Luke Bateman is an ex-NRL player, a previous contestant on The Bachelor and a soon-to-be published author. However, the announcement of his book deal has caused controversy in book spaces and the publishing world.
Here’s an explainer of what’s been happening.
How did Luke Bateman get his book deal?
Luke Bateman joined TikTok in late April 2025 and began sharing videos about his love of fantasy books with the platform’s book-obsessed #BookTok community. His first video garnered almost 2 million views (it’s since surpassed that). Plus, he gained hundreds of thousands of followers within days of posting.
People were drawn to Luke’s down-to-earth personality, and his genuine happiness to have found a community of “like-minded people”.
“I’ve loved books my entire life,” Luke said in one video. “I’ve never really had anywhere to talk about it or share those things … being a male in a lot of blue-collar work and from the country.”
Only weeks later, he announced a two-book deal with Atria Books Australia, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Luke took to TikTok to share the news with his over 174,000 followers. “This is a childhood dream come true for me. I’ve wanted to be an author my whole life.”
There was plenty of initial support for the soon-to-be author, but just as quickly, criticisms came pouring in.
“I can’t wait to write this book”
People questioned whether Luke Bateman’s book deal was justified, as he seemingly didn’t even have a manuscript yet. However, this belief was quashed by Atria’s publisher, Anthea Bariamis. The publisher told The Sydney Morning Herald that she would never sign an author without confirming their writing ability.
“Not only is he incredibly talented, he’s also a big book nerd like I am, and he knows the power of storytelling,” she said in the announcement statement from Atria.
Before signing Luke, the pair had a lengthy meeting to discuss his novel. Following that, Luke submitted a writing sample, a chapter outline for the first book, and a synopsis of the series. All up, it amounted to around 10,000 words in total.
Luke himself said on The Morning Show that his epic fantasy story “has been with me for the last 10 years … it’s really sort of come together in my head over the past 12 or 24 months, and I started writing it just as a passion project about six months ago”.
Even with this explanation, many remained frustrated by the potential bias in the publishing industry.
A spotlight on the publishing industry
In 2022, the inaugural Australian Publishing Industry Workforce Survey on Diversity and Inclusion found that the industry struggled to reflect the country’s diversity. “Our workforce doesn’t always represent the breadth of our culture. This plays into what and how we publish,” James Kellow, then President of the Australian Publishers Association, said.
It’s been a source of many complaints regarding Luke’s deal: That a white male author with no previous writing experience landed a two-book deal.
Jing Xuan Teo, co-founder of Amplify Bookstore in Melbourne, which exclusively stocks books by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) authors, told PEDESTRIAN.TV, “You will not see them give that opportunity to a person of colour … You have to write a fantastic, incredible, stunning 10 out of 10 book to even be considered.”
In a video posted to her Instagram and TikTok, Bigambul and Wakka Wakka author and academic Dr Melanie Saward said Luke’s deal showed a “double standard” in the industry, referencing another fantasy author recently signed by Atria, Tzeyi Koay, a Chinese-Malaysian author based in Australia, whose book deal drew less attention.
“The publishing industry does not treat everyone equally,” Dr Saward said. “We really, seriously need to look at how the publishing industry is upholding standards of race.”
Publishing is a business
In many ways, Luke’s success story is part of a growing trend of online virality leading to book deals. After all, to stay in business, publishing houses need to sell books. So people with large online followings can present less risk.
“Luke Bateman didn’t follow himself a million times,” said author Jemma Swann, current president of the Romance Writers of Australia, in an open letter on her Substack. “He didn’t conjure an audience from thin air or slip a contract under his own door. BookTok did that. We did that.”
It’s what happened for Australian fantasy author Stacey McEwan. Back during the COVID lockdowns, Stacey found popularity on TikTok with her comedic videos about the fantasy and romance genres, which contributed to her book series, The Glacian Trilogy, being picked up for traditional publication.
Similarly, many self-published authors whose books have gotten popular online have been picked up by traditional publishers for republication. In fact, as well as Luke and Tzeyi Koay, Atria recently signed New Zealand author Steffanie Holmes, who had by that stage self-published more than 40 novels and amassed a large readership.
Responding to the backlash
For his part, Luke is aware that “it was obviously everyone on here [TikTok] resonating with me that gave me this opportunity”. Since the divisive reactions, he has acknowledged in an interview with Chattr that “a lot of these conversations are very new to me”. Luke said he “obviously had advantages that other people don’t” and wants to use his platform to help lift diverse voices.
Dr Saward hopes the conversation sparked by Luke’s book deal will encourage readers to investigate their book-buying habits and diversify their reading, telling ABC that buying diverse Australian books will send publishers a message so “they’ll go chasing more of those authors”.
