M is for Mama 16

[JermajestyDuggar]

I have a feeling this will be the first and last time Emily Morrow teams up with her in person. I just get this feeling that Braggie is similar to Jill in that she doesn’t keep a lot of her connections long term. 

[Smee]

8 hours ago, Hane said:

The last three book signings I went to, for best-selling authors, cost $25 or $35 each and included a copy of the book. The $35 one included a very nice buffet. And none of the authors was smug and condescending.

Yes, I’m an author and it’s not unheard of to charge a small amount for tickets these days to help cover the costs of providing food, but most of us don’t like doing it and try to have an offer where a copy of the book is included. Publishers encourage you to have a launch and often local independent bookstores will let you have it at their shop for free, but the author is expected to organise it and provide food & drinks. For those of us who spent 4 years writing a book they got a $5K publishing deal for, it’s not an easy expense to wear (but necessary if you want to sell enough copies to get a deal for your next book), so charging a small amount to help cover costs has become a bit of a thing. Even so, rarely do you break even. Typical Abbie to take it to extremes and turn it into a money grab. It’s not a rock concert.

[Hane]

@Smee, two of the book-signing events were sponsored by a local independent book store (but had to be hosted elsewhere for lack of space), and the other was hosted by the Mark Twain House (but held at the church across the street to accommodate all the folks who came to see Harvey Fierstein!).

Wait—in the past couple of years there were two more, to which my sister invited me as a birthday gift: one hosted by the Mark Twain House and the other at a public library. I’ve never encountered one that charged much more than the price of the book!

Edited July 2, 2023 by Hane

[neuroticcat]

Huh. That's interesting to me. I've never really been to one that has had food and refreshments, but I suppose it does make sense if you're offering that sort of thing. The ones I've been to have only always had just the author, maybe a panel of authors, and then you can buy the book and have them sign or bring your own copy. The bookstores don't charge fees and, while the author is giving time and planning the event, it's also to their benefit. I wonder if it's a genre or regional thing. 

I have been to regional book conferences where you might buy a ticket but there's events all day and multiple signings and things like that. 

In any case, Abbie will be making bank off of this and she probably also has her publisher doing a pretty big in-house marketing push if they paid to fly her and her husband out as she made a point to let people know. 

I think it would bother me much less if her target reader group was not full of single-income families with many children.

The grammar slide made me LOL. 
 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

I've never heard of charging to go to the book party and for 60$ I want more than the book, I want a nice meal. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

On 7/1/2023 at 11:29 PM, neuroticcat said:

The first round of spots sold out. Next tier of launch tickets are $70/each and she’s offering 100 so 7k more. 
 

The price does not include the cost of the book either. I just can’t imagine doing that and feeling ethically okay about it. 

I wouldn't pay this much and as I mentioned I've never heard of charging for the party, but it's not unethical either. It's up to people to spend money how they please. It's like buying tickets to a concert, art showing, lecture, etc.

It's seems like too much money to me, but that's my opinion. I also don't see Abbie as having useful information and I don't enjoy her content. Even if I liked her books, I would be weary about spending that much money to see her in person.  It's a lot of money for not a lot of value, but other people see the value in it.

On 7/3/2023 at 11:14 PM, neuroticcat said:

I think it would bother me much less if her target reader group was not full of single-income families with many children.

I'm not sure that's her target demographic. I think her target demographic is the average conservative mother who is at least comfortably middle class and has fewer children. A relatively wealthy (probably white) woman who looks at Abbie and says "I have three kids: how does she manage ten?" I think she wants the preppy crowd to gather round and look at her in awe. She doesn't want big poor families showing up en masse. She probably would think she's too good to deal with say the Rods, even if they are the same in beliefs.

Also single-income families with many children aren't necessarily poor. One of the wealthier families I know in real life fits that description. The mother could afford to go, but hopefully she'd be too smart to go.

[JermajestyDuggar]

I watched this an immediately thought of Braggie and her European trip. If anyone is interested, it’s about travel, money, privilege, and social media. 
 

https://youtu.be/oW6THgcWQu8

[Bluebirdbluebell]

11 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I watched this an immediately thought of Braggie and her European trip. If anyone is interested, it’s about travel, money, privilege, and social media. 
 

https://youtu.be/oW6THgcWQu8

I don't about the video, but I really like the Financial Diet as channel.

