by Brenda Scott Royce

At an event hosted by another regional SCBWI chapter recently, I learned that entries in their writers contests have been going down over the last few years, and that they’ve heard similar reports from other chapters. The news didn’t surprise me, as I’ve witnessed the same thing—a gradual decline in submissions to our SCBWI-L.A. contests since 2020 (a year we all had extra time on our hands to polish our entries!).

As a potential entrant, you could view this as an opportunity—fewer entries means a higher likelihood you’ll walk away with a prize. (True!)