The British Fantasy Society is delighted to launch our new mentorship programme, pairing writers with industry mentors who can help them develop the skills they need to move their careers forward. This programme is open to BFS members only.
The shape of your mentorship will vary depending on what you hope to achieve – we have mentors who are ready to help with everything from planning and completing a first draft, to going through the query process. So for example, if you were working with a mentor to plan and complete a first draft of a novel, you might meet once a month, or every six weeks, to discuss your progress and any challenges you are facing. If you were working with a mentor on the querying process, you might have two or three sessions close together to get your query package ready to send out, and then have other sessions after some time has gone by and you’ve received responses from agents. So the programme will be tailored by both what you’re hoping to achieve and also your availability as well as the mentor’s.
Each mentee will receive up to six one-hour sessions with their mentor, most likely online. Mentors will be paid £30 per session – BFS will fund half of this cost for twenty mentees, and fully fund a further four mentees. So for most mentees, the programme will cost them £15 per session.
If you would like to apply for one of the twenty subsidised places, please fill in this form: https://forms.gle/3fbBhNsBvPMKMSZN6
If you would like to apply for one of the four fully funded places, please fill in this form: https://forms.gle/x7isJwRCPqLBfRF77
The only requirement for applying for a fully funded place, is that you could not otherwise afford to participate in the programme. There is no income threshold or requirement to provide evidence of your financial status. We are keen to support members of traditionally underrepresented groups through this programme, but funding is not limited to these groups.
When completing the application form, please give us as much information as possible, to help us pair you with the right mentor.
Applications will initially open until 31/01/2026. If we have more applicants than we can accommodate, then names will be drawn from a hat. If there are still spaces left, we will open for a further 14 days.
PLEASE NOTE: No mentee will be offered agent representation or a publishing contract as a result of this mentorship programme. After going through the programme, mentees are welcome to query agents who are mentors or submit to editors through their normal query/submissions process but this mentorship will not guarantee an acceptance, The purpose of this programme is to support people in developing skills which will serve them throughout their career, not to secure an agent or publishing contract.
Meet our mentors
We have a range of mentors with different skills and experience to share with you and more are joining the programme as we progress and will be added over time. If there’s a particular area you would like support with, that does not appear to be covered by any of our existing mentors, please do let us know and we will do our best to find someone with the right experience for you.
If you’re interested in joining the programme as a mentor, please email Shona at chair@britishfantasysociety.org with details of your experience and what mentoring you can offer.
Dave Jeffery is the author of 18 novels, three collections, and numerous short stories. His Necropolis Rising series and yeti adventure Frostbite have both featured on the Amazon #1 bestseller list. Other work includes the critically acclaimed Beatrice Beecham supernatural mystery series for young adults, and the A Quiet Apocalypse series. His Campfire Chillers collection made the 2012 Edge Hill Prize long-list, and his screenwriting credits include award winning short films Ascension and Derelict. Jeffery is also co-editor of the forthcoming Flame Tree Press anthology This Way Lies Madness. He is a long-time contributor to Phantasmagoria Magazine, a final reader for Space and Time Magazine, and a regular book reviewer for The British Fantasy Society. He is a mentor on the Horror Writers Association’s Mentorship Scheme, and the 2022 recipient of the HWA Mentor of the Year Award. For three years Jeffery was co-chair of the HWA Wellness Committee. Read more at: https://www.davejefferyauthor.com/
Mentorship focus:
– Writing authentic representations of mental health and mental illness: characters/settings/interactional dynamics
– Short story critiques & ideas development
– First chapter preparation for submission
– Author online etiquette
– General guidance on working with publishers and editors
Lauren McMenemy wears many hats: Editor-in-Chief at Trembling With Fear for horrortree.com; PR and marketing for the British Fantasy Society; founder of the Society of Ink Slingers; curator and host of the Writing the Occult virtual events. With almost 30 years’ experience as a professional writer across journalism, marketing, and communications, Lauren also works as a certified coach to writers looking to achieve goals, get accountability, or get support with their marketing efforts. You’ll find her around various events stepping up as a host, interviewer, moderator and general cheerleader. She writes gothic and folk horror stories for her own amusement You’ll find Lauren haunting south London, where she lives with her Doctor Who-obsessed husband, the ghost of their aged black house rabbit, and the entity that lives in the walls.
