Awarded a distinguished favorite in Memoir through the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD®, Schoenke now takes the win in Race Relations in the NYC BIG BOOK AWARD®!

BROOKLYN, NY, UNITED STATES, October 15, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- After winning the Independent Press Award in the Memoir category for Distinguished Favorite, Fat Girl Sings was further honored by the NYC Big Book Award as a category winner in Race Relations.

The competition is judged by experts from different aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. Selected award winners and distinguished favorites are based on overall excellence.

"Fat Girl Sings: Discovering, Embracing, and Leveraging Racial Identity on the Football Field, in Business, and in Life" by Ray Schoenke

Featuring compelling characters and integrating classic themes such as bullying, racial injustice, and coming of age, Fat Girl Sings is the profoundly moving true story of a chubby brown boy's traumatic loss of innocence and his mental and physical transformation into the warrior he has to become to achieve success in school, in the NFL, in business, and in life as he struggles to gain an understanding of himself, his environment, and his Hawaiian heritage.

“Ray Schoenke has lived a fascinating life-from his upbringing in Hawaii, to his groundbreaking career as one of the first Polynesian players in the NFL, to his successful business career. Along the way, he has never failed to stand up or speak out for what he believes. I'll always be grateful for his support, and I'm glad he's finally telling his story.”

— President Bill Clinton

“Fat Girl Sings is an intriguing book full of heartfelt stories...[that] displays Ray's triumph over his challenging past to the fulfillment of an outstanding professional career.”

— Roy Jefferson, All-American All-Pro NFL Wide Receiver, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Colts, and Washington Redskins

“Ray Schoenke's life is a story of courage and strength, from the ferocity of the gridiron and the boardroom to his compassion and advocacy for the disadvantaged.”

– Admiral William J. "Bud" Flanagan, U.S. Navy (Ret)

NYC Big Book Award received book submissions worldwide. Journalists, well established authors, small and large press, and first time indie authors participated in record numbers.  Entries this year were received from the United States as well as countries such as Australia, Canada, China, Cyprus, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Scotland, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.  Cities represented among the entries were Asheville, Beijing, Colorado Springs, Dublin, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Singapore, Tel Aviv, and Vancouver.

Publishers included Atmosphere Press, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Beaufort Books, Beyond Words Publishing, Blackstone Publishing, Familius Publishing, Flatiron Books, Hachette Go, HarperCollins Leadership, Oceanview Publishing, Old Stone Press, Rowman & Littlefield, Simon & Schuster, Ulysses Press, Watkins Publishing, Westminster John Knox Press to name a few. "We were delighted to see so many quality publishers and authors from around the world participate this year. I can't wait to share these books with a global readership," said awards sponsor Gabrielle Olczak.

To view this year's list of NYC Big Book Award winners, please visit https://www.nycbigbookaward.com/2024winners

The Independent Press Award is announced every spring and is open to independent authors and publishers, and please visit https://independentpressaward.com/ for more information.

The fall book competition, NYC Big Book Award, https://www.nycbigbookaward.com/ allows all authors, publishers, and includes submissions from the big five publishers.

Join us at the BookCAMP event, June 23 - 25, 2024, https://www.independentpressaward.com/ipabookcamp

About the author
Ray Schoenke was among the earliest Polynesian NFL players and was inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame in 2015. He had a 12-year career as an offensive lineman with the Dallas Cowboys and The Washington Redskins. In 2002, he was selected as one of the top 100 players in the history of the Redskins. He is the retired CEO of Schoenke & Associates, a firm specializing in design, funding, and administration of executive compensation and benefit programs for large, private- and publicly traded companies in the Mid-Atlantic Region and Hawaii. During his business career, he was very active in public and civic affairs, including playing a significant role in the founding of the Special Olympics, and actively campaigned for three US Presidents. He was appointed as Chair of the Hawaiian Arts and Culture Board for the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, HI, and also ran for public office.

Gabby Olczak
Independent Press Award
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