Jessica Siskin | The difference between being looked at and being seen

What is the title of your latest release?
LOOKS PERFECT

What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Stella Lerner is crumbling under the pressure of her massive Instagram following, growing indie fashion brand, and tensions in her relationship with her boyfriend, Alex, when she rediscovers herself by connecting with an anonymous stranger on an experimental dating app who teaches her the difference between being looked at and being seen.

How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
The protagonist, Stella, is a New Yorker through and through, there was nowhere else this book could’ve taken place!

Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
In the second half of the book, definitely.

What are three words that describe your hero?
Smart, charming, creative

What’s something you learned while writing this book?
In writing Stella’s relationship with Pineapple, I really learned the difference between disclosure in a relationship and true vulnerability.

Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edit as I go! Part of why LOOKS PERFECT took me so long to write is that I had a hard time moving forward in the narrative if everything that came before wasn’t “done.”

What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Caviar! I love the experience and all the accoutrements.

Describe your writing space/office!
I write in my apartment’s loft, where I keep all of my books. It’s very cozy, with a lot of photos and mementos I’ve collected over the years, and I’m usually sitting at my desk with my heated PEMF mat on my chair.

Who is an author you admire?
I admire everything Nora Ephron ever did or said, but her novel HEARTBURN holds a very special place for me!

Is there a book that changed your life?
The book that changed my life is the first chapter book I read when I was in the first grade. My mom handed me a Sweet Valley Kids book that she bought because my name, Jessica, was in the title. It was in the middle of the series, and I was immediately hooked and had to read every book that came before and after. That series is how I discovered my passion for books and reading.

Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
My book had been on submission for 105 days, which was a very anxious time for me. To try to calm myself down, I did a lot of manifesting and visualizing what the call would look like, and I kept thinking about how my agent would FaceTime me and I would take a screenshot to remember the moment forever. When she did call, I was visiting friends in L.A. and playing with their 7-month-old baby on the floor, so I missed it. She texted me to call her back, and when I FaceTimed her back and she informed me I’d received an offer, I totally blacked out and forgot to take a screenshot.

What’s your favorite genre to read?
Upmarket Fiction

What’s your favorite movie?
It’s Complicated

What is your favorite season?
Summer

How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
My favorite band, Phish, usually performs at Madison Square Garden on my birthday, so I always try to go and imagine it’s my birthday party with my 20,000 closest friends.

What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I can’t stop recommending Into THE BLUE by Emma Brodie, an incredible romance that’s actually so much more.

What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Traditional Jewish Appetizing.

What do you do when you have free time?
I love to take a long walk in Manhattan to try the newest viral snack or beverage I saw on Instagram.

What can readers expect from you next?
I’m in the early stages of writing a new novel about dating in your 40’s

LOOKS PERFECT by Jessica Siskin

What comes between a fashion icon’s perfect image and her genuine self? The perfect stranger—in a sharp and witty novel about identity, performance, and what it takes to make a true connection.

One million people follow Stella Lerner’s every move. And now the buzzy fashion designer is fulfilling her lifelong dream and taking her indie clothing brand global with the help of the industry’s biggest investor. Sounds perfect. Except offline, the optics aren’t so great.

Her relationship with her boyfriend, Alex, is crumbling just as the pressure to curate her image online only builds. Feeling trapped between the picture‑perfect life she’s promised her followers and the messy reality she’s facing, Stella anonymously joins a new dating app. Blindr promises deep, private conversations, free from the burden of anyone’s expectations, especially her own. That’s when Stella connects with a stranger called Pineapple who’s intuitive, honest, and empathetic. Stella may be watched by millions, but this man, who’s never even laid eyes on her, makes her feel seen.

What starts as a diversion becomes a journey of radical transformation. As Stella’s search for authenticity intensifies, every chat with Pineapple takes her further down a path she never could’ve imagined.

Women’s Fiction Contemporary [ Little A, On Sale: October 6, 2026, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781662542435 / eISBN: 9781662542442 ]

Buy LOOKS PERFECT: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Audible | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR

About Jessica Siskin

Jessica Siskin earned her MFA from the New School. She is a former fashion executive and the founder of Misterkrisp, a popular Instagram-based food art business specializing in custom Rice Krispies Treats and social media content. She is the author of Treat Yourself!, a cookbook featuring her inventive food art. Her debut novel, Looks Perfect, about a buzzy fashion designer whose relationship is crumbling just as her business explodes, will be released Fall 2026. Her Substack, Cool Takes, tackles fashion, Internet culture, beauty standards, where to get the best snacks, and whatever else feels topical. Jessica lives in New York City.

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