Request or Pitch a Review

If you’re interested in writing reviews for the BFS blog, pitch us your idea! Or you have a title you would like us to review, please use the forms below. We accept reviews for books, films and TV, games that are in the speculative genre (i.e. fantasy, science fiction, horror etc).

Note: please read the guidance text below for help on how the BFS deals with reviews. Sorry, but we do not review self-published works at this time, and submission here does not guarantee publication for any title, though we try our best.

Please note the below is just helpful text for anyone whose pitch sent via the form above has been accepted by the reviews editor. You will be contacted by email with the following, this text is just for guidance on how the BFS approaches reviews.

British Fantasy Society Review Requirements

This guidance is to advise reviewers and potential reviewers of the British Fantasy Society’s (BFS) review requirements. This is to ensure all reviews follow a standard layout and that all reviewers are aware of the BFS’s expectations and requirements.

What is a review?

A review is really important. For writers, they are an opportunity to reach a larger audience. For our readers, reviews help them make an informed decision on how to spend their hard-earned cash, and for us reviewers, they give us a chance to connect with other bookworms and talk about books with people who get us. So, it’s key we get it right, but writing a review can be hard, even when you enjoyed the book. Here is a handy list of the things the BFS would like, or not, from reviews published on our website.

A review should contain a brief description of the plot with as few spoilers as possible; we want other people to enjoy the twists and turns as well. Also include any relevant information about the book or author, for example, if the book is a stand-alone piece but fits into a larger series or has been adapted from a short story.

As much as we’d like to be spoiler free, we should discuss the book’s theme including any content warnings that our readers should be aware of as this will help them decide if the book is for them.

Don’t forget to include what you liked about the book. You can discuss the author’s writing style, favourite characters, and what makes this book stand out from the crowd. This bit is crucial because a review isn’t just a description of a book; it’s your thoughts and opinions.

The BFS wants honest reviews and recognises reviewers won’t love every book they request. It is OK for reviewers to be critical if they can explain why something didn’t work for them. The BFS doesn’t want only negative reviews, however. If you’re not able to balance the review, we would rather not recommend the book through our silence. If you do hate a book, let us know. We might be able to recycle it if appropriate. Reading is very subjective.

For graphic novels or comics, talk about the artwork and lettering because they’re the vehicle through which the story is told. In fact, this section is likely to be the longest section of your review.

Overall, we’d like the review’s length to be a minimum of 350 words, not including the titles.

What a review isn’t

As stated above, there might be parts of the book that didn’t work for you, and it is fine to discuss why. Just remember, a review is about the book and not about the author. If you have an issue with an author, this should not come into the review, and maybe request a different book rather than let your prejudice affect your review.

This goes for other people or groups of people. Your review is not an opportunity to insult or mock other people or to wish violence or harm against anyone.

Your review also shouldn’t be about other books, unless it’s a comparison, e.g. if you loved XYZ, then you will enjoy this too or perfect for fans of ABC.

Submitting Your Review for Publication

Once your pitch sent via the form above has been accepted and the reviews editor has been in touch to express interest, this is guidance text for how to format your review. Please do not send a full review via the form above.

All BFS reviews follow the same structure with relevant information at the top before the main body of your review. When you send your review for publication, it should follow the below pattern.

Title and Author Name

Publisher, book format and price

Reviewed by <Your Name>

The main body of the review.

Summary and recommendation.

Final Thoughts

Please ensure you have proofread your work before submitting it. We’re all human, and sometimes spelling or punctuation mistakes happen, but re-reading your work and running it through a spell-checker tool should pick up most errors.

Don’t forget to check names. Reviewing fantasy and science fiction comes with the added issue of made-up names. It’s unlikely our review editing team have read the same piece as you and are relying on you to get these elements right. The last thing we want is to lose readers or to be taken off a publisher’s list because we spelt the main character’s name wrong.

Although we accept the vast majority of submissions, there may be occasions when we don’t because of the reasons above. We will always come back to you with comments, so we can work together to get the review to the standard we want. However, it is your review, and you have the final decision, and we will respect your decision if you wish to place it elsewhere.

Thank you for continuing to review for us!