[Nancy-Druesel]

Why do Abbie's grammar quizzes irritate me so much 🙃

[JermajestyDuggar]

36 minutes ago, Nancy-Druesel said:

Why do Abbie's grammar quizzes irritate me so much 🙃

Why is it that every little thing Braggie does bothers me so much? 
 

I know the answer. It’s her extreme privilege and refusal to ever acknowledge it. Her privilege oozes through every single thing she posts. Along with the smugness. 

Edited July 8, 2023 by JermajestyDuggar

[0 kids n not countin]

29 minutes ago, Nancy-Druesel said:

Why do Abbie's grammar quizzes irritate me so much 🙃

Because she was home schooled and learned everything about grammer that is not taught at public school, thus is better at it than everyone else. She must be in a slump and not have anything else to brag about at the moment. 🙄  It made me cringe and lol at the same the way she threw in all speech terms (past participle, object of preposition, etc., etc., etc.) In her explanation of the correct answer.  It reminded me of when young kids learn a new word and constantly use it (not that that's a bad thing), but with Braggie it prsents as over the top bragging.  She just can't help herself.  She and JRod really do have so much in common personality wise.

[JermajestyDuggar]

23 minutes ago, 0 kids n not countin said:

Because she was home schooled and learned everything about grammer that is not taught at public school, thus is better at it than everyone else. She must be in a slump and not have anything else to brag about at the moment. 🙄  It made me cringe and lol at the same the way she threw in all speech terms (past participle, object of preposition, etc., etc., etc.) In her explanation of the correct answer.  It reminded me of when young kids learn a new word and constantly use it (not that that's a bad thing), but with Braggie it prsents as over the top bragging.  She just can't help herself.  She and JRod really do have so much in common personality wise.

She really loves to brag about her amazing education yet she will put up multiple roadblocks to prevent her kids from going to college. She will act like they have a choice. And they choose not to. But she’s going to make it very difficult for them to do it. And I will applaud the kids who manage to. 

Edited July 8, 2023 by JermajestyDuggar

[neuroticcat]

2 hours ago, Nancy-Druesel said:

Why do Abbie's grammar quizzes irritate me so much 🙃

I think it's because it's so obviously performative.

[JermajestyDuggar]

If I remember correctly, Braggie’s brother is a dentist. So Braggie and her brother got to go to college. I believe Shaun also went to college. So they all get to go to college and reap the financial benefits of that. How does Braggie think 10 children will be able to live such a luxurious and privileged life like she and her brother live, if they can’t go to college? I’m not saying you have to go to college to make good money. But it’s a big part of it. Her friend Jenny Flanders sends most of her kids to college. They get good jobs and support themselves for the most part. How will her children support themselves and their expected huge families? 

[MomKB]

22 hours ago, 0 kids n not countin said:

Because she was home schooled and learned everything about grammer that is not taught at public school, thus is better at it than everyone else. She must be in a slump and not have anything else to brag about at the moment. 🙄  It made me cringe and lol at the same the way she threw in all speech terms (past participle, object of preposition, etc., etc., etc.) In her explanation of the correct answer.  It reminded me of when young kids learn a new word and constantly use it (not that that's a bad thing), but with Braggie it prsents as over the top bragging.  She just can't help herself.  She and JRod really do have so much in common personality wise.

How does she not realize the extent of her constant bragging? or does she realize and not care? This is just so cringe. Who goes around bragging about their education and career experience? Especially at her age, nobody cares how early you graduated high school or whatever. Also newsflash, tons of people have teaching certifications, and even double majors. 🙄 

[JermajestyDuggar]

14 minutes ago, MomKB said:

How does she not realize the extent of her constant bragging? or does she realize and not care? This is just so cringe. Who goes around bragging about their education and career experience? Especially at her age, nobody cares how early you graduated high school or whatever. Also newsflash, tons of people have teaching certifications, and even double majors. 🙄 

I hardly ever talk about my formal education. It’s such a small part of my life. Yes, I enjoyed college. But who the fuck even cares (other than someone interviewing you for a job). 

[PlentyOfJesusFishInTheSea]

Get over yourself, Abby. Lots of us learn grammar when we learn a second language (for me, French and Spanish in high school), that we then back-apply to English.

