Jo Hilder

My first book, Things Not To Say To Someone Who Has Cancer, was self-published on Amazon for Kindle,CreateSpace and Smashwords in August last year. The book has received a great response, and book sales both online and direct from me are steady. The book was well-supported by the NSW Cancer Council, who ordered several boxes and distribute them to visitors and dignitaries to their head office in Sydney, NSW. The Cancer Council has also included Things Not To Say in their lending library. I’ve approached two distributors about selling the book via national bookstore chains, and am waiting for a response regarding this. I’ve also appeared in local, national and international media with the book, having written many articles on the subject of the book. I continue to speak regularly at support groups, forums and conferences on the subject of cancer psycho-social supportive care, and about my experience as a cancer survivor.

Soul Letters for the Cancer Sojourner is a collection of thirty chapters, many of which have been inspired by popular blog posts I’ve published on my website, johilder.com. Over the month of January 2013, I edited and published all thirty posts as a series, and am presently editing these into a book manuscript, ready for publishing as both an e-book and print version.

WHAT SOUL LETTERS IS ABOUT

Soul Letters addresses many of the issues I faced personally whilst journeying through cancer. These issues include how to navigate through the plethora of emotions and fears which inevitably accompany a diagnosis, and what to expect in terms of responses and expectations from those around us including family, friends and clinicians. Each chapter deals with a different issue, and suggests ways of approaching challenges and changing mindsets associated with cancer, treatment and survivorship. The tone of the book is inspirational, compassionate and uses a peer-centred approach in order to convey the sense that “I understand and I’ve been there. If I can do this, you can do it too.” Rather than re-hashing old ideas of battles, heroes and victims, Soul Letters concentrates on the strengths, capacity, hope and imagination of the person with the cancer, rather than focusing on the disease and its strengths or capacity to harm them. Soul Letters acknowledges each person with cancer will experience moments of courage and moments of fear, and each of these feelings can be supported and transitioned through without judgement, or fear the person with cancer is not “fighting” or “being positive”.

THE OPPORTUNITY

At the end of March, I’ve been given the opportunity to speak at a major cancer supportive services conference hosted by the NSW Cancer Council in Sydney, NSW. I’ll be speaking to over 200 supportive care service providers and volunteers from across the state. I’ve been asked to present and sell my books at the conference as well. I would like to have copies of both my books available to sell at this conference.