How I can help:
- Probing ideas to see what sticks
- Developing your author brand and platform
- Accountability to achieving goals – whether that’s writing goals or marketing/publicity goals
- Troubleshooting and working through writers’ block
I am offering mentoring to writers who are just starting out on their writing journey and to those with more experience who want accountability and help addressing specific areas of their craft. Sessions will be a mix of workshops, brainstorming plot and characters, worldbuilding, and general advice on publishing. I provide edits of sections of longer works to show writers where they can improve, and provide ongoing support through the trickier phases of the storytelling process.
I am offering mentoring to writers who are just starting out on their writing journey and to those with more experience who want accountability and help addressing specific areas of their craft. Sessions will be a mix of workshops, brainstorming plot and characters, worldbuilding, and general advice on publishing. I provide edits of sections of longer works to show writers where they can improve, and provide ongoing support through the trickier phases of the storytelling process.
Jon Cronshaw is a full-time British indie fantasy and speculative fiction author.
A former political reporter with a PhD in art history, Jon blends gritty realism with a thread of optimism in his epic tales.
He has published seventeen novels and the 22-novella epic fantasy serial, The Ravenglass Chronicles.
He lives in Morecambe with his family and guide dog Digit.
As a full-time indie author, I can help British Fantasy Society members navigate the journey to independent publishing success.
Whether you’re looking to build an engaging platform, master effective marketing strategies, or craft stories that resonate with a broad audience, I offer insights from years of experience.
Together, we can tackle the practical and creative challenges of becoming a full-time indie author.
In today’s publishing landscape, authors no longer need gatekeepers—just a product readers crave—so I’m eager to work with serious, business-minded authors, ideally those with a few titles under their belt, who are ready for honest, constructive advice to elevate their careers.
Laura developed a love of writing early, attending her first Creative Writing course at college. She then decided to study Writing at Liverpool John Moores University, obtaining a BA before pursuing a career in teaching. She began work at a college for young adults with special needs, and then moved to a vocational college while studying for a post-compulsory PGCE. Laura taught English for a few years, and also ran several Creative Writing courses before returning to LJMU to obtain an MA in Writing. She then worked as a teaching assistant at a local secondary school, before leaving that job to pursue a career as an editor and agent.
The combination of teaching and writing works extremely well for her agent career, and for providing encouragement and guidance for writers. Laura also works as a freelance writer, and has previously been the writer and loremaster for a video game, in addition to writing for various roleplaying games.
Mentoring:
Developmental Editing
Line Editing
Query Preparation
General Writing Skills
Daniel Carpenter is a writer and editor from Manchester. His debut collection, Hunting by the River was published by Black Shuck Books in 2024, and his stories have been reprinted in a number of Year’s Best anthologies. Previously a critic for Black Static and Horrified Magazine, and founder of the award-winning live literature organisation Bad Language, Daniel now lives in London with his family, where he is an editor with Titan Books, working on their horror list.
What I can offer:
Happy to work with authors at any stage of development, from drafting their novel, to feedback on completed manuscripts and advice on querying agents. I am an acquisitions editor at Titan, so I read hundreds of submissions every year, and I see what gets picked up by myself and other publishers and why it gets picked up. As an editor, I work closely with authors on massive structural edits across all genres (mainly horror, but I also acquire and edit fantasy, crime and sci fi). I am happy to make time to discuss potential career directions for authors, advise them of agents who may be good to approach, and ways they can help themselves stand out from the increasingly crowded slush pile.
