Check Out The Rejected Titles, Wow [#12]

I already loved the title of my book, but after finding the rejected title list, I love it even more. And, you have 24 hours left to enter for a free copy.

Hey y’all,

Happy AAPI Heritage Month and it’s LAUNCH MONTH, BABY!!! Time is running out to enter for a free copy of Flawless through Goodreads and/or get yourself a signed and personalized copy. I’m signing before leaving on the tour and you can specify what you want me to write, so get those orders in!

Oh man, last week my friend David sent this advertisement (in the NYT!) for a book called The Park Avenue Face.

Cringe.

Holy crap, it’s like Flawless’ evil twin. It’s bizarro world Flawless. Where The Park Avenue Face celebrates a hierarchical, competitive hamster wheel of body modification, Flawless unpacks the ways reinforcing narrow standards is harmful to bodies that aren’t privileged enough to look a certain way to begin with — white, thin, conventional — and the anxiety and exhaustion it means for ALL OF US.

In other fun bits, I finally found the original book title brainstorm from the fall of 2019! This is some real insiderey, behind-the-scenes stuff you’re getting as a newsletter subscriber. Just as a reminder, there are NO BAD IDEAS IN BRAINSTORMING, okay? (She says, defensively.)

Look Book

K-Beautiful 

K Beauty Complex: Understanding Beauty In The Age of Self-Care

The K-Beauty Corset

Skin Deep: Beneath The K-Beauty Boom

Mask: What The K-Beauty Boom Covers Up

Ideal Beauty

The Beauty Imperative

The Pretty Factory

The Price of Pretty

The Beauty Belt

The Improvement Quarter

Some play on the word appearance? There are already books called Face Value and Beauty Sickness

Flawless: A Journey Inside The K-Beauty Boom

Flawless: Lessons In Looks And Power, From A Cosmetics Capital

Flawless: Beauty In The Age of Self-Care

Flawless: Lessons from The K-Beauty Boom

K-Beauty Rules: Lessons In Looks And Power, From A Cosmetics Capital

…. ooooof, some of those I actually winced as I read them.

Great Mentions

We’re in The Next Big Idea Club’s May Must-Reads. And Nylon’s May reading list. And PureWow’s books by AAPI authors.

Thank you to beauty industry critic Jessica Defino, who I call a one woman beauty culture dismantling machine, for reading Flawless and recommending it in her Substack, which just hit 70,000 subscribers! Defino is quoted a few times in the book, and rightfully so, because she has her finger on the pulse of the industry and a keen eye on the intersection of beauty and justice.

7 Brand New Beauty Recs! (They’re Books)

Now, I Need You

It’s almost go time for getting this book baby delivered and many of you have been along for the ride since the beginning. I’m so grateful for your enthusiasm, your telling your friends, sharing with your book clubs, and even checking in to make sure I’m drinking water (cough Friend Sarah cough).

I’ve made a little list of things you can do from here on out beyond pre-ordering, though the reason I keep harping on it is because algorithms rule our lives and pre-orders help indicate to e-commerce algorithms to put the book in front of more eyes. These are free things to do, and I’m sure you have more creative ideas too, so I’m game for anything. As mentioned earlier, no bad ideas in brainstorming, amirite…

• Attending any in person event around the country — we added DC and Phoenix recently, and Dallas is still in the works

• Requesting Flawless through your local library

• Spreading the word about the book  — the book page is here, and I’m putting a cover image below, along with a tour card.

• If you're one of my media friends, introduce me to podcasts or news orgs I should be talking with about the book

• Using social media to share your excitement with hashtag #flawlessthebook... here is a shareable book trailer on Instagram, and the one on TikTok

• Leave a sweet review on Goodreads (and I will activate you in a few weeks to leave Amazon reviews)

• Signal boost any of the above, or talk about it and recommend it to the people in your life. 

Writing a book was really lonely and isolating and hard, because it doesn’t exactly suit my personality to spend hours and hours alone with my thoughts, nor do I like to write and then rewrite and rewrite and rewrite. But now that that part is done, I feel nothing but gratitude and appreciation for the experience, and this dizzying ride of getting published. It took a true village of people to make it happen, and I will be grateful for all y’all always.

Until next time,

E

Use this on your socials! Or in your group texts! The book page is at elisehu.com/flawless