Canelo / Arts Council England

Canelo / Arts Council England | 
53

Literature in the 21st Century: Understanding Models of Support for Literary Fiction
Appendices 
I – Limitations to the data 
Much of the data in this report comes from Nielsen BookScan. While 
this represents the vast majority of the book market and covers 6,500 
retail outlets including the major book chains, Amazon, the supermarkets 
and most independents, it does not capture the entire market. Figures 
for the ebook market are less comprehensive still. On both counts 
Nielsen BookScan is the most comprehensive available and is the 
industry wide standard for reporting sales. It is also worth underlining 
that the bulk of the research was conducted between January and 
March 2016 when data was only available up to 2015 and so does not 
take into account changes that may have happened since then. 
Most of the respondents to the survey were writers (55%), a self-
selecting group with a possible agenda. Comparatively the number of 
people from the publishing industry itself was relatively small (13%). 
This could be because publishers feel they have less of an immediate 
stake or it could simply be that the report didn’t reach them. However 
given prominent exposure on 
The Bookseller
website, the main trade 
journal, this is unlikely. Instead, for whatever reason, publishers were 
comparatively disinclined to answer the questionnaire in comparison 
to authors. Finally, a significant number of respondents did not specify 
their role (27%). As stated in the methodology, however, the goal of 
the survey was intended as a scientific, rather as a way of capturing 
different views and sentiments we otherwise would not reach. 
II – Interviewees and questions 
The breakdown of interviewees is as follows: 
• Authors: 7
• Commissioning editors: 4 
• Marketing and publicity: 4
• Senior publishing executives: 4 
• Booksellers: 3 
• Literary agents: 3 
• Start-ups: 3
• CEO/MDs: 2 
• Journalists: 2
• Not for profits: 2

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