Desola Coker has always been a keen reader of new worlds, which is why SFF has been her favourite genre for years, with a particular love for Urban Fantasies and fantastical Dark Academia books such as Vita Nostra by Marina and Segey Dyachenko. As well as these, she loves faerie tale/folklore, love stories, adventure filled mysteries, and has a soft spot for new, exciting stories.
I’m interested in working on overall idea refinement/general publishing chat/preparing a pitch packet/reading the first 50 pages of a manuscript
Stephen Aryan is a fantasy author from the North East of England.
Growing up, he read fantasy books by authors including Tolkien, CS Lewis, Ursula Le Guin, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Terry Brooks, David Eddings, before moving on to authors that include David Gemmell, Tad Williams, James Barclay, Stephen King, Robert Jordan, and Robin Hobb.
In 2013, after over a decade of rejections, Stephen submitted his latest novel to a literary agent. Battlemage, his debut novel, was published in 2015, and was the first of a trilogy called the Age of Darkness. Since then, he has gone on to publish several fantasy series.
query package mentoring – getting ready to submit to an agent
* Early stage development – for those who have ideas, but are not sure how to turn into something cohesive. Often when I talk to writers they have the pieces but need guidance to help them structure it, and create a story skeleton
* Self editing development – similar to the query approach, this could be the first 5 chapters or so, and it’s just looking at it from an objective point of view and saying – does it work? As a new reader who knows nothing, what works and doesn’t, what is missing, and most often, they know the answers too or how to fix it, but they need someone to talk through what their plan is, and how it differs to what
is on the page.
R. J. Barker is a critically acclaimed and award-winning author of fantasy fiction. He won the 2020 British Fantasy Society (BFS) Robert Holdstock award for Best Novel and the 2024 Premio Italia Award for Best International Novel for his fourth title, The Bone Ships.
His debut trilogy The Wounded Kingdom (Age of Assassins, Blood of Assassins and King of Assassins) was nominated for the David Gemmel Award, the Kitschie Golden Tentacle, The Compton Crook and the BFS Best Debut and Best Novel awards. It was called ‘Thoroughly entertaining and constantly impressive’ by the Fantasy Hive, ‘One of the best fantasy series you will ever read’ by the BFS, and ‘A singular sensational new voice in epic fantasy’ by Kings of the Wyld author Nicholas Eames.
Let’s talk this through, right?
Large parts of being able to write are just finding the confidence to sit down and do it. I’m probably not going to go through the minutia of your manuscript for you, I’m a writer not an editor. I’m very good at doing what I do, but this should be about finding out what you do. So if you want to talk about structure, or characters, or ideas or story or world. If you want to have a think about putting these things together, and most importantly, find out that sometimes professional writers don’t really know what they are doing either; if these things might help you sit in the chair, then let’s talk. We’ll probably get off topic as well, that tends to happen.
Dr Tiffani Angus is a multi BSFA- and BFS-award finalist for her debut novel Threading the Labyrinth and (as co-author with Val Nolan) the writing guide Spec Fic for Newbies: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Subgenres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror (2023). Volume 2 was released in 2024, and Volume 3 is due out in 2026. She’s a graduate of Clarion (2009), a regular Milford attendee, and has a PhD in creative writing and a PGCE. She spent several years as a senior lecturer in creative writing and publishing and helped BA, MA, and PhD writing students through the drafting of short stories and novels, and now she works as a freelance editor and proofreader for private clients and SFF publishing houses, runs the typesetting/formatting business Book Polishers, and is currently at work on several writing projects. You can find her at www.tiffani-angus.com
Blurb:
After years spent guiding and mentoring my writing students, I am the queen of asking questions to help writers figure out where they are getting stuck or off-track in their drafts. I’m here to help you deal with writer’s block and other off-the-page issues writers face as well as with on-the-page story-idea generation and development. I can provide copy/line editing of excerpts to help you better understand how to tighten and improve your prose, can help you approach big-picture editing, and can even provide grammar and punctuation tutoring to help you better proofread your own work. As someone who has published short and long-form fiction, I am also ready to help you figure out where to find markets for your stories and what to consider when deciding between pursuing traditional publishing or going the self-publishing route.
