What's Up Magazine

What What's Up Magazine does

What's Up? Media, operating through the legal entity What's Up Publishing Group Inc. and doing business as What's Up Magazine, is a privately held regional lifestyle media company headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland. Founded in 1997 and led by Founder, Publisher, and President Veronica Tovey, the company publishes three regional lifestyle magazines — What's Up? Annapolis, What's Up? Eastern Shore, and What's Up? West County — covering the Chesapeake Bay region including Anne Arundel County and adjacent Maryland markets. The publication footprint is paired with digital editions, a content-rich website (whatsupmag.com), email newsletters, sponsored content, and an events calendar that aggregates local activities.

The core product surface spans news, culture, dining, health and beauty, home and garden, education, weddings, and community events, alongside franchise verticals such as the annual Best Of awards, Top Docs, Top Dentists, Leading Lawyers, Home Excellence Awards, and a Private School Guide. The website is built on the Metro Publisher content management system, with editorial workflows supplemented by an event-submission portal (Cityspark) and a separate Shopify-based Winner Plaques storefront. Marketing and distribution channels include the website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, RSS, email newsletters, the printed magazines, and sponsored community events including the Best of Party and Wedding Expo.

Revenue is generated across three streams: (i) advertising sales, with an outbound sales team selling multi-channel print, digital, and sponsorship packages to local businesses; (ii) recurring magazine subscriptions covering both print and digital editions; and (iii) sponsored content articles featured in the Sponsored section of the site. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, and the company is privately held with no institutional investors, parent company, or M&A activity identified in the available data. Customer segments are geographic — Chesapeake Bay region readers (B2C) and local businesses/advertisers (B2B SMB) — with a horizontal segmentation approach anchored in regional lifestyle coverage.

Name

What's Up Magazine

Legal name

What's Up Publishing Group Inc.

Website

https://whatsupmag.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

What's Up? Media is a privately held regional lifestyle publisher founded in 1997 and headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland. It publishes three magazines — What's Up? Annapolis, Eastern Shore, and West County — plus website, digital editions, and events serving Chesapeake Bay region readers and SMB advertisers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Lifestyle Magazine Publishing

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Entertainment & Celebrity Magazines (MPAJAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Food, Cooking & Beverage Magazines (MPAJAEAF), Home, Garden & DIY Magazines (MPAJAEAG), Arts, Culture & Literary Magazines (MPAJAEAN)

Keywords

• Regional lifestyle media
• Local magazine publishing
• Community advertising solutions
• Sponsored content publishing
• Chesapeake Bay editorial coverage

Headquarters

HQ city

Annapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Advertising Sales: Primary revenue stream from selling print and digital advertising space to local businesses, including multi-channel campaigns and sponsorship opportunities.
2. Magazine Subscriptions: Revenue from physical magazine subscriptions and digital edition access.
3. Sponsored Content: Revenue from branded/sponsored content articles featured on the platform, such as the sponsored garage door feature article.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

What's Up? Media publishes three regional lifestyle magazines (What's Up? Annapolis, What's Up? Eastern Shore, and What's Up? West County) covering local news, culture, dining, health, weddings, home & garden, education, and community events for the Chesapeake Bay region. The company monetizes its audience by selling multi-channel advertising solutions (print, digital, sponsorships, and sponsored editorial content) to local businesses, and supplements revenue with paid magazine subscriptions and digital edition access.

Product overview

What's Up? Media is a regional lifestyle media company publishing three regional magazines: What's Up? Annapolis, What's Up? Eastern Shore, and What's Up? West County. The company operates a multi-platform publishing model combining print magazines with digital editions, a comprehensive website featuring news, culture, events, dining, health, home & garden, education, and wedding content. Additional offerings include a Private School Guide, annual Best Of awards program, advertising services, and subscription services. The publications serve the Chesapeake Bay region covering Anne Arundel County, the Eastern Shore, and surrounding areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• What's Up? Annapolis Magazine Regional lifestyle magazine covering local news, culture, events, dining, and community content for the Annapolis area of Maryland.
• What's Up? Eastern Shore Magazine Regional lifestyle magazine covering Maryland's Eastern Shore with content on local events, dining, real estate, and community news.
• What's Up? West County Magazine Regional lifestyle magazine serving Maryland's West County area with local news, culture, and community coverage.
• Digital Editions Online digital versions of the printed magazines accessible via web browser, expanding the audience reach beyond print distribution.
• Subscription Service Paid subscription service providing recurring access to both physical print and digital magazine editions for individual readers.
• Advertising Services Multi-channel advertising solutions spanning print magazine placements, digital ads, event sponsorships, and customized packages sold to local businesses targeting Chesapeake Bay region consumers.
• Sponsored Content Paid sponsored article content published on the What's Up? Media platform, featuring local business promotions and partnerships as branded editorial.
• Private School Guide Annual editorial guide featuring listings and information about private schools in the Chesapeake region, including tuition, enrollment, and open house dates for parents evaluating school options.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Metro PublishercoreTechnology or IntegrationMetro Publisher is the platform used to build and power the What's Up? Media website and digital publishing operations.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Virginia Living: Statewide Virginia lifestyle magazine with print, digital, and event revenue. Comparable as a Mid-Atlantic regional lifestyle publisher with awards programs and diversified editorial verticals.
• Richmond Magazine: Regional lifestyle magazine serving the Richmond, Virginia area with news, dining, culture, and home content, plus a Brides edition for the weddings vertical. Closely comparable to What's Up? Media's mix of lifestyle verticals and event-driven revenue.
• Baltimore Magazine: Long-running regional lifestyle magazine covering Baltimore and central Maryland. Highly comparable to What's Up? Media as a same-state, multi-channel lifestyle publication monetizing print, digital, events, and advertising sales to local businesses.
• Chesapeake Family Life: Regional family-focused magazine covering the Chesapeake region of Maryland. Comparable to What's Up? Media as a regional lifestyle publication monetized through local advertising and event sponsorships in the same geographic market.
• Annapolis Home Magazine: Local home and garden magazine serving the Annapolis market. Comparable to What's Up? Media's Home & Garden vertical as a regional print/digital publication monetizing local real estate and home-services advertising in overlapping geography.
• Charlotte Magazine: Regional lifestyle magazine serving the Charlotte, NC market with dining, culture, weddings, and home coverage. Comparable multi-vertical lifestyle editorial model with advertising-led monetization.
• Washingtonian Magazine: DC-metro regional lifestyle magazine covering dining, culture, weddings, and home content with print, digital, and event revenue streams. Closely mirrors the editorial breadth and advertising-led business model of What's Up? Media at a larger scale.
• Coastal Virginia Magazine: Regional lifestyle magazine serving the coastal Virginia market with print editions, a website, and local business advertising. Directly comparable to What's Up? Media's three-title regional cluster model for Chesapeake Bay communities.
• Main Line Today: Regional lifestyle magazine serving Philadelphia's Main Line and western suburbs with dining, culture, weddings, and home content. Closely comparable operating model — multi-title regional lifestyle publisher monetizing print, digital, and local advertising.
• Cape Cod Life: Coastal regional lifestyle magazine covering Cape Cod with print editions and digital publishing. Directly comparable to What's Up? Media's coastal/Chesapeake lifestyle positioning and multi-channel advertising sales.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WhatsUpMag
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/what's-up-publishing-group-inc.
• Instagraminstagram.com/whatsupmags
• Xx.com/whatsupmags

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about What's Up Magazine