Canelo / Arts Council England

Canelo / Arts Council England | 

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Literature in the 21st Century: Understanding Models of Support for Literary Fiction

Here then could be a new model of support – a simple way for writers 

to better support one another on all levels. What it suggests is that if 

literary writing is to thrive, it has be willing to think anew about what 

models of support are available and possible. 

4. Emerging Models of Support

Digital technology doesn’t simply mean the stable rise of ebooks. It 

allows for new kinds of writing; it promises (or threatens) to bypass 

all the traditional gatekeepers attendant on literature; it allows for new 

funding models, new kinds of sharing and new forms of collaborative, 

interactive and multimedia experiences. If we think of digital as ebooks 

on the Kindle and a few marketing tweets, then we have radically 

underestimated its potential. But does this really come through for 

literary fiction? How much of it might be hype? 

One area that promises to establish a new way of supporting writing is 

crowdfunding. This inverts the principle of the risk attached in publishing 

a work by getting enough people to pledge to buy it in advance that 

the publication can be supported. It means that if a sufficient audience 

is found, then publication is guaranteed. Enabled by the network, 

which can bring together enough people within small niches to make 

things work, crowd funding holds out the promise of making a reality 

the kind of difficult and risky ventures a traditional publisher might feel 

uncomfortable with. 

Kickstarter was one of the earliest sites to work on the crowdfunding 

model and remains one of the biggest. With a total of $3.3bn pledged 

through the site, it must rank as one of the world’s largest sources of 

arts funding. Within the specific Publishing segment there are notable 

success stories. The most backed Publishing project, Good Night 

Stories for Rebel Girls 2, took $866,193 in pledges, while the second 

most funded hit $675,614. There is a deep long tail of Publishing 

projects to have secured over $100,000. Publishing is second in 

the number of projects launched on Kickstarter but that failed to 

find funding (27,092) after Film and Video, but the third in the list of 

most funded projects behind Music and Film and Video with 11,986 

successfully funded projects. These have a 30.6% chance of getting 

funded, less than the site average of 36%. However, in total funding 

Publishing comes 7th out of 15 with $129m. The top category in terms 

of funding is Games with $726m of funding. So although far from 

the biggest, Publishing has a very respectable record. Furthermore, 

although many of the projects are far from literary fiction, there are 

numerous examples of unequivocally literary material taking it through. 

The Kickstarter pledger is a diverse animal and for those writers with 

the skills and dedication to mount a successful campaign it can pay off. 

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