Yellowface grapples with the questions of cultural appropriation, racism, and diversity. It is a whole new dynamic of controversy, social media criticism, and digital conjecture exploitation in the lucrative publishing world. A deplorable writer stealing a famous writer's thunder is precisely a tool to highlight the dark nature of this industry.
I'm not certain if I have understood the author's intention. RF Kuang really must have weaved through unrelenting controversy a lot to bring this story to us. She has poured her heart out satirically through her exposure to the publishing industry. The experience in her writing explains mastering the art of hovering over a topic for a long period of time without compromising the gripping plot.
Kuang is diasporic in Athena's voice but also shows the identity of Chinese in June's white voice. It was cleverly manipulated to have two perspectives all the time. A cathartic experience.
I had a hunch that I would definitely like this story for the reason that it related to writing. It was definitely an addictive read. The payout would be relatively huge for the aspiring writers in readers and the blue-tick holders in readers.
I want to record all things or facts about the publishing industry mentioned in Yellowface, like
1. Literary agents usually have master's degrees in publishing.
2. Debut novels can even get six-figure advances with royalties.
3. Cynical publishers pick attractive people, but our June is frumpy near Athena, yet she was picked, so I think it's primarily more about the story than looks.
4. Publishers need diverse authors and stories, which is a trend now with queer stories or black and white stories. Diversity is capitalised.
5. And things like the marketing team will teach you what to wear and say in public if the book is a bestseller;
6. Another interesting fact is that the best sellers are chosen. I hope this is true because Happy Place didn't live up to the hype for me. Basically, the publishing industry is corrupted.
7. It also talks about literary events like award ceremonies, conferences, pitch events, conventions, and big author gatherings where fellow authors seek each other's references and ask for blurbs. Blurbing is what bestselling writers favour for other writers. They do say things like 'Fantastic', 'Marvellous' on the book cover even without reading. That was hilarious.
8. The other terms like intellectual property, chapbooks, and pseudo-autobiography
9. Contrarian reviews (the unpopular opinion) are popular now to get attention and likes.
10. Another fact is that writers are thrilled to get their stories reviewed by academic scholars rather than by a public audience.
11. Even famous writers are remembered by the audience only for a few months after the book's launch.
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