Amelia (she/they) is a writer and freelance editor from Brighton. She has a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Sussex, with a thesis on same-sex desire and intimacy in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables and its adaptations, including fanwork. While studying she trained as a lecturer, qualifying for AFHEA and working as a doctoral tutor.
She has experience facilitating creative writing workshops in-person and online, including in primary schools and for neurodivergent adults with Beyond the Spectrum. She has also worked as an academic editor with Cammad Ltd for over 10 years.
In shifting focus since graduating to centre her lifelong love of SFF, Amelia has been a juror for the British Fantasy Awards and is hard at work on a queer speculative fiction novel. Her novel-in-progress has been shortlisted for, among others, The Literary Consultancy’s 2022 Scholarship and I Am In Print’s 2025 I Am Writing SciFi/Fantasy Competition.
Mentoring Description
As a mentor, I can offer perceptive technical writing skills, a flexible approach across genre and form, and heartfelt cheerleading; I firmly believe that how a writer feels about their work is just as important as the work itself. On a practical level, I can help with setting and achieving realistic goals, staying organised and motivated, and problem-solving writing-related challenges. Across both fiction and non-fiction, I can guide writers through researching, planning, developing, and honing ideas, projects, and craft. I’m happy to provide feedback on writing at any stage, from flash fiction, short stories, and journal articles to novellas, theses, and full-length books. I can also bring my experience in developmental and structural edits, line edits and copyediting, and proofreading to both fiction and non-fiction.
As a disabled, neurodivergent, and queer creative, I’m particularly keen to work with and champion other marginalised and underrepresented writers, and am open to providing sensitivity/authenticity reads for some aspects of disabled and queer experiences.
Ruth Frances Long / Jessica Thorne / R. F. Long writes romance and fantasy from the heart which often strays into weird and wonderful liminal places. She works in a specialized library of rare & occasionally crazy books.
As Ruth Frances Long she writes fantasy of all kinds. In 2015 she won the European Science Fiction Society Spirit of Dedication Award for Best Author of Children’s Science Fiction and Fantasy for A Crack in Everything. Her latest series Feral Gods, an adult fantasy trilogy from Hodderscape featuring “an alternate-Renaissance fantasy world and inspired by the early days of printing in Europe” begins with The Book of Gold, and continues with The Lore of Silver (November 2025). The Book of Gold was on the Locus Recommended Reading List for 2024.
As Jessica Thorne she writes adult fantasy women’s fiction, which wanders from Space Opera to time travel to epic fantasy
I’m a traditionally published, award winning author specialising in fantasy and romance with more than 20 published novels and still going. My focus is primarily commercial fiction, with a particular interest in combining strong storytelling, folklore and historical elements, using real world settings to enhance worldbuilding and creating characters that feel real. I’m happy to work on adult, YA, paranormal romance, and all kinds of fantasy romance. I enjoy brainstorming plot and character, worldbuilding and working on those jaw dropping twists. I’ll help you keep going and finish that manuscript. I’m also happy to help with crafting the submission package. I write under a number of names, have self published, and have several efirst books as well and I am happy to advise on many aspects of publishing life.
Stark Holborn is the author of the Factus Sequence, the Triggernometry series and the groundbreaking digital serial, Nunslinger. Stark’s fiction has been nominated for the British Fantasy Awards, the BSFA Awards and the New Media Writing Prize. Stark also works as a games writer on award winning projects, and is currently lead writer on SF detective game, Shadows of Doubt. She is a Visiting Lecturer in Narrative at Glasgow School of Art.
