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Matt Lucas has responded to criticism over his apparent blocking of children's authors who complained about the prominent placement of novels by celebrities, including his own, in bookstores.
of Little Britain Comedy actor, former The Great British Bake Off The presenter said she was “overly sensitive” to a post by author Lindsay Littleson, who had shared a picture of a bookshelf in a WH Smith branch stocked with novels by stars including Lucas, Alesha Dixon, Geri Halliwell, Stephen Mulhern and Jamie Oliver.
“I wonder why I keep trying,” she wrote, to which Lucas replied, “I'm very proud of my book. I worked really hard on it.” Ice Cream Boyreplied, “I'm very proud of my book too, and I'm working hard to visit schools and encourage more kids to read for pleasure. My new novel was published last week and has been well received, but it's not on the shelves – neither are my books, nor any of the other books by indie authors. Celebrity books are the best.”
Lucas replied: “I've been making a living from writing since 1992, before I was famous. But anyway, I wish you the best of luck and congrats on the review.” He then appeared to block Littleson on Twitter/X. Littleson told his followers: “I still believe this was a conversation worth having, but Matt's team clearly disagrees. Anyway, it's been great to hear from so many amazing authors and indie booksellers!”
Lucas was ridiculed for thwarting Littleson. Chaos Walking Author Patrick Ness wrote: “This is a bad move since all of @RealMattLucas' children's book authors talk to each other. I hope this is all a PR team mistake.”
After taking “time to think,” Lucas posted: “I write for a living, so I guess I was overly sensitive to @ljlittleson's original post. I understand the frustration other writers may be feeling who are struggling to get their great work published. Let me know how I can support them.”
Since then, Lucas's comments have been inundated with suggestions on how people can support independent authors. Author James Withey said, “Tweet about new children's books you've read and loved, even if it's just one a month. In interviews promoting your book, talk about your favorite current authors and mention authors you admire who aren't getting the success they deserve.”
Author Marie Basting said, “Hi Matt. If you look at the Children's Authors timeline you'll see that we advocate, encourage and support each other. We also work with schools, reading groups, bookshops and bloggers to encourage reading for fun. It would be fantastic if you would use your platform to do the same.”
