Jess M. Brallier (born May 31, 1953) is a publisher working in various media, genres, and formats, such as bestselling books, popular web sites, apps, and virtual worlds including Poptropica, one of the Internet's largest virtual worlds for kids.[1] He helped launch bestselling brands such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Galactic Hot Dogs; and extended the Poptropica brand into toys, global education, and books. He is also the author or co-author of 31 books,[2] including Lawyers and Other Reptiles.
In 2007, Brallier launched Poptropica, the online role-playing website for kids.[5] Readers actively participate in stories on the website with their own virtual characters (“avatars”).[6]
Poptropica became the world's largest virtual world for kids: Visitors from more than 130 countries enjoyed the site in more than 100 languages, and the site averages 10 million kids a month.[7][8] It was named one of Time Magazine's 50 Best Websites and one of Family Fun magazine's top 10 fun websites.[9][10]
Brallier used the website FunBrain to be the first to publish Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid online in 2004, two years before the property was published in print.[11] In 2013, Brallier did likewise with the virtual graphic novel series Galactic Hot Dogs.[12]
Brallier served as Senior Vice President and Publisher of Pearson's Family Education Network, an online publisher for parents, teachers, and reference readers.[7] Family Education Network operated Funbrain and Poptropica until it was acquired by Sandbox Partners in 2015.[1]
Of the 30+ published books that Brallier authored or co-authored, half are adult titles and half children's books.[13]
Brallier also won book publishing's Literary Marketplace Individual Achievement Award in recognition of his marketing campaign for three New York Times bestsellers: Reinventing Government by David Osborne, Mama Makes Up Her Mind by Bailey White, and Touchpoints by T. Berry Brazelton.[4]
A native of Ligonier, Pennsylvania, Brallier is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh (B.A.) and Boston University (M.S.). He and his wife reside in New York City. Brallier works out of Boston and New York.[4] They have two adult children, one of whom is Max Brallier, author of Galactic Hot Dogs.[1]