I can help with everything from honing your concept to untangling plot issues. While I’m more than happy to discuss and de-mystify the publishing process – such as querying and cover letters – my expertise is probably best suited to the creative side of things. Character development, dialogue, themes – big picture rather than intricate grammar or polishing. I can cover most genres, but am particularly comfortable with science fiction, historical fiction or anything speculative and weird. I can also help with interactive fiction and games writing projects.
Dan Howarth is a writer from the North of England, a place imbued in his fiction. Dan’s published works include the novels, Lionhearts and Last Night of Freedom, the snowbound horror novella Territory, and the short story collection Dark Missives. Dan’s short fiction has been published in Weird Horror Magazine, Chthonic Matter, The Other Stories podcast, and by Dead Ink Books in Motives Unknown: New Northern Crime. He also has a film in development for release in 2026. Dan lives on the Wirral with his lovely family and insane dog.
Mentorship Focus
Generating and building story ideas
Writing horror short stories and novels
Building an unbreakable writing habit
Finding your writer identity
Self and Indie publishing advice
Dr Rachel Knightley is a fiction and non-fiction author, creative writing lecturer and the founder of The Writers’ Gym membership and podcast. The focus of her coaching and speaking is creative confidence to unblock writers and speakers in art and life. Rachel’s coaching has been called ‘life-changing’ by industry leaders in coaching and in writing.
Rachel has taught and lectured in Creative Writing at Roehampton University and the University of Hull and leads regular writing and confidence coaching workshops at the Century Club in Soho, Olympic Studios in Barnes and Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. She has taught online for schools and universities in the UK and China.
Her published work includes the short story cycle Twisted Branches (2023) and short story collection Beyond Glass (2020). Her stories have also appeared in the British Fantasy Nominated Dreamland anthology, Dreamland, and Great British Horror 5. Her first collection was longlisted for Ellen Datlow’s best horror of the year. Her short story ‘Wolf in the Mirror’ won first prize for fiction in Writers’ Forum. Her articles on writing coaching, genre fiction and related topics have appeared in Writing Magazine, Fangoria, Jewish Renaissance and Writers Online. Her non-fiction includes the current WJEC/Eduqas Drama GCSE Study and Revision Guide and Your Creative Writing Toolkit. She lives in London.
What I can help with:
Building creative confidence
Creating and sustaining writing habits
Being a good editor and line manager to yourself
Career development in writing, ‘jigsaw careers’ and freelance life
Clarifying, deepening and structuring your story
Public speaking as an author
Audience relationship
V. Castro is a two time Bram Stoker award nominated writer born in San Antonio, Texas, to Mexican American parents. She’s been writing horror stories since she was a child, always fascinated by Mexican folklore and the urban legends of Texas. Castro now lives in the United Kingdom with her family, writing and traveling with her children.
Can help with:
Sensitivity reading
Writing outside of your heritage/ culture/ gender
Finishing a novel/ novella
General publishing advice – I have published from large presses, indie presses, and self published.
General writing advice
Writing erotica/ writing love scenes
Managing social media and in person events
Erin Hardee is half of the writing MK Hardy, along with her partner Morag. Their debut sapphic historical Gothic novel, The Needfire, released in the UK in July 2025 from Solaris. Their second book, The Haunting of Avis Lovelock, is due out in August 2026. They have also written for anthologies including Lesbians in Space and The 13th Floor anthology from Rebellion, and have a secret IP project soon to be announced. Erin teaches Science Communication at the University of Dundee and sits on the board of CYMERA Festival, Scotland’s only SFFH book festival.
Things I can help with: I love chatting with other writers about craft, voice, and ideas, so if you’re a beginner writer looking to drill down into what excites you and makes your writing ‘yours’, let’s talk. I’ve gone from writing endless first drafts that got thrown away to focusing on one project and learning to edit and polish it, and I love writing pitches and queries so I can help if you’re looking to turn a first draft into a query-able project. Lastly, I’ve been through being on submission and debuting so can offer commiseration, cheerleading and advice to anyone at a similar stage. I love sci-fi and fantasy and have written both, but am currently focused on horror and historical speculative so my knowledge is most up to date in those genres.
