There have been many significant changes over the past two decades in the consumption of serious literary fiction in Britain, readers and booktrade have responded to the development of a prize culture in which the Booker and its shortlist have caught the limelight and flourished, and other literary awards - the Whitbread, the "Sunday Express", The Betty Trask, the "Irish Times"/Aer Lingus - have followed suit.;The rise of the major book chains - Smiths, Waterstone's, Dillons, Books Etc, Blackwell's - together with trade promotions and film and television tie-ins have also played a part in the new consumption. Agents and publishers have given birth to the literary blockbuster, and a few have suffered high-cost post-natal depression.;This is a study of these changes. Richard Todd explains how these prizes work, and analyzes who is reading and who is buying and how much. Drawing on the wide experiences of a range of consultants including writers, publishers, agents, booksellers, the press and media, the book puts the changes into context from every angle.