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 ]
The Soviet Union’s fall shapes the Russian leader’s espionage aims, Gordon Corera writes. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-04-10 12:00:00 UTC ]
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“Young Heroes of the Soviet Union,” by Alex Halberstadt, is a moving and often funny memoir about the author’s family and their history. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-03-11 16:29:22 UTC ]
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Ever wonder just how big a book deal payout can be? One reader ranked ten of the biggest book deals in history. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-02-24 11:33:50 UTC ]
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could become the next generation's Obamas with book deals worth "an eye-watering amount of money" now they are stepping back as "senior" royals, publishing insiders have said. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-10 10:36:03 UTC ]
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Yesterday, Courtney Maum, whose Before and After the Book Deal hit shelves this week, popped over to Reddit to do an AMA about getting published. The whole Q&A session is worth a look for all aspiring and new writers (actually there is one very odd question towards the end that I think... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-08 18:20:45 UTC ]
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WHEN I WAS a student in Perm, Russia, my university friend told me that her grandparents were kulaks. The term dates back to the era of collectivization, a harsh agrarian reform that took place in the Soviet Union between the late 1920s and the early ’30s. Hitherto privately owned land and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-12-14 18:00:21 UTC ]
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Bookouture author Lisa Regan has signed a new eight-book deal with the publisher to continue her Detective Josie Quinn series at a rate of three-per-year until summer 2024. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-12 10:33:26 UTC ]
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Grime artist and TV presenter Big Narstie has signed a book deal with Ebury Press. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-21 11:55:23 UTC ]
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Michael Joseph has signed a two-book deal with Instagram star John Clark, also known as The Meal Prep King, after his weight loss story went viral. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-14 18:38:45 UTC ]
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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”... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-10-18 09:01:00 UTC ]
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Extinction Rebellion co-founder Roger Hallam has signed a book deal with Chelsea Green Publishing from his cell at Wormwood Scrubs. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-09 18:30:03 UTC ]
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Donald Trump’s Alabama psychodrama is still going on. Previous scenes featured the president of the United States erroneously warning that the state was in the path of a deadly hurricane; doubling, tripling, and quadrupling down on his error; defacing an official weather map with a Sharpie to... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2019-09-10 12:07:25 UTC ]
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After a dozen women accused the pundit of sexual harassment at the height of the Me Too movement, Halperin has begun tiptoeing his way back into public life. Continue reading at The Huffington Post
[ The Huffington Post | 2019-08-18 22:02:40 UTC ]
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The Blunt Instrument is an advice column for writers. If you need tough advice for a writing problem, send your question to [email protected]. For early access to Blunt Instrument columns, plus a special subscriber-only edition every other month, become a supporter of Electric... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2019-07-30 11:00:37 UTC ]
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Rikin Parekh has signed his first author-illustrator deal with Hachette Children’s Group (HCG). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-29 06:33:32 UTC ]
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Outspoken soccer superstar Megan Rapinoe will offer her takes on sports and current events in a new book for the Penguin Press. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-07-25 19:10:34 UTC ]
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The U.S. Women’s National Team co-captain reportedly signed with Penguin Press for a book about her life AND with Razorbill for a book for young people. Continue reading at The Huffington Post
[ The Huffington Post | 2019-07-25 17:42:59 UTC ]
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Megan Rapinoe, captain of the US women’s soccer team and everyone’s summer crush, now has a book deal! She’ll be writing an adult nonfiction book for Penguin, which “will include anecdotes from Ms. Rapinoe’s life,” as well as a middle-grade book for Razorbill, speaking to “the power young people... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-25 14:47:19 UTC ]
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Nearly a decade ago, Lisa Taddeo signed a book deal with Simon & Schuster to write about desire in America. Taddeo was on a hot streak: She was writing regularly for Esquire, New York, and other publications, including a reported fictional first-person piece told from the point of view of... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2019-07-09 15:59:45 UTC ]
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TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham has signed a five-book deal with student-run publishing house UCLan. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-08 09:56:31 UTC ]
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