Now I’m going to be honest here. When I first started to write my book, I wasn’t certain how it’ll turn out. I had my doubts about finishing my story. Also, I was skeptical if my story would read eloquently since I spent a good portion of my life writing non-fiction and scientific text. Writing fiction was ‘new’ because it was a skill I shelved away once I started high school. In elementary school, I used to write short stories and poetry all the time, submitted several to competitions and school newsletters, including the yearbook committee. There was always a poem with my name on it in the school yearbook. I was really proud about that as a child.
Though, when I finally finished my writing my story in November last year and began to think about marketing and promotion, it dawned on me that my book has the potential for so much more. That’s when I remembered a talk I participated in that was hosted by Chandler Bolt, founder of Self-Publishing School (SPS), back in October 2019. This was when the whole idea of becoming a published author started. Like any other presentation trying to lure us to enroll into their school’s program, they shared lots of testimonials from SPS alumni.
To be frank, all the success stories didn’t convince me to enroll until I heard the one about Emma Sumner. Unlike most authors, Emma was only 8-years-old when she published her first book called ‘Fairies of Waterfall Island: The Search for the Missing Crystal.” It was a classic good vs. evil story where the fairies and human children had to join forces and fight an evil fairy to recover the missing water crystal. This crystal was what kept Waterfall Island magical; without it, all magic would be lost. For the first three months of her book sales, she donated her proceeds to Autism Speaks. I was really touched by this story when I heard it at the beginning of my self-publishing journey, so it was quite fitting that it came up again as I prepared for my book launch. Since Emma was the one who inspired me to follow my dreams and write my book, it was perfect that I now had a book that had the potential to support a fundraising cause.
Since ‘Hold on please, Emily,’ focused on brain tumours, and Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada (BTFC) supported the research component of my book, I decided today to follow in Emma’s path and donate my book proceeds to BTFC. When I explored their website, I discovered that they hold an annual Brain Tumour Walk. So, everything aligned quite perfectly and I signed up as a participant today.
BTFC’s Brain Tumour Walk is an annual event held in June to raise awareness and funds for brain tumour research. When a loved one hears the words, “you have a brain tumour,” we are all affected. Affected by a flood of emotion, feelings of expectation, and the desire to do something to make things better. BTFC is the only national, not-for-profit organization dedicated to reaching every Canadian affected by any type of brain tumour (be it malignant, non-malignant and metastases) through support, education, and research. The brain tumour community invites everyone to participate in the Brain Tumour Walk as a place where we can all come together to find strength, connection, and hope. On walk day (this year June 27th), everyone walks with a united goal–to see an end to brain tumours. This event is the largest volunteer-led, peer-to-peer fundraising event, to raise money to fund brain tumour research, and advocacy to help brain tumour patients and survivors live longer, better, and with hope.
This year will be my very first Brain Tumour Walk and I hope that when my book launches in May, that I can build a team of family, friends, and readers to walk with me on June 27th to #EndBrainTumours. I am proud to have registered for the event and created a team (Team #HoldOnPleaseEmily). With every dollar that we fundraise, we make it possible for research to advance, support to bring hope, and advocacy to make change. Plus, this year’s event is virtual due to the COVID pandemic, so this makes it easier to build a walk team from around the globe who share in this same vision of supporting the cause.
I’m excited to see where this goes and hope that my book can help fundraise money for BTFC and this walk event. Check out my fundraising team page here.