When Queensland farmer Luke Bateman posted his first TikTok video in April this year, he spoke earnestly about finding a community where he could discuss books and get recommendations.<\/p>\n
The former rugby league player and star of the television show The Bachelors Australia, had joined #BookTok, a section of the platform where book lovers review and recommend their favourite reads.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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#BookTok has created a space for readers on TikTok to share their love of literature.\u00a0 (Source: TikTok)<\/p>\n
“I’ve loved books my entire life \u2026 I’ve never really had anywhere to talk about it or share those things, obviously being a male in blue-collar work,” he shared.<\/p>\n
For many, seeing someone like Bateman interested in books stood out.<\/p>\n
His first video received two million views, and his account exploded, amassing nearly 180,000 followers in less than two months.<\/p>\n
But while his reception was initially positive, the tide was about to turn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A headline-making book deal<\/p>\n
Just weeks after his viral debut, Bateman hopped on TikTok to announce he had signed a two-book deal for a fantasy series with Atria Books Australia, an imprint of publishing house Simon & Schuster.<\/p>\n
Farmer Luke Bateman’s book reviews are a hit on social media<\/a><\/p>\n Luke Bateman, a former Canberra Raiders forward, is a hit on social media for his video reviews filmed from his farm in Western Queensland.<\/p>\n The announcement drew a mixed response on #BookTok, with some users taking to the comments section of the video with questions around Bateman’s writing experience and if the deal was based on his virality alone.<\/p>\n Comments included: “Well, good to see that publishing is still a colossal joke,” and “The anger here is aimed at the wrong person. He’s not the problem. The publisher is”.<\/p>\n Bateman had said in the announcement video that his social media presence was a big factor in his book deal being finalised.<\/p>\n The ABC has contacted Bateman for comment.<\/p>\n “It was obviously everyone on here resonating with me that they [Atria Books] gave me this opportunity \u2026 all of you have helped me to fulfil my childhood dream.”<\/p>\n Anthea Bariamis, who acquired the international rights to Bateman’s books for Atria Books, confirmed in an Instagram live<\/a> that she spotted Bateman on TikTok and reached out to his agent.<\/p>\n “I had seen Luke online, like I know many people have for the last month or so, and I just loved his content and I was like \u2018Oh my god, he’s a big book nerd!'”<\/p>\n Bariamis said that she had a meeting with Bateman, who pitched her a fantasy series that he “had in his mind and has been working on for a long time”.<\/p>\n She also confirmed that he would not have a ghostwriter, as some had speculated, and that she had been provided a writing sample before the deal was finalised.<\/p>\n The ABC has contacted Bariamis for comment.<\/p>\n Why was there backlash to the news?<\/p>\n Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n Even by industry standards, Bateman’s deal is notable.<\/p>\n “For someone who’s never previously published anything before \u2026 it’s quite unusual to get signed for a two-book deal \u2026 particularly if you’re writing fiction,” says Julian Novitz, a senior lecturer in Media and Communications from Swinburne University.<\/p>\n Dr Novitz said that typically, debut authors sign a contract for a single book, with publishers reserving the right of first refusal on the second.<\/p>\n The speed and scale of Bateman’s book deal have also drawn criticism from content creators on #BookTok and authors from marginalised backgrounds, who view his rise as emblematic of a lack of diversity in Australia’s book publishing industry.<\/p>\n Bron Bateman, an Australian queer author and poet living with a disability, says the news of Bateman’s book deal reflects a lack of effort from big publishers to invest in marginalised authors.<\/p>\n “I find it extraordinary that six weeks on TikTok is enough to generate the kind of lavish outspending that Simon & Schuster are obviously prepared to do,” she says.<\/p>\n “The problem isn’t Luke Bateman. The problem is big publishing companies.”<\/p>\n The state of publishing in Australia<\/p>\n It has been long reported that Australia’s publishing industry is lacking diversity.<\/p>\n In 2022 the inaugural Australian Publishing Industry Workforce Survey on Diversity and Inclusion<\/a> found there was much work to be done.<\/p>\n The survey found that fewer than 1 per cent of Australian publishing professionals are First Nations, only 8.5 per cent have an Asian cultural identity, and just over 5 per cent identified as living with a disability.<\/p>\n Teo Jing Xuan and Marina Sano, co-founders of Amplify Bookstore in Melbourne which solely stocks books written by Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) authors, said they weren’t surprised by the Bateman deal going through.<\/p>\n Before he was a signed author, Luke Bateman played rugby league for the Canberra Raiders.\u00a0 (Getty: Mark Kolbe\/Staff)<\/p>\n “I’m deeply unsurprised by it, to the point where I’m honestly kind of surprised by how much outrage there is because this is so run of the mill,” Sano says.<\/p>\n Teo, who has worked in publishing, says deals like this come down to sales appeal.<\/p>\n “It’s very common in publishing \u2026 they will sit around and say \u2018What is the sale potential for this book?’ before it’s being acquired,” Teo says.<\/p>\n “For books by people of colour, the chat around sales potential is a lot more in-depth than you would get from a white author per se.”<\/p>\n Virality is increasingly important<\/p>\n Bigambul and Wakka Wakka author Melanie Saward, a lecturer at the University of Queensland, said deals like Bateman’s send an “awful” message to authors from marginalised backgrounds.<\/p>\n “It shows them that they’re not exceptional enough for the industry, that their stories aren’t valued,” she said.<\/p>\n Melanie Saward is concerned that the stories of marginalised authors aren’t valued by the Australian publishing industry.\u00a0 (Supplied: Jill Kerswill)<\/p>\n Dr Novitz says Bateman’s book deal is an example of how virality has become an increasingly decisive factor in publishing decisions.<\/p>\n “Publishing is a business \u2026 in terms of the works that [publishers are] looking to take a risk on, having an author who already has public visibility, and large followings on social media is a real advantage.”<\/p>\n Dr Novtiz adds that “publishing has a responsibility to broaden representation,” and that when visibility begets more visibility, “it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy”.<\/p>\n “It becomes assumed that writers from a particular demographic are who readers are most interested in, because they dominate the list of published works.”<\/p>\n Championing diverse authors ‘more important than ever’<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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