Bloomsbury Mentorship Programme 2026

Why are we establishing a mentorship programme?

Bloomsbury Publishing is one of the UK’s leading publishers of fiction – and we aim to publish stories that represent the diversity of people in this country.

But there are multiple barriers to book publishing, particularly for people from backgrounds underrepresented in publishing. That’s because the majority of people working in the industry are white and middle-class, and for decades, the books published have reflected that.

We want to help change the future of publishing so you can tell the stories that reflect Britain’s many communities. And we want to properly support our authors in this work, because establishing a career as a writer (even a part-time writer) can be tough as you navigate querying agents, encounter industry and contract jargon, understand sales, and learn how to make your writing viable in the market.

But we can’t create this change alone. We need you.

“That's why the prize on offer isn't a book deal. We don't want to help you with just one book.”

How it works ✏️

All the submissions will be read by Bloomsbury staff, but our three judges make the final decision on the winning entry.

The ten shortlisted writers (chosen by Bloomsbury staff) will be notified and publicly recognised. The shortlisted writers will be invited to a workshop day at the Bloomsbury Publishing offices in London, where we will talk through the publishing process and have a number of interactive sessions, including receiving editorial feedback on their entry from one of our editors.

The shortlisted pieces will be printed in an anthology and shared with agents and editors. The shortlisted writers will be invited to read an extract of their entry in front of a crowd of editors and agents at our mentorship party in London. Each shortlisted writer will also receive access to a writing course with Curtis Brown Creative.

The winner will be announced after the party, on 14 May 2027. They will receive a mentorship from a Bloomsbury editor, to work on the entry they submitted to the programme. The mentorship will consist of approximately 4–8 sessions over the span of a year.

Dates

• Open for submissions: 1 September 2026
• Closed for submissions: 16 October 2026
• Shortlist announced: 1 February 2027
• Workshop day: 6 April 2027
• Mentorship party: 13 May 2027

Eligibility

• Writers 18 and older are eligible to apply.
• Applicants must be residents of/based in the United Kingdom, regardless of their citizenship status.
• Applicants must be un-agented, and must not have published, or have received a contract to publish, in any genre at the time of submission. However, they may have had work in any genre, excluding the work submitted to this programme, published in literary magazines and journals, whether in print or online, or self-published.
• The submitted piece cannot have been previously published in any form (in print or online; whether in established magazines or journals, or on a personal blog).
• This programme is specifically directed at writers from backgrounds underrepresented in publishing :we welcome applications from people of colour, those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, those who are neurodivergent, those who are living with a disability, and members of the LGBTQ+ community/queer communities.

How to apply

Submit your anonymous entry using this form. The entries will be judged anonymously. Provide only the title of your entry in the file name, as follows: TITLE_BFMP

Have any questions?

You can read our frequently asked questions. If your question is not answered, you can email us at bloomsburymentorship@bloomsbury.com. This email is monitored by Bloomsbury editorial staff and we will endeavour to respond within five working days. If you email us a question that is answered on the FAQs, you won't get a response. We will not enter any correspondence about the shortlist or winner outside of the announcements, which will be made on this page, and unfortunately we do not have the resource to provide individual feedback on submissions that were not shortlisted.

If you have any accessibility requirements and wish to discuss your needs with us further, please email us.

We thank you for your interest in the Bloomsbury Fiction Mentorship Programme!