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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James Tye, CEO at Dennis Publishing, warns against assuming all your readers want the same, and reveals how the company is monetising its digital products. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Drew Kirkland, group publishing director for weekly women's and TV titles at Hearst Magazines UK, has been appointed publishing director for TV brands at IPC Media. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 09:21 American crime writer Karin Slaughter has written a digital-only short story exclusive to Amazon, with all the proceeds going to benefit libraries. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 18/08/2011 - 12:00 Jonathan Cape has acquired a memoir about the British painter Lucian Freud, who died last month, written by his friend, Evening Standard editor Geordie Greig. Publishing director Dan Franklin acquired UK and Commonwealth... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 18/08/2011 - 12:10 Man Booker-winning author Graham Swift has said there is a danger aspiring writers may be put off from writing if the rates they are paid decrease in the digital age. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booker Prize winning author Graham Swift believes digital publishing could threaten the livelihood of authors in the future because they are being paid too little. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2011-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ad network and online publisher Glam Media says it has built a monthly audience of 200 million visitors worldwide, and now it's looking to grow by tackling the mobile market. CEO Samir Arora said he's ready to take on Apple and Google in the process. Glam is best known as a company targeting... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2011-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oh boy, do I have a contest for you long-winded Facebookers and personal bloggers. It's called, "Your Life: The Reader's Digest Version." The venerable magazine is willing to shell out $25,000 if you can keep The Story of You to a crisp and compelling 150 words (words, not charactersthis isn't... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2011-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Mon, 15/08/2011 - 08:30 Egmont has teamed up with Michael Grant, author of the bestselling GONE series, and media studio The Shadow Gang to launch BZRK, a new cross-media series. Egmont describes BZRK as a storytelling experience that brings... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hunched over my keyboard, I'm haunted by anecdotes of faster writers. Christopher Hitchens composing a Slate column in 20 minutesafter a chemo session, after a "full" dinner party, late on a Sunday night. The infamously productive Trollope, who used customized paper! "He had a note pad that had... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2011-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Could the Internet giant's deal with Hachette Livre clear a path for a deal to settle longstanding litigation in the United States? Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 05/08/2011 - 08:30 Pan Macmillan's Macmillan New Writing scheme will continue despite the head of the imprint leaving the company. Will Atkins, who worked at Pan Macmillan for five years and was its editorial director for fiction, has left... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Much has been made about the importance of bricks-and-mortar bookstores as showrooms, places that will help prevent the book business from going the way of the music industry as the sales of digital books grow. But hundreds of showrooms and thousands of square feet of book retail space are about... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 05/08/2011 - 11:01 Canongate has bought a childrens book written by the lead singer of American indie rock band The Decemberists. Senior editor Francis Bickmore bought UK and Commonwealth rights (excl Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Folio Society has awarded its media account to Total Media, as the 64-year-old publisher tries to overcome the market challenges presented by ebooks. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The list of aggressive private equity investments in publishers that flamed out during the recession is a long one and that list also nearly included Forbes Media, according to an article in the Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To hear it from AOL, content and brands are the keys to the companys comeback strategy. But some in the industry wonder if the companys new pick to lead ad sales muddies the message. In a memo to staff Monday, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong announced that ad sales chief Jeff Levick would be... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Wed, 27/07/2011 - 09:08 The newspapers have offered differing reactions to the Man Booker longlist announcement, made yesterday, with most hailing bookies' favourite Alan Hollinghurst, and the Daily Telegraph detecting a "more populist" selection.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 21/07/2011 - 13:00 British Science Fiction award-winner Alastair Reynolds is the latest author to try his hand writing a Doctor Who novel, after signing a deal with BBC Books. Editorial director Albert DePetrillo bought world rights from Robert... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Forbes Media has struck a strategic partnership with Techonomy Media, a new media business founded last year by former Fortune magazine editors and writers David Kirkpatrick, Peter Petre and Brent Schlender. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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