Publishing The Culting of America by Daniella M Young
Donation protected
I'm Daniella Mestyanek Young, scholar of cults, extreme groups, and extremely bad leadership. This is to raise money for the publication of my second book, The Culting of America.
Over the past two years, I have been interacting with my audience and have learned there is both a need and an appetite for a cult expert to point out the way cult and cult-like dynamics appear in our everyday lives. This book, which is mostly already written, delves into the following topics:
Chapter 1: Charismatic Leadership and Followership
Chapter 2: The Worldview Shift into the Sacred Assumption
Chapter 3: The Transcendent Mission
Chapter 4: Constant Self-Sacrifice
Chapter 5: Isolation or Insulation from the World
Chapter 6: Distinguishable Vernacular
Chapter 7: Us Versus Them Mentality
Chapter 8: Exploitation of Labor
Chapter 9: High Entrance and Exit Costs
Chapter 10: Ends Justifies the Means Mentality
Chapter 11: Just Groups (and a little bit of Tay Tay)
Chapter 12: Community Versus Groups (by White Woman Whisperer)
I'm working with Otterpine to publish the book, and we’re aiming to publish the book in late 2024 or early 2025. This fundraiser will cover expenses like my editor, printing and production costs, cover design, research assistance, and maybe some in person book events around the country. Note: we are fundraising in stages, and the amount goal will change as we move through the process.
What your donation will support:
$30 = 30 minutes of research assistance
$85 = 1 hour of layout support
$225 = Print production for one chapter
$500 = Compensate collaborators for 1 week of administrative and communications work
$1,200 = Producing the E-Book
$2,000 = Equipment and/or time for producing the audiobook
$2,500 = Designing the cover
$3,300 = Edits on one section of the manuscript (~4 chapters)
$4,500 = A round of edits for the full manuscript
If you're not already familiar with my work, I'm also known as the Knitting Cult Lady. I grew up in the Children of God cult (also known as the Family International) and served 2 tours of duty in the cult of the US Army. I noticed that those two organizations had a lot in common and have been studying them and what we can learn about other cults—and how to protect ourselves from coercive control and abusive situations. You can find me on the socials.
Tiers:
- Tier 1: Up to $30: An invitation to the virtual book launch and Q&A
- Tier 2: ≥$30: E-book copy of The Culting of America, an invitation to the virtual book launch and Q&A
- Tier 3: ≥$60: 1 year of Cult Book Club Level Patreon, 1 e-book, an invitation to the virtual book launch and Q&A
- Tier 4: ≥$120: 1 copy of the physical book, 1 cool vinyl sticker, 1 year of Cult Book Club Level Patreon, 1 e-book, an invitation to the virtual book launch and Q&A
- Tier 5: ≥$250: 1 signed copy of the physical book, 1 audiobook, 2 cool vinyl stickers, 1 year of Cult Book Club Level Patreon, 1 e-book, an invitation to the virtual book launch and Q&A
- Tier 6: ≥$500: 2 signed copies of the physical book,1 year Stitch and Bitch Level Patreon, 1 audiobook, 2 cool vinyl stickers, 1 e-book, an invitation to the virtual book launch and Q&A
- Tier 7: ≥$1000: 1 limited edition Culting of America knitted koozie hand knitted by Daniella, 2 signed copies of the physical book, 2 additional copies of the physical book 1 year Stitch and Bitch Level Patreon, 1 audiobook, 2 cool vinyl stickers, 1 e-book, an invitation to the virtual book launch and Q&A
- Tier 8: ≥$1500: 2 limited edition Culting of America knitted koozie hand knitted by Daniella, 2 signed copies of the physical book, 8 additional copies of the physical book (10 physical books, total), 1 year Stitch and Bitch Level Patreon, 1 audiobook, 2 cool vinyl stickers, 1 e-book, an invitation to the virtual book launch and Q&A, 10% discount on an item of your choice from Daniella’s Etsy store applicable to premade and commission items.
In order to receive your benefits, you will need to fill out a form that we will message to all donors (we'll be doing this regularly, so please don't panic if you don't get a message immediately!).
Please keep in mind that we will begin fulfilling all physical products and delivery of the e-book at the same time, once the printed copies are ready to be mailed out.
We plan to send out digital rewards such as Patreon memberships monthly, for the duration of this fundraiser.
Co-organizers (2)
Daniella Mestyanek Young
Organizer
East Riverdale, MD
Lizy Freudmann
Co-organizer
Saeah Wood
Co-organizer