Aleen Kuperman is co-founder and CEO at Betches Media. The company has grown from a blog created in a dorm room at Cornell in 2011 to a sprawling media network including nine podcasts, New York Times-bestselling books and millions of Instagram followers. In this episode of the “Ad Block” podcast, Kuperman talks about growing up as the child of Russian immigrants who escaped the Soviet Union in 1988, a year before the Berlin Wall fell. In particular, it was a struggle to explicate what “Betches” was to her parents, who had always had high expectations for her future. “I had to explain to my parents, ‘I’m not going to medical school next year,’” she says. “I was terrified to have that conversation. They were like, ‘What’s a blog? How are you making money? What are you talking about?’” As with many new media startups, the business model evolved quickly, and as soon as she had gotten her parents on board, things would change. “They had just figured out Facebook, now they have to go learn Instagram,” Kuperman says. Tangible successes helped, like the book deal the team landed while still in college. “To my parents, that’s legit. A book, they understand.” Kuperman grew up hearing the stories of the family’s journey out of Russia, living in Vienna and Italy off the personal possessions they could sell before eventually being allowed into the U.S. and settling on Long Island. “Only now, I think back to all the things they instilled,” like her strong work ethic, she says. “It... Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'
[ Advertising Age | 2019-10-18 09:01:00 UTC ]
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When the graphic novel remake of Ann M. Martin's book Claudia and the Bad Joke was the best-selling kids book in Canada earlier this month, it was time for bookworms to feel their hearts flutter with nostalgia. The original, part of the wildly popular The Baby-Sitters Club series, was published... Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2024-04-26 08:00:00 UTC ]
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The satirical news website was bought by a new firm in Chicago that took inspiration for its name, Global Tetrahedron, from a book written by The Onion’s staff. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-04-25 23:20:18 UTC ]
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In China we have a saying that reading a banned book on a snowy night is one of the true joys of life. From this, one can well imagine the kind of satisfaction that reading a banned book may bring—like candy locked up in a cabinet, it releases a sweet fragrance into solitary spaces. Whenever […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-23 08:56:19 UTC ]
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It’s 2015. My partner and I are in Moab, Utah, for the summer, far from our home of Philadelphia. He is doing research for his dissertation. I am struggling to rewrite a novel that my editor says—and I agree—isn’t working. The desert landscape in southwest Utah is magnificent and to us wholly... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-19 08:53:24 UTC ]
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A life in independent publishing requires moxie, malleability, and, of course, money. Just ask these presses, all of which were founded within the past decade. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Davis, her husband Julius Tennon, and publisher Lavaille Lavette are launching JVL Media, a new publisher and packager focused on diverse and underrepresented voices. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The former Disney executive Ben Sherwood and Joanna Coles, the former Hearst content chief, are being given a minority stake in the digital tabloid. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-04-15 13:00:12 UTC ]
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‘In Universes,’ Emet North’s debut novel, explores queer love and the multiverse Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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I first met Crystal Hana Kim at Women and Children First Bookstore in Chicago in 2017 for a book event, just after she just won the 2017 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. She greeted me with warm enthusiasm and we spoke about Korean history. Her debut novel, If You Leave... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-02 08:54:17 UTC ]
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More than 200 members of the Women's Media Group celebrated its 50th anniversary at a March 25 gala at the New-York Historical Society. Marie Dutton Brown, Mary McAveney, We Need Diverse Books, and the Brooklyn Public Library were among the night's honorees. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Four years since the start of the pandemic, most large digital publishers still have hybrid working models. Is this the new normal? Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2024-03-22 04:01:00 UTC ]
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The Prisoner’s Throne author Holly Black reflects on the rise of “romantasy” novels, explicit sex scenes, and BookTok. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2024-03-18 21:31:31 UTC ]
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Leslie Jamison’s new memoir Splinters follows the aftermath of divorce and the awakening of motherhood, but it explores desire more than it does any kind of death. Jamison wants to make meaning, to connect, to love, to feel, to mother, to write, and to revise her life endlessly. There are losses... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-08 12:00:00 UTC ]
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There is a disturbing trend that has emerged in the literary world as of late. Let’s call it the “Fragmented Non-Fiction Art History” book. These titles look good on bookshelves, with their aesthetically-inclined covers and trendy lineup of female artists they purport to be about. The covers are... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-05 09:53:47 UTC ]
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Lawsuit filed by publishers including Axel Springer allege Google ‘abused its dominant position’ in digital ad-techAlphabet’s Google was hit with a €2.1bn ($2.3bn) lawsuit by 32 media groups including Axel Springer and Schibsted on Wednesday, alleging that they had suffered losses due to the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-28 19:24:36 UTC ]
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Watkins Media’s head of marketing says that its unique titles, which span many categories—including the occult several countercultures—are finding success in the U.S. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-23 05:00:00 UTC ]
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