31/07/2026
I’ve spent the last couple of days reading the conversations that have come out of this week’s Australian Story.
Authors.
Teachers.
Librarians.
Readers.
Parents.
I’ve read people defending Luke Bateman, people criticising him, and people trying to sit somewhere in the middle.
And the funny thing is… I’ve found myself agreeing with bits of all of it.
I don’t think books should be gendered. Great stories are great stories. If we want more kids reading, surely the answer isn’t creating more boxes around what they’re “supposed” to read.
I also think publishing should continue to interrogate itself. Conversations about privilege, representation and who gets opportunities matter. They always will.
But then the book publicist in me kicked in.
I’ve spent years helping authors find readers, and if there’s one thing this job has taught me, it’s this:
Books don’t sell books. People do.
Books move because people talk about them. They recommend them. They gift them. They hand them to a friend and say, “You have to read this.”
I’ve watched books become bestsellers because one unexpected person couldn’t stop talking about them.
That doesn’t diminish authors.
It helps authors.
One thing that really stayed with me from all the commentary this week was the idea that kids don’t have to choose. They don’t have to choose between being sporty and being readers.
They don’t have to choose between rugby and books.
They can be both.
And maybe we need more adults showing them that they can be both.
The other thing that stayed with me is how quickly we forget there’s a human being in the middle of these conversations.
Should we question ideas? Absolutely.
Should we keep talking about privilege and representation? Absolutely.
Should we remember that people are more than one interview, one headline or one awkwardly worded sentence?
I think so.
Maybe that’s where I land.
Keep asking the hard questions.
Stop gendering books.
Keep interrogating publishing.
But let’s not lose sight of the thing we’re all trying to achieve.
More kids reading.
Because from where I sit, that’s the one goal every author, teacher, librarian, bookseller and publicist has in common.
