Latest news with #Booktok
Daily Mirror
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Major franchise development in the works for A Court of Thorns and Roses series
The #Booktok favourite author of hit series ACOTAR, Throne of Glass and Crescent City has just signed this historic merch deal, suggesting the full franchise treatment of Harry Potter Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) universe continues to expand, this time with a franchise development. Ahead of the sixth ACOTAR instalment, rumours of filming have started to bubble as new products are set to release. The viral Romantasy sensation that has taken #Booktok by storm is set to receive the full franchise treatment, with a worldwide exclusive deal with IMG Licensing, promising fans a vast selection of merchandise, spanning across all of her literary series - Throne of Glass and Crescent City included. Her global success boasts more than 70 million English copies sold worldwide, with translations of her work in 38 languages. Dubbed one of the most influential modern authors, Maas has acted as the literary knight leading the charge for Romantasy, now an established genre in its own right. The Hollywood Reporter wrote how the multi-year deal will both manage and develop a huge licensing program to create interaction points for the loyal fantasy base of Terasen, the Night Court and Crescent City. Maas' adored literary-verse will extend from its pages, transforming into clothing attire; makeup; lifestyle and homeware products; wine and spirits; food and beverages; toys and games; collectibles; cosplay items; and immersive fan experiences, reports THR. IMG Licensing Vice President, Samantha Chang, commented on the exciting deal, saying: "Representing Sarah J. Maas and her extraordinary literary worlds is an incredible honour. Together, Sarah and her fans have created a cultural phenomenon that has redefined fantasy fiction". For more stories like this visit The Gulp or subscribe to our weekly newsletter for a curated roundup of top stories, interviews, and lifestyle picks from The Mirror's Audience U35 team delivered straight to your inbox. She added that the company are "excited to launch a dynamic and carefully curated licensing program that offers fans meaningful new ways to celebrate the characters and stories they love". Fore fronting every aisle of its genre in bookshops, Maas' Romantasy has helped inspire a new theme of independent businesses - genre-specific stores. England's first Romance specific store, Saucy Books, now open in Notting Hill, London. Sarah Maxwell, founder of Saucy Books, explained: "The numbers don't lie — romance is consistently one of the highest-grossing genres and the most passionately discussed online. Readers are clearly craving connection. But for all that energy, there's been no dedicated physical space in England to gather, celebrate, and explore the genre together. "As an American expat, I've been watching the rise of romance bookstores globally and felt it was time to bring the concept to London — a city with a rich literary history and a passionate romance readership. That's why I'm so excited to launch Saucy Books: a space to turn that love into something real, rooted, and wildly fun. I think Jane Austen would approve."
Daily Mirror
25-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
'I searched on Vinted for books and was floored by prices'
Books are cool and popular again, but with that has come an increase in prices over recent years. Many hardbacks cost upwards of £20, so it can be hard to keep up with buying books without bankrupting yourself. A lot of the time, you may see people doing hauls on Bookstagram and Booktok of their charity shop finds, but when you have a look, there are only beat-up copies of books that remind you of your English Literature A Level, so you leave them on the shelf. Surely there's somewhere else you can get your books from? Somewhere where the books are of good quality, and affordable at the same time? I devour plenty of books per month – and paying £100 for five new books feels incredibly steep. However, if it's something I really want, I can often justify it under the guise of supporting an author. Recently, though, I've been having a little browse on Vinted more than usual. I've managed to bag myself some serious bargains - from Never Fully Dressed jeans, brand new with tags for £20 (should be £99) and a Fiorucci bag for £35 (should be £150). I've been on a roll. I was curious whether this bargain-hunting could expand into my favourite thing in the world - books, and I was so shocked. I feel as though you have to know what you want before you type it into the search bar. If you just type in 'books,' you'll be sifting through who knows what. Before you know it, a couple of hours will have elapsed and you'll have impulsively bought 10 books you'll probably never even look at. Now, it's not easy to train the algorithm, but once you've searched enough specific books, it'll start showing you the things that you really are interested in. A word of warning, though. Sadly, much like with anything else super popular, there are some Vinted sellers that are total chancers, doubling the price of special editions, for example. This really sucks, but there's nothing you can do about it, so just leave them to it and scroll on. I, for example, saw someone selling the 'Windy City' series for £35, and at first glance, it seems like a bargain. But when you add the buyer protection fee and the almost £5 postage because it's books (I wish I had a closer InPost locker than a 35-minute walk away to make it cheaper) it all adds up and I could get them cheaper, or a similar price, if I bought them from a bookstore. However, don't lose hope, as there are some serious bargains if you look. It does no harm to send people offers as well – as you never know, they may just get accepted. For example, I managed to get Lucy Score's 'Knockemout' three-book series, which has seriously glowing reviews on social and Goodreads, for just £7. Brand new, never taken out of the box, spines completely intact. The set on Amazon is £25, so I bagged a real bargain there. Also, someone was selling their Butterfly Book Club signed, sprayed edges, character art end pages, special edition of Love and Curse Making, which, again, has really good reviews. I favourited it when it was £15, considering making the purchase at a later date. They then reduced the price to £10, so I very cheekily offered £7. They rejected it, but I left it a couple of days and went back in with an £8 offer, and they accepted. If the price is crazy cheap, like £7 for a series, I feel like you should just buy it. But if there's haggling to be done, keep that in mind. Most of all, be polite, be respectful, and if someone rejects your offer, take it on the chin and consider how badly you actually want the items. So what are you waiting for? Book lovers should get out there and get haggling!
RNZ News
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
New bookshop dedicated to spicy fiction
books culture 30 minutes ago Smut or romance novels are having a moment. England's first ever romance-only bookshop opened this week in Notting Hill, London. The romantasy genre has had a surge in popularity in recent years with with sales pushing UK fiction revenue over 2.2 billion dollars last year. With the help of Booktok; a sub-community on the social media platform Tik Tok; fantasy, dark and spicy novels have been making their way onto best-seller lists. Closer to home, Ruby Wallace has taken that digital community and turned it into real life with her romance bookshop, Enamoured, in Remuera in Tamaki Makaurau. Culture 101 speaks to Ruby, whose parents are both artists and getting the shop up and running was a family affair.
The Age
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Age
From the NRL to Bachelor to BookTok influencer and a romantasy book deal. Meet Luke Bateman
On April 22, Bateman posted his first TikTok setting himself up as a book lover who wanted to chat about his favourite genre, fantasy, and in particular, romantasy. 'I love fantasy…but I've never had anywhere to talk about it or share those things because, obviously, being a male…from the country,' he told his followers. 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.'
Sydney Morning Herald
04-06-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
From the NRL to Bachelor to BookTok influencer and a romantasy book deal. Meet Luke Bateman
On April 22, Bateman posted his first TikTok setting himself up as a book lover who wanted to chat about his favourite genre, fantasy, and in particular, romantasy. 'I love fantasy…but I've never had anywhere to talk about it or share those things because, obviously, being a male…from the country,' he told his followers. 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.'
