Fourth generation Arizona native Crystal Waltman won first place as Health Book of the Year  and received an Academy Boon of Merit award at the 2020 Author Elite Awards, an honor for literacy merit and publishing excellence, for her book “Quitting to Win.” Hundreds of thousands of authors worldwide are nominated for their work in 16 categories. On Friday, October 23, entries were reviewed and evaluated by a panel of judges where the winners were announced via a virtual Facebook Live event.

“Quitting to Win” is about Waltman’s triumph over tragedy story through sports, spine surgery, addiction and sobriety. Crystal Waltman battled alcoholism for over 25 years, starting at the age of 14, and exposes her raw and honest life into her book. It was published on July 7, 2020, and since Waltman has received messages from readers every day about how it’s helped them start the conversations of uncomfortable life lessons and topics with family members and friends.

“My book was up against hundreds of books from authors throughout the world and I’m truly honored to have won this award,” Waltman said. “I wrote this book as my way to recover out loud and spread a message of hope to others that are struggling with substance abuse and mental illness.”

In “Quitting to Win,” she shares her proven plan of how to find and keep emotional sobriety for those suffering from anxiety, depression and addiction. Waltman aims to get it into substance abuse and addiction recovery centers throughout the nation to help remove the shame and stigma that’s attached to addiction, alcoholism, as well as raise awareness to mental illnesses. Shedesigned the book to act as a guide for small groups with discussion questions in the appendix

“In addition to the award-winning book, I’m planning to release the audio book version before end of the year. I’m also featuring on online course called “Eating to Win” in correlation with the Quitting to Win movement,” Waltman said.

For more information and to stay up to date with upcoming courses and books, visit crystalwaltman.com.