Canelo / Arts Council England

Canelo / Arts Council England | 
4

Literature in the 21st Century: Understanding Models of Support for Literary Fiction
This, then, is not an easy time for literary fiction. Nevertheless, there 
are a few bright spots: 
• New independent publishers continue to emerge
• There is no conclusive evidence that publishers are reducing their 
marketing, even if this is a common feeling among writers 
• Film rights, translation rights, audiobooks and new crowd-sourcing 
models are all on the rise as ways of supporting literary fiction
• The growth in creative writing courses offers teaching 
opportunities for writers, but also creates a more competitive 
landscape for authors
At the start of our research we expected both good and bad news; 
to find that some of the pessimism that seems to surround the book 
world was unwarranted. To some extent this was true. As the above 
suggests, though, our research indicates this is emphatically not an 
easy time, and that models to support literary fiction are stretched 
thin, more than at any point in recent decades. 

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Canelo / Arts Council England | 
5

Literature in the 21st Century: Understanding Models of Support for Literary Fiction
Notes on Goals
and Methodology
This report was undertaken to test assumptions about the state of 
support for literary writing and to gain a more accurate and holistic 
sense of the real picture. We believe the report is indicative of what 
is happening, rather than a definitive statement on the matter. The 
research was carried out in two phases. Initial research was conducted 
in early 2016, and then further research and analysis was completed in 
late 2017. 
The assumptions we wanted to test were: 
• That sales of literary fiction are falling 
• That writers of BAME and other minority backgrounds continue to 
face barriers to breaking into literary fiction 
• That advances and marketing support within publishers for literary 
fiction are both falling
• That the market for literary fiction has become more risk averse
While all of these points are widely assumed, to what extent are they 
actually true? What evidence is there either way? 
Beyond these assumptions, we wanted to explore how writing is 
supported in this country. Some structures, such as the classic advance 
model, are obvious. What is less clear is how such structures are 
changing. We wanted to understand: 
• To what extent literary fiction is using existing support models, from 
grants to advances. What support models are out there?
• To what extent new support models are emerging, and whether 
they are being taken up by writers of literary fiction. Are there any 
innovations in the market to help support literary fiction? 
These questions matter to anyone who cares about literary fiction and 
the world of letters more widely. Literary fiction is writing’s vanguard. It 
is an important part of national culture. It is a key repository of stories, 
words, language – and a major business in its own right. 
In discussing literary fiction there is, of course, one great hurdle: 
defining it. 

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