The British Fantasy Society
First Ten Pages
A BFS Outreach Initiative
Craft-level feedback on the opening pages that matter most — for speculative-fiction writers from Black, Indigenous, People of Colour and Global Majority communities.
The British Fantasy Society is committed to fostering a more inclusive, representative, and welcoming speculative fiction community. As part of this commitment, the BFS Outreach Initiative runs the First Ten Pages Programme — a seasonal mentorship and feedback scheme designed to support writers from Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) and Global Majority communities.
The programme connects emerging and developing speculative fiction writers with established authors and industry professionals who provide constructive, craft-level feedback on the opening pages of their work. By focusing on the crucial first ten pages, the initiative helps participants strengthen the most important section of their manuscripts — those pages most likely to determine success when submitting to agents, publishers, competitions, magazines, and anthology editors.
Agents, editors, and judges often decide within the opening pages. Get them right and everything after has a chance to be read.
Feedback focuses on voice, character, tension, and clarity — the craft that makes a reader turn the page.
Notes come from published authors, editors, and agents who read these openings for a living.
Speculative-fiction writers from BIPOC and Global Majority communities, at the emerging and developing stages of their craft.
The opening ten pages of a project — novel, novella, novelette or short story — along with a short pitch and a few details about your work.
Once an advisor selects your pages, they have up to eight weeks to return considered, craft-level feedback.
Writers remain anonymous to advisors throughout. Your work is shared only with the programme team and the advisor who reviews it.
BIPOC writers can join the BFS at 50% off with the code ORCH50.
The people behind the notes
Published authors, editors, and literary agents giving their time to read and champion new voices. Any one of them could be the reader of your opening pages.
Share your opening pages, or lend your craft to a new writer.
Questions? Email outreach@britishfantasysociety.org