From the NRL to Bachelor to BookTok influencer and a romantasy book deal. Meet Luke Bateman
Why has he gained a Booktok following on TikTok?
If you view the comments on any of his posts, it's obvious his audience is predominantly female. In his first post, Bateman even comments 'There's a lot of females here, and you all love smut and spice…I think I may have to have a little delve into it myself and see what all the fuss is about.'
The followers lapped this up and he played up to it, his greeting quickly going from 'Hello BookTok' to 'Hello besties' which has become his trademark address.
His posts are almost always filmed in a truck or in the fields, the dirt and sweat from a hard day's work still visible on him, along with his well-worn Akubra. But he's not shy to show his softer side, even crying when he posted about his new book deal.
Loading
And he has embraced popular romantasy books, like A Court of Thorns and Roses, which decreed him somewhat of a unicorn in the BookTok community – a rugged young man who is passionate about reading genres usually embraced by young women.
What is romantasy?
The term is a melding of two genres: romance and fantasy. But it's the romance side of it that is central to this sub-genre.
The term was added to the Urban Dictionary in 2008 but has gained particular traction in the last decade thanks to authors like Sarah J. Maas of A Court of Thorns and Roses fame – the hashtag ACOTAR has had almost nine billion views on TikTok - and Rebecca Yarros, author of Fourth Wing.
Bateman is a new but enthusiastic consumer of romantasy, even donning a cap sent to him by Dymocks which reads 'romance reader'.
Who has signed him up for a book deal?
Bateman has been signed to a two-book deal by Atria, a brand-new imprint of Simon & Schuster Australia. In the US, where Atria has been around since 2002, it has published bestselling authors like Taylor Jenkins Reid, Colleen Hoover and Fredrik Backman.
Bateman's first book will be out in early 2027 and he says it will be a coming of age story about a young boy battling hardships and set in a fantasy world. It's a story he says he has carried with him since childhood and now it's time to get it out of his head and onto the page.
Why sign him if he has no book yet?
While you don't have to have written an entire book to nab a book deal, Atria publisher Anthea Bariamis says the publishing house would never sign an author for fiction without seeing whether they can actually write first.
'[Luke] and I had a long meeting where he went over the scope of the series he was working on, detailing the magic system and the journey of the protagonist across the series. These are the two things that, in my opinion at least, are most important for assessing fantasy submissions,' she says.
'He then submitted a writing sample, a thorough chapter outline for book one, and a synopsis for the series. In total, we had almost 10,000 words to assess his commercial and literary potential.'
Why has this sparked debate?
The debate was sparked by one post made on May 26 – in which Bateman announced he had been signed by Atria – and in particular one line in that post in which he said 'I can't wait to write this book'.
Loading
The comments section blew up. TikTokkers could not understand how someone who had not even written a book could be signed by a major publisher.
'I'm so confused – how did you get a book deal with no book written?' one asked.
But angry comments soon focused on race, gender and privilege.
'This opportunity is the intersection of white privilege, male privilege, and pretty privilege,' a TikTokker wrote. Another added: 'There are so many talented and skilled authors from marginalised communities who HAVE put in the effort, who HAVE worked to refine their skills, who HAVE worked to build their platform, and yet this is what publishing prioritises. Yikes!'
And from another: 'Firstly, congratulations, I'm happy for you! I also want to acknowledge that had you been a woman (especially of colour) this probably wouldn't have happened.'
But for every negative comment, there was a positive one.
'Why the hate?' one user asked. 'Why is it about race? Why is it about gender? We made him famous. Now we are tearing him down? He did nothing wrong.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Sydney Morning Herald
17 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
YouTube threatens to sue if roped into social media ban
Google has been warned threats to sue won't sway the potential late inclusion of YouTube in Australia's world-first social media ban for children. The tech giant wrote to Communications Minister Anika Wells declaring it was considering its legal position if its video-sharing platform was included in the ban for children aged 16 and under. The letter flagged the ban could be challenged because it restricted the implied constitutional right to freedom of political communication. 'YouTube is a video-sharing platform, not a social media service, that offers benefit and value to younger Australians,' a YouTube spokesperson said. Loading 'We have written directly to the government, urging them to uphold the integrity of the legislative process and protect the age-appropriate experiences and safeguards we provide for young Australians.' The social media ban is due to come into effect in December. covered when legislation passed parliament. YouTube was exempted in a move TikTok described as a 'sweetheart deal'.

The Age
17 hours ago
- The Age
YouTube threatens to sue if roped into social media ban
Google has been warned threats to sue won't sway the potential late inclusion of YouTube in Australia's world-first social media ban for children. The tech giant wrote to Communications Minister Anika Wells declaring it was considering its legal position if its video-sharing platform was included in the ban for children aged 16 and under. The letter flagged the ban could be challenged because it restricted the implied constitutional right to freedom of political communication. 'YouTube is a video-sharing platform, not a social media service, that offers benefit and value to younger Australians,' a YouTube spokesperson said. Loading 'We have written directly to the government, urging them to uphold the integrity of the legislative process and protect the age-appropriate experiences and safeguards we provide for young Australians.' The social media ban is due to come into effect in December. covered when legislation passed parliament. YouTube was exempted in a move TikTok described as a 'sweetheart deal'.


