what is the difference between literary fiction and commercial fiction??

Many thousands of pounds. If you want to buy my book, visit my blog: http://whatisthisstrangeplace.blogspot.com/

I read M.A.D and I am Kirk and couldn't really see any "fast entertainment" in the work. So I'm wondering whether you're about to embark on some writing that you would like defined as "fast entertainment" and you'd like some advice as to how to do this? I dunno. Be sparse on full-spots..stops I mean, and keep it lively and fragmented. I'm not sure. ;)

Commercial fiction uses more italics

Commercial fiction could be said to be fiction that adheres to the mainstream, contains nothing that would challenge the general reader, and ultimately adds very little to the rich tapestry of literature. Literary fiction could be said to be the equivalent of alternative music in literary terms, very individualist and more underground. Neither types of fiction are Booker Prize fiction -- these are abominable novels running to several hundred pages that only the judges tend to read all the way through.

Commercial fiction sells enough copies for the publishers to make a profit and for the writers to make a living. Occasionally, literary fiction can be commercial.

Disagree with Iceman on the Booker. "The Famished Road" by Ben Okri and "The Life of Pi" were both marvellous books that changed me as a person for the better. But why do all Salman Rushdie's novels get shortlisted? jude visit my boring website http://www.judesworld.net

apparently in last edition of mslexia there is a new genre emerging 'Lite lit' think Time travellers wife. This lite lit is ideal reading group fodder and it features - a moral or difficult issue at its core, tends to have only a few strong lead characters, often contains non-linear chapters eg. jumping backwards and forwards through time. In other words needs to be accessible to a varied audience but contain thought provoking ideas that can be discussed. So lite lit i guess is a hybrid between commercial and literary. Juliet

Double-posted.

Commercial fiction is necessarily formula-driven. It works on the basis that someone who has read and enjoyed a book will want to read more of the same. Tired and hackneyed ideas are nigh-on fundamental, and the books are sold on the basis that they are almost exactly like other books, but moreso - from cover design to author comparisons. As readers will tear through these and then throw them away, the more the merrier. Literary fiction is originality-driven. Successful examples are nearly always said to be 'fresh', and sold on the basis that they are surprising, unique, or a 'landmark' of some kind. Literary books do not complement each other's existence very well, since each one will claim to blow the others away, and they're all competing to be a stand-out, life-affirming experience. Attempts to fuse the two together usually end up, even at their most successful, having only cult appeal, since original genre fiction just doesn't play to the tastes of those who normally buy it, and literary fiction generally tries to be as unlike genre fiction as possible.