Canelo / Arts Council England

Canelo / Arts Council England | 

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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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