The first page of your book determines whether the reader will continue reading or if they will move on to another book. Sometimes fantasy and science fiction writers forget how important this first glimpse into the story can be for a reader. Far too often I’ve critiqued a fantasy or sci-fi story only to find that the writer has chosen to rely on the book blurb to fill in major gaps within the story. This is a mistake if we want to keep that reader interested. As writers, it’s easy to get excited about the fantasy or sci-fi world we’ve created. We are all eager to get into the meat of the story, but do the reader a favor and pay close attention to that first page.