Matt Lacey is the human behind the Aurealis Award-winning Devin Madson, and Rebecca Ide. As Devin Madson, he is best known for The Reborn Empire series (beginning with We Ride the Storm), and Between Dragons and their Wrath—one a bloody epic, the other full of political machinations, unique world-building, and queer characters making bad life choices. As Rebecca Ide, he has written The Gentleman and His Vowsmith, a fantastical queer regency romance with a locked-in murder mystery. Matt also started in self-publishing before getting picked up by Orbit, and now with nine books out with three different traditional publishers, is a font of knowledge about the industry in general. Experienced in providing constructive feedback on beta reads and early drafts, Matt can help you find the heart of your story and bring your characters to life.
He lives in Australia with no neighbours, no cats, and doesn’t like coffee.
Ways I can help:
While I can help with everything from the initial fleshing out of ideas to the finessing of finished prose, my specialities include:
– Working with you to build up character/narrative voice (especially in first person).
– Helping you to create unique and lived-in world-building that has narrative weight.
– Creating satisfying romance arcs.
– Sex scenes! Ever wanted to write them but felt too awkward? Or want to improve your skill with writing them? Let’s chat!
– Being a sounding board on queer representation.
– Identifying the core of a story and its throughline so you can make sure it shines.
Teika Marija Smits is a freelance editor, an editor-at-large at Valley Press, and the author of the short story collections Umbilical(NewCon Press), which was shortlisted for the 2024 Rubery Book Award, and Waterlore(Black Shuck Books), as well as the poetry pamphlet Russian Doll(Indigo Dreams Publishing). Most recently, she was the winner of the British Fantasy Society’s Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer.
She is delighted that ‘Teika’ means fairy tale in Latvian
As a former small press publisher, editor and award-winning writer, I’ve learnt a lot about the publishing industry and why it’s so hard to get a foot in the door. I’d love to share my knowledge with those who are newer to writing (or those who are feeling overwhelmed by the industry) so they can find a publishing route that will best meet their needs. So if you’re looking for someone to talk to about your writing projects, as well as your longer term writing goals, I’d love to listen and help you come up with a plan.
Tom Toner is the author of four critically acclaimed science fiction novels published by Gollancz and Solaris, and has been described by Locus magazine as “a wordsmith without peer”. He specialises in far future, transhuman (and even completely nonhuman) space opera, but also writes horror and fantasy. He has been a developmental editor for a number of years, editing for Titan publishing and teaching creative writing and worldbuilding workshops at conventions and literary festivals around the country, as well as giving multiple talks to the British Interplanetary Society on possible solutions to the Fermi paradox.
I’m a science fiction writer with a passion for the more unusual end of the genre, but I read as widely as I can, and love horror, fantasy, thrillers, historical fiction and non-fiction (especially travelogues). I’ve been a traditionally published author for over a decade and a developmental editor for half that, so I’ve worked with writers at every stage of their manuscript, from bouncing the first vague ideas around together to intensive worldbuilding sessions (as part of my Wildcard Worldbuilding Workshop), surgical edits of complete novels, and advising on agent query letters and the ins and outs of publishing.
Alasdair Stuart is a professional enthusiast, pop culture analyst, writer and voice actor. He serves on the board of the Escape Artists Foundation and hosts their weekly horror fiction podcast, PseudoPod. Alasdair is an Audioverse Award winner, a Hugo and BFA finalist, and has won the Karl Edward Wagner award twice. He writes the award-nominated free weekly pop culture newsletter THE FULL LID. Follow him on Bluesky for daily writing exercises, podcast and movie recommendations, and photos of his cat.
Can help with:
Narrative structure, game design (Narrative for video games and TTRPGs), journalism, podcasting and pastoral care (Specifically, I’ve got quite good at learning how to do this work without it actively damaging my health), voice acting basics