Why the first 20 pages? It’s simple, that is about as many pages as any agent will read. If the reader isn’t hooked in the first twenty pages you will have a hard time keeping them. Go to any bookstore and see what is happening, people scan the shelf for covers or titles they like, they read the back synopsis and if that has them they will read the first pages. If they don’t find those pages of interest they move on. On Amazon people will read the snippets that are available, usually the first chapter, that much will either have them purchase the book or click on the next one. I started out writing fiction, and in the process, I joined critique groups. What I discovered was I was excellent at providing constructive feedback. In a short period of time, people began to pay me to give them feedback outside of the groups. It became apparent that I was wasting my time reading entire manuscripts if the first pages didn’t work. So, I began to help the writer in smaller chunks. That was over ten years ago and nearly one hundred and fifty writers. This will be 20 double-spaced pages.