their rigid caste system) were later published in the Fiend Folio monster compendium.

His first published short story, "The Boys", appeared in Interzone in 1987. His first novel, Singularity Sky was published by Ace Books in 2003 and was nominated for the Hugo Award. A collection of his short stories, And Other Rusted Futures appeared in 2002. Subsequent short stories have been nominated for the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and other awards. His novella "The Concrete Jungle" won the Hugo award for its category in 2005. His novel Accelerando won the 2006 Locus Award for best science fiction novel, was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the year's best science fiction novel, and was on the final ballot for the Hugo Award in the best novel category. Glasshouse won the 2007 Prometheus Award and was on the final ballot for the Hugo Award in the best novel category. His novella "Missile Gap" won the 2007 Locus Award for best novella and most recently he was awarded the Edward E. Smith Memorial Award or Skylark at Boskone 2008.

In addition to working as a writer of fiction he has worked as a technical author, freelance journalist, programmer, and pharmacist at different times. He holds degrees in Pharmacy and Computer Science.

Rogue Farm, an animated film based on his 2003 short story of the same title, debuted in August 2004.

He was one of the Guests of Honour at Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) in March 2008. He was the Author Guest of Honour at the Maryland Regional Science Fiction Convention (Balticon) in May 2009.

Accelerando won the 2006 Locus Award Best Novel. "Missile Gap" won the 2007 Locus Award for best novella. "The Concrete Jungle" (contained in The Atrocity Archives) won the Hugo Award for best novella in 2005, and "Palimpsest", included in Wireless, won the same award in 2010. Stross's work has also been nominated for a number of other awards, including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Hugo Award for Best Novel, as well as the Japanese Seiun Award.

Non-fiction

• The Web Architect's Handbook (1996, ISBN 0-201-87735-X)

Collections

• And Other Rusted Futures (2002, ISBN 1-58715-413-7) available online, containing
• “Antibodies” (Interzone 157, July 2000)
• “Bear Trap” (Spectrum SF 1, January 2000)
• “A Colder War” (Spectrum SF 3, August 2000) available online
• “Toast: A Con Report” (Interzone, August 1998)
• “Extracts from the Club Diary” (Odyssey 3, 1998)
• “Ship of Fools” (Interzone 98, June 1995)
• “Dechlorinating the Moderator” (Interzone 101, 1996)
• “Yellow Snow” (Interzone 37, July 1990)
• “Lobsters” (Asimov’s SF Magazine, June 2001); Best Novelette nominee, 2002 Hugo Awards
• Wireless (2009, ISBN 978-0-441-01719-5), containing
• “Missile Gap” (One Million A.D., 2005, edited by Gardner Dozois, ISBN 978-0-73946-273-7)
• “Rogue Farm” (Live without a Net, 2003, edited by Lou Anders, ISBN 978-0451459459)
• “A Colder War” (Spectrum SF 3, 2000) available online
• “MAXOS” (Nature, 2005)
• “Down on the Farm” (Tor.com, 2008) available online
• “Unwirer” with Corey Doctrow (ReVisions, 2004 edited by Julie E. Czerneda and Isaac Szpindel, ISBN 978-0-75640-240-2)
• “Snowball's Chance” (Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction, 2005, edited by Neil Williamson and Andrew J. Wilson, ISBN 978-1-84183-086-5)
• “Trunk and Disorderly” (Asimov's Science Fiction, 2007)
• “Palimpsest”; Best Novella winner, 2010 Hugo Awards

Short fiction

• A Colder War (2000, novelette) available online
• Halo (2002, novelette)
• Missile Gap (2007, ISBN 1-59606-058-1; novella) available online

Stand-alone novels

• Scratch Monkey (unpublished, 1993) available online
• Accelerando (2005, ISBN 0-441-01284-1) available online
• Glasshouse (2006, ISBN 0-441-01403-8)
• Saturn's Children (2008, ISBN 0-441-01594-8)

Eschaton series

• Singularity Sky (2003, ISBN 0-441-01072-5)
• Iron Sunrise (2004, ISBN 1-84149-335-X)

The "Bob Howard ... Laundry" series

• The Atrocity Archives (2004, ISBN 1-930846-25-8; also contains the extra story The Concrete Jungle, Best Novella winner, 2005 Hugo Awards)
• The Jennifer Morgue (2006, ISBN 1-930846-44-4; also contains the extra story Pimpf)
• Down on the Farm (2008) available online
• Overtime (2009) available online
• The Fuller Memorandum (2010, ISBN 1-84149-770-3)

Halting State series

• Halting State (2007, ISBN 978-0-441-01498-9)
• Rule 34 (forthcoming mid-2011)

Merchant Princes series

The Merchant Princes is a series in which some humans have an ability to travel between parallel Earths, which have differing levels of technology. This series is science fiction, even though it was originally marketed by the publisher as fantasy.

The first three books were collectively nominated for and won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in 2007.

• The Family Trade (2004, ISBN 0-7653-0929-7)
• The Hidden Family (2005, ISBN 0-7653-1347-2)
• The Clan Corporate (2006, ISBN 0-7653-0930-0)
• The Merchants' War (2007, ISBN 0-7653-1671-4)
• The Revolution Business (2009, ISBN 0-7653-1672-2)
• The Trade of Queens (2010, ISBN 0-7653-1673-0)

Omnibus titles

The Science Fiction Book Club has published omnibus editions that combine two books, without new material.

• Timelike Diplomacy (2004; combines Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise)
• On Her Majesty's Occult Service (2007, combines The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue)