Campaign is here: https://www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/the-monster-and-the-child/youth-monsterology-book-club-and-mentorship/rewards

           Hello, and welcome to The Monster & The Child, where childhood studies and monster studies collide! I am Dr. Kathleen Kellett, and this is my Indiegogo launch video! I am so excited to be launching this fundraiser – my first fundraiser – for Youth Monsterology, my program of book clubs and educational mentorship services for teenagers. I am also excited to deliver the rewards to donors to this campaign, and in doing so, get to know my audience a little bit better!

            If you want to hear the whole story about how I came to this idea, as well as some input from the previous participants in my dissertation study book club, then you can head over to the video in the corner. The link to that is also in the description. But long story short, I conducted a Monster Book Club for my doctorate in Childhood Studies, and it was an incredible experience. After that time, I taught at the college level for a couple of years, and what I am hoping to do now is essentially bring those two experiences together to create an educational program that is fun, low-pressure, and individually tailored to teenagers’ interests.

            Youth Monsterology will be a five-month program (at least in the pilot version – future programs may adjust based on feedback), and in groups of around twelve, high school students will read monster literature and discuss its ideological, philosophical, and political themes. We’ll also discuss what we like about the books themselves, in their characters and plots, etc. – just because we’ll be diving deep doesn’t mean the discussions will be dry! Based on my experience with my dissertation study book club, providing a peer space for young people to explore common interests outside of the pressures of school can be really beneficial all around.

At about the halfway point of the program, students will use these themes that we discuss from the books as a springboard for developing their own activist, academic, and/or creative projects that can be staged within their local communities. The clubs themselves will be online with a Discord server that participants can use to communicate with each other throughout, and we’ll have online voice meetings, but these independent projects will be something that they can bring into their own local areas. That’s where the mentorship will come in: I will work one-on-one with students with idea development, planning, writing and revising, and coordination with community members. Examples of independent projects could include a public library exhibit, an art project with an artist’s statement that is staged in a community space, the organization of a local political action like a group meeting with a representative or an environmental cleanup with a written reflection, and many more possible ideas. Not only would these projects look unique and a little flashy on a college application or resume, but they would also allow teenagers to see their own ideas through from conception to completion, driven entirely by what they determine is most important and desirable for them to pursue. Plus they won’t be graded. Teenagers don’t always get the chance to produce work that comes entirely from their own interests, and that is what I am most excited to facilitate.

It is extremely important to me that I can offer these programs at low prices so they are not just accessible to students with the most economic means. That is where the Indiegogo comes in. I still need to get paid for my labor because living does cost money, apparently, so I am conducting this fundraiser and hopefully some future local ones to lower the price for future students while still making a living myself. Think of your donations as scholarship money for future participants.

Now, this is my first time doing anything of this sort. Because Indiegogo (and other crowdfunding sites) require you to actually meet your goal in order to get any of the money – which I think is kind of a wild rule, but no one asked me – I have nervously set my goal at $500. Obviously, that’s not really like living-on money, so I am hoping we go over that amount, but I also wanted to make sure that anyone who is kind enough to donate actually does help fund the project. But that is not all that’s in it for you! So now let’s talk about the rewards.

Anyone who donates any amount of money will get shout-outs in my video essays. (I’ll do them there as opposed to the fiction videos, since more people watch the essays and you’ll get your credit to more people – but if you want to start listening to a YA werewolf manuscript about genetic engineering and big gay feelings, the playlist is in the corner!) The next tier up for donations is $10, and for those, I will do a YouTube short about a monster and/or child topic of your choice, within reasonable parameters.

So these are the parameters: the best topics would be kind of broad. I get a lot of comments on my videos asking about my thoughts on various pieces of media, but I haven’t read and watched everything in the world, and I won’t be able to watch like a seven-season series for a three-minute short for ten bucks. So topics like “zombie kids” or “gendered monsters” or reactions to a current event that has happened regarding children – anything along those lines would be my first suggestion. If you really, really want me to respond to a specific piece of media, please make it as specific as possible: so a scene, a chapter, up to a thirty-minute episode of TV, that you think I’d be able to understand and respond to without like the full context. So for example, if you want my take on a particular werewolf transformation, I can do that without seeing the whole movie. All I ask is for on that front is just clear instructions.

Any elaborations on any of the media I’ve discussed in past videos would definitely be fair game, since I already know them, obviously. I’ve put a list in the description here, along with other popular media titles that I’m familiar enough with to talk about. That latter list is also in the description of the rewards on Indiegogo. My only veto would be Harry Potter, since we do not contribute to the cultural capital of TERFs in this household.

The next reward tier up is $25. For that amount, you can get two shorts, OR you can get written feedback on up to five pages of your writing. This can be fiction or nonfiction – as long as it’s not like highly technical stuff that someone who’s not in your field wouldn’t understand, then it’s fair game. I have multiple years of experience teaching college-level writing, I conducted an independent writing pedagogy project for my graduate department, I have an MFA in writing, and it’s also my favorite thing to do, so I am pretty qualified in this regard. If you select this tier, indicate which choice you are making in a comment on Indiegogo – I think you can make comments when you make the donation – and if it’s the writing one, you can, after making that donation, email your work along with any specific feedback you’re looking for to themonsterandthechild@gmail.com. And that’s all spelled out, no ampersand, just The Monster and The Child.

The final tier is $45, where you can get three shorts or feedback on up to 10 pages of writing. If you choose the feedback option on this one, you can also choose whether you want the feedback to be written or if you’d like a twenty-minute Zoom conversation with me. You would indicate that in your email that you send, as well.

My current goal is to deliver on rewards within one month of your donation. If I become totally inundated, that would not be a bad problem to have on my part, but I may have to ask for flexibility in that case. But all of these things are things that I really like to do and I’m excited to do, and I can’t wait to see what ideas you throw my way.

So there you have it! I know that not everyone who watches my videos will be able to donate, and if that is the case for you, thanks for just watching this launch video, because that seriously helps, too. If you could share the campaign, that would be amazing and incredibly appreciated. Liking and subscribing over here on YouTube helps me immensely, as well: I’m treating basically any money I can get out of this platform as scholarship money for the program, too. If you would like to make your involvement with my work more recurring, I also have a Patreon, which is linked in the description below, and that has its own perks with reaction videos and polls for future video topics. Meanwhile, I am also hoping to launch some adult monster book clubs, as well – without the projects and all of that, so for sure less money to join – so if that idea appeals to you, please let me know in the comments, so I can begin to gauge interest there. I’m hoping that there will be something for everyone in the coming months on The Monster & The Child.

Thank you again so much for everything. I started this channel less than a year ago with absolutely no idea if anyone would watch it at all, and it’s been amazing to get to have conversations about the topics that I am most passionate about with a really cool group of people. I can’t wait to see you again soon for more monstrous food for thought.