Perth Now
a day ago
- Perth Now
Meet the Aussie duo rewiring comedy
In early 2020, appearing on the YouTube interview show Hot Ones, legendary comedian Will Ferrell mused on the future of comedy. Comedy clubs were back then and are now a shadow of their former selves and mere days ago CBS announced the cancellation of The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert after 33 years on air, 10 of those with Colbert as host. But laughs aren't dead, they're just online now. Social media is proving the new frontier for comedians looking to cut their teeth, allowing budding comics to record sketches, develop characters and grow a platform without the aid of more traditional pathways. Half the world away from that Ferrell interview, comedy duo Swag on the Beat started life in a Melbourne supermarket after an innocent one-take video poking fun at Covid supermarket etiquette gathered almost 30,000 views. Melbourne duo Swag On The Beat made up of Isaac Gibbons and Jack Say. David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Today, the duo – made up of Jack Say, 28, and Isaac Gibbons, 29 – have amassed more than 3.3 million followers across Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Having recently completed a live show tour around Australia, New Zealand and England, Say and Gibbons agreed with Ferrell's assessment that there was no substitute for honing a comedian's craft quite like performing in front of a crowd. However, they argued the nature of social media management meant nowadays comics needed to be a 'jack of all trades'. 'It was an amazing cutting of the teeth moment for us,' Say told NewsWire. 'We learned so much about live audiences, but it feels like now – you hear musicians talk about it as well – not only do you have to 'make the music', but you have to be the advertiser and you have to do all the social media stuff that comes along with it. 'It feels like you almost have to be a jack of all trades and to service each platform with what it requires in order to have a grip in the industry.' The boys just reached one million followers on Instagram alone. David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Continuing the aspiration of multi-platform mastery, the duo have cracked into the podcast space. It's a dangerous time to make the move. Internet commentators have complained the market is now so over-saturated that the sale of podcasting equipment ought to be restricted or banned. The boys, however, are finding the change of pace a welcome return to the ad lib comedy style of their younger years. 'Speaking for myself, I wasn't a huge podcast guy, so I guess I was always astounded by the amount of podcasts out there that have strong listenership,' Gibbons said. 'Obviously, it's a growing platform and there's people that listen to all kinds of content. And I think rather than talking other people down or focusing on how types of podcasts that don't deserve listeners, get listeners, maybe it's worth acknowledging that there's all kinds of listeners for different types of content and trying to tap into that, appreciate that everyone listens to different stuff and try to make something that can appeal to a lot of people.' Making content that is appealing to a wide spate of people is no easy task in the modern world and it's something that Say and Gibbons have made pains to improve on in recent years. 'We were talking about this earlier today actually. Something we've crystallised since the start of Swag and we're getting closer and closer to is being able to provide content that anyone can listen to,' Say said. Comedy legend Barry Humphries is among the boys' role models. Openart AI Credit: Supplied 'If you're 15 or 75, we would like to create stuff that anyone can enjoy, anyone can palate. 'While being fresh and interesting is kind of the goal for us, we don't want to exclude any group or person or people from our stuff. 'It's that classic line from when they wrote the Mr. Bean TV show. 'If a joke couldn't be understood by people in Egypt, then it didn't get in'. He's on the extreme level where he didn't even speak, but we're sort of taking a leaf out of that book, which is: Does this allow everyone who can hear and watch our stuff the chance to enjoy it? 'There's only so much you can do as two guys, but we feel like we're getting better at dividing our time and energy up into multiple parts of the industry, which feels like an essential thing.' It's difficult to put your finger on Australian comedy in the same way you can identify dry British humour or brazen American comedies, and the nature of social media skits as an emerging form of content means prospective filmers may lack the comic role models of other mediums. However the boys cast the net wide and believe the vagueness offers an opportunity to cherry pick and aspire to the best. 'We're big fans of Chris Lilly, everything done by Chris Lilly,' Gibbons said. Australian icon in Chris Lilley as Jonah Takalua. Supplied Credit: Supplied 'I love the character comedy and the way he can very convincingly play all different types of characters. Sacha Baron Cohen as well. 'I think the Godfather of Australian comedy, Barry Humphries, is of course iconic. Flight of the Concords is a duo who has a hilarious dynamic and incorporates music which we try to do as well.' '(American and British humour) both are incredible, but I suppose beyond personal preference of the comedy styles, as Australia does in many other ways, we sort of take little bits of longstanding cultures that we like and try and incorporate them into our own things,' Say added. 'Maybe there's a bit of that going on that is forming the Australian comedy style.' The duo has partnered with KitKat to release a line of Commuter Camouflage Hoodies and are celebrating reaching one million followers on Instagram by throwing a party at the Railway Hotel in Brunswick on Saturday, August 30, announcing a secret project they've 'been working on for months'.