Hello. I am Jo Usmar – a bestselling author, ghostwriter, editor, and journalist. And this is my newsletter.
Why subscribe to ‘Just One More Thing’
‘Just One More Thing’ will cover everything from mental health, cultural capers, and topical nonsense, to sexism, grief, and being an expat in Amsterdam. (Including my week in a convent getting shouted at by Dutch nuns.)
I have spent the best part of my career finding the funny in mental health and cultural cock-ups. I have written 11 books on wellbeing (9 for myself, two for other people); edited a suicide-prevention memoir; helped to create an award-winning health and wellness podcast; and written features for some of the biggest names in UK publishing.
This newsletter – and the audio of me loosely reading them aloud before descending into snorts of ridiculousness – is an amalgamation (not sure that’s the right word, but am going with it) of all that good shit.
What you’ll get
A weekly newsletter of stories, rants and lols. Subscribe so you never miss a new edition, with every post going directly to your inbox.
Who I am
With my author hat on (a Bowler hat), I have written eight bestselling mental-health books in the This Book Will Make You… series (published by Quercus) that have been translated into dozens of languages and are available all over the world. I have also written a book distilling the wisdom from the TV show Friends called Friends for Life (published by Hachette).
With my ghostwriter hat on (a balaclava), I have ghosted both of Gemma Atkinson’s Top 10 UK health and fitness books. And, with my editor hat on (a fedora), I recently worked with the brilliant mental-health campaigner Ben West on his moving, raw, and hilarious debut book, This Book Could Save Your Life.
Then there’s my journo hat (a Viking’s helmet) in which I was Cosmopolitan UK’s Sex and the Not-So Single Girl columnist for 18 months and have written features for, and helmed departments at, titles including Stylist, the Mirror, Women’s Health, Balance, Marie Claire, Esquire, Men’s Health, and Red.
I also co-created and am editorial consultant for Boots presents Taboo Talk, the award-winning health and wellness podcast.
My career has taken in everything from interviewing Joan Collins, One Direction and Heston Blumenthal (sadly not all at the same time), to piranha fishing in the Amazon and getting hypnotised to overcome arachnophobia. I have appeared on Radio 4’s Women’s Hour and Sky News talking about my work, as well as radio shows all over the UK and the US.
Thank you
If you do subscribe, thank you – it means a lot. Oh, and Just One More Thing(!), please let me know what you think via the comments, recommend the newsletter to your mates if you like it, and also give me a follow on Instagram. Thanks again!
