Local author wins 2019 Author Academy Global Award for book

Local author Chellie W. Phillips recently won a 2019 Author Academy Award in the category of Self-Help for her book, “When In Doubt, Delete It!”

Phillips received the award at the recent Author Academy Awards ceremony held at the Hilton Columbus/Polaris, in Columbus, Ohio.

As a first-time author, Phillips said she was truly humbled to hear her name and book called.

“It’s an amazing feeling to do something you love and have the hard work recognized, and to realize others are impacted by your words,” Phillips said. “I’m very excited to be put alongside such a truly gifted group of authors.”

With a background in journalism, Phillips said the idea for her book came from editing a newsletter.

“I had the thought, ‘What if we had edits for life?” I encourage everyone to take a moment and think about what you need to insert in life,” she said. “Maybe that’s more joy or small celebrations. Or maybe they need to delete things holding them back like negativity or self-doubt.”

Phillips said the book is about lessons learned in life.

“I imagined sitting with friends and thought about all the life discussions we had, the lessons learned and the what-ifs, and there were definite themes that came through,” she said. “I encourage folks to edit often. If we do, we’ll create a life filled with more joy, success and clarity.”

Kary Oberbrunner, founder of Author Academy Elite and the Author Academy Awards (left) along with David Branderhorst (right) presented the First-Place award in the Self-Help category to Chellie Phillips (center), author of “When In Doubt, Delete It”.

The Author Academy Awards is an honor bestowed for literary merit and publishing excellence in the writing and publishing industry, according to Kary Oberbrunner, founder of Author Academy Elite and the Author Academy Awards.

Beginning in January of this year, more than 1,000 authors worldwide were nominated for their work in one of the following 16 categories: General Nonfiction, Advice, Self-Help, Business, Memoir, Health, Clean Romance, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller, Science Fiction, Young Adult and Middle Grade, Children’s, Historical Fiction, General Fiction, and Religion.

Authors of all kinds – indie (self-published), traditional, or collaborative published – were considered for an award. Entries were reviewed and evaluated on popular vote, social contribution, and overall presentation (cover, content, flow, and originality) by a panel of select judges.

“Our goal is to help further connect this global community of authors, maintain excellence and integrity of the book publishing industry, and raise awareness that the stories being told and the authors who write them are worth our attention,” Oberbrunner said.