[Giraffe]

1 hour ago, MomKB said:

How does she not realize the extent of her constant bragging? or does she realize and not care? This is just so cringe. Who goes around bragging about their education and career experience? Especially at her age, nobody cares how early you graduated high school or whatever. Also newsflash, tons of people have teaching certifications, and even double majors. 🙄 

Someone who’s pathologically insecure, that’s who. 

[hoipolloi]

This NPR podcast on the adult children of mommy bloggers & social media stars makes me wonder about Braggie's kids. 

Quote

"It's this version of me that my mom's publicized and made very permanent."Lou grew up as a social media baby. Their mom had a public blog where she shared details about her life as a mother. But she also shared details about her kids, including Lou. Now, Lou remembers the blog as a fixture of their childhood, but not in a good way. Throughout their teen years and into adulthood, strange adults would reach out to Lou online, asking personal and often inappropriate questions. Classmates would use content from the blog to embarrass them. Lou is part of a generation of social media babies now grappling as young adults with a digital version of themselves created by their parents and shared with the world. Today on The Sunday Story, a look at family blogging, a trend that's become so popular there's now a name for it: "sharenting." But a growing number of young people are starting to object, saying such blogs take a toll on their mental health and violate their privacy.

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

28 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

This NPR podcast on the adult children of mommy bloggers & social media stars makes me wonder about Braggie's kids. 

 

Braggie shares a lot about her kids. Ezra is the perfect older brother who loves helping to care for his siblings. Simon is the cook of the family. Shiloh is the bad one. The twins are also the troublemakers. It must suck to know your mom sees your normal toddler behavior as a constant struggle that she can barely stand. 

[FilleMondaine]

Judy Bloom’s son talks about being the inspiration for Fudge, and how difficult it was for him, and this was waaaay before sharenting. Good thing that his mother is a decent person, and open to talking about it.

 

big shout out to the Judy Bloom documentary!

[SassyPants]

Wednesday’s tidbit…she is doing her mother a favor by hiring her to do all her housework and parenting, especially when AH gets busier. This way “her mother doesn’t need to look for other work.” Doesn’t her mother live in a 3500 square foot home? If she still needs to work at approaching 70, maybe she needs to downsize her living situation. I don’t live in TX, but I’d imagine a home that size costs a lot to keep cool.

[JermajestyDuggar]

13 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

Wednesday’s tidbit…she is doing her mother a favor by hiring her to do all her housework and parenting, especially when AH gets busier. This way “her mother doesn’t need to look for other work.” Doesn’t her mother live in a 3500 square foot home? If she still needs to work at approaching 70, maybe she needs to downsize her living situation. I don’t live in TX, but I’d imagine a home that size costs a lot to keep cool.

She’s at the age that most women would be retiring! I would love to know how much she’s actually paying her mother. I highly doubt she would be working if she wasn’t constantly parenting her grandchildren. 

[theotherelise]

Abbie is pissy that the audio book publisher won’t let Shaun read his portion of the new book. They said processing two different voices is too complicated for their process. Abbie doesn’t seem to believe it and says the studio would be okay with it and she doesn’t understand how it would be more work because it’s the same amount of content. I’ve never done audio mixing and even I can envision many reasons why it would be more work. One person reading will have similar levels and touch up filters and things throughout. A different voice seems like it would require and entirely new setup. 

but also, it doesn’t really matter if it would be more work or now. The audio book publisher owns this and Abbie thought she could just get her way with what she wanted because she expects everyone to cater to her. The publisher didn’t even have to get her to read it. Throwing a fit online about it shows how entitled and ungrateful she is. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

19 minutes ago, theotherelise said:

Abbie is pissy that the audio book publisher won’t let Shaun read his portion of the new book. They said processing two different voices is too complicated for their process. Abbie doesn’t seem to believe it and says the studio would be okay with it and she doesn’t understand how it would be more work because it’s the same amount of content. I’ve never done audio mixing and even I can envision many reasons why it would be more work. One person reading will have similar levels and touch up filters and things throughout. A different voice seems like it would require and entirely new setup. 

but also, it doesn’t really matter if it would be more work or now. The audio book publisher owns this and Abbie thought she could just get her way with what she wanted because she expects everyone to cater to her. The publisher didn’t even have to get her to read it. Throwing a fit online about it shows how entitled and ungrateful she is. 

I listen to a lot of audio books and it’s very rare for two people to voice a book. But Braggie thinks she is entitled to an exception. She deserves what no one else gets. Because she’s Queen Braggie.