Pain Is a PrivilegeBack this book

A memoir by Hope Kittel

Pain Is a Privilege

At sixteen, Hope sat in her high school gym reading an ACT prep article. Then her body stopped taking instructions. She's spent the years since writing about what came after.

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Back this book

Funding the edit, the print run, and the audiobook.

Hope Kittel smiling and biting her gold medal, wearing her Fittest Seated Woman on Earth ribbon, seated in her wheelchair in front of a CrossFit Games backdrop.
Reigning Fittest Seated Woman on Earth

The story

What happened, and what she wrote

The gym

A sudden neurological collapse left her quadriplegic, unable to speak, and without memory of her own family. She had to relearn how to breathe, speak, stand, and trust.

“My name is Hope Kittel, and I am a Christian, adaptive athlete, survivor, and the reigning Fittest Seated Woman on Earth. Through unflinching honesty, I write about suffering, resilience, and discovering that even the deepest wounds can become places where hope takes root.”
Hope Kittel

What the book covers

Seven parts. Childhood illness. Paralysis and amnesia. Inpatient rehab. Childhood sexual abuse, which she writes about directly and asks to be read without pity. A faith that argues instead of performing. And the competition floor.

What she did next

Hope Kittel is the reigning Fittest Seated Woman on Earth, won on the adaptive CrossFit stage. She writes candidly about mistaking that title for armor, and about what it did not fix.

Why this book, why now

What makes the manuscript distinctive

  • A combination of experiences that almost never appear in one life, let alone one book
  • Written from inside the disorientation as it happened, not narrated from a safe distance
  • Unusual candor: she shows herself at her worst, not only her most resilient
  • A faith thread that wrestles with real doubt rather than performing certainty

Why funding is needed

The first draft is finished. Roughly 114,000 words.

What's left is professional editorial work, design and printing, and an audiobook. That work costs money, and it is paid for up front.

So it's one campaign with one goal: $19,200. That covers three kinds of cost — the editorial work, the publishing work, and the audiobook — and the breakdown below shows where every dollar goes.

Where the money goes

EditorialDevelopmental edit and the full editorial process
$10,000
PublishingDesign, layout, printing, distribution setup
$6,700
AudiobookAudiobook production
$2,500
Total
$19,200

Back the book

Pick a level

Amounts follow the marathon: a dollar a mile, five dollars a mile, ten dollars a mile.

One campaign, one goal

Raised
$0
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$19,200
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A marathon is 26.2 miles. Each tier is a rate per mile, the same ask Hope makes at the walk.

Everything raised past the goal goes to marketing, getting this book in front of the readers who need it most.

Where the money goes

EditorialDevelopmental edit and the full editorial process
$10,000
PublishingDesign, layout, printing, distribution setup
$6,700
AudiobookAudiobook production
$2,500
Total
$19,200

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    Founding Reader

    $262

    $10 a mile

    Ten dollars a mile. A signed hardcover at launch, plus your name on the supporter page.

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    $1,000+

    The whole race

    Ten signed copies at launch, plus logo placement in the book.

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In person

The events

Two ways to back the book in person.

  • The community walk

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  • An evening hosted by Matt and Andrea

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    An event hosted by Matt and Andrea. Details to come. [EVENT DETAILS TBD]

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Thank you

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About

Hope Kittel

Hope Kittel is a writer and adaptive athlete. She is the reigning Fittest Seated Woman on Earth.

She has been writing this book for years. It is her first.

Questions

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