Canelo / Arts Council England

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

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Canelo / Arts Council England | 
2
 
Literature in the 21st Century: Understanding Models of Support for Literary Fiction
Contents 
Executive Summary 
3
Notes on Goals and Methodology 
5
1. Data analysis 
6
2. Interviews 
7
3. Survey 
7
4. Other research 
8
Arts Council England Funding for Literature 
9
Part I – The Context 
10
1. The Market 
10
2. Publishers, Prizes and Marketing 
21
3. Ebooks and Digital Technology 
29
4. Barriers to entry 
33
Recap 37
Part II – Models of Support 
38
1. Advances 
38
2. Other Commercial Models 
42
3. Grants and Not-For-Profit Support 
46
4. Emerging Models of Support 
48
Conclusion 52
Appendices 53
I – Limitations to the data 
53
II – Interviewees and questions 
53
III – About the Authors and Arts Council England 
54
IV – Suggested and Further Reading 
55
Trade Press 
55
Journals 55
Books 58

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Canelo / Arts Council England | 
3

Literature in the 21st Century: Understanding Models of Support for Literary Fiction
Executive Summary
It’s easy to believe there was once a Golden Age for literary 
fiction, but the history of publishing tells us otherwise. It has