Interview with Emily Asaro, Winner of 2022 Twitter Banner Contest

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Emily Asaro, illustrator tips, illustrators, portfolio tips, portfolios, SCBWI members, watercolor

In SCBWI-L.A.’s latest Twitter Banner Contest, illustrators were asked to submit their most creative response to our prompt: FLIGHTS OF FANCY. The winning contestant’s artwork is featured on the Los Angeles Region SCBWI Twitter profile until the next contest, with a feature article published here on Kite Tales.

We’re excited to announce Emily Asaro as our winner! Emily is an illustrator who grew up in a small beach town in southern New Jersey. She has spent most of her life by the sea and currently calls the West coast home. She has won the SCBWI-L.A. Illustrator’s Day 2019 Portfolio contest and the Illustration Mentorship contest and shows her work at galleries all over Southern California.

Read on to learn more about Emily, her tips and tools, and what inspires her work.

Just Do It! Enter the 2022 SCBWI-L.A. Writers Day Contest

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Christine Van Zandt, contests, Erica Rich, middle grade, Nicholas Ponticello, nonfiction, picture books, poetry, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, Toni Gallagher, Writers Day 2022, young adult

by Brenda Scott Royce

Why do we enter writing contests? Prizes are awfully nice, and hearing your name announced as the winner is a definite thrill. But perhaps even more motivating is the validation that comes with recognition of your work. There’s nothing like learning that the speck of an idea you plucked from thin air and coaxed into shape over weeks, months, or maybe even years, actually has wings and can fly. 

The 2022 SCBWI-L.A. Nonfiction Mentorship Contest Winner Is…

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2022 winner, contest winner, Joseph Taylor, mentorship, news, nonfiction, writing contest

by Brenda Scott Royce

SCBWI-L.A. is thrilled to announce the winner of the 2022 Nonfiction Mentorship Contest!

The competition was steep and the submissions enticingly diverse, making the decision a difficult one for mentor Joseph Taylor.

Mentorship Contest Now Open!

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Cricket Media, Joseph Taylor, mentorship, nonfiction, writing contest

by Brenda Scott Royce

Writers: Do you have a great idea for a nonfiction project noodling in your brain? A work-in-progress that needs a little nurturing before being sent out into the world? If so, I implore you to consider applying for SCBWI-L.A.’s Nonfiction Mentorship Contest. This amazing opportunity pairs you with a dedicated, experienced mentor for a six-month period that can be absolutely career changing! Past SCBWI-L.A. mentees have landed agents and publishing deals.

The deadline for submissions is January 26 — so you can channel your New Year’s Resolution energy into preparing your submission.

#KTIllustrates 2nd Annual Contest: Announcing the Winner and Runners Up!

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contest winners, illustrators, SCBWI members

This year we had a tremendous amount of participation in our #KTIllustrates Contest, with entries inspired by the prompt: “Here you will find the dragon’s secret.” The contest was open to any form (spot, spread or cover design) and in any medium, so long as it kept the interpretation of the prompt as it would apply to children’s books.

The winner is set to receive a gift certificate to ArtSupply Warehouse and will have a feature interview article for Kite Tales coming soon. So let’s give a hand to our winner and two runners up!

Announcing the Winner of the 2021 Sue Alexander Grant!

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authors, contest winners, middle grade, nonfiction picture book, SAG award, SCBWI members

by Brenda Scott Royce, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator

Christine Van Zandt, 2021 Sue Alexander Grant winner

We’re thrilled to announce this year’s Sue Alexander Grant winner—Christine Van Zandt—for her nonfiction picture book, Butterfly Dreams. The book’s inspiration came in May 2020, when Van Zandt and her daughter bought their first milkweed plant, “unaware that a mother monarch had sent us home with a surprise—actually 26 surprises,” she says. “Soon, our plant was covered in adorable caterpillars. We excitedly watched them grow, . . . until all perished.”

The sad turn of events led Van Zandt to research monarch declines, plant milkweed, and educate others by writing this lyrical story. 

Here’s what our judges had to say about her manuscript: 

SCBWI-L.A. Writers Day Contest: And the Winners Are…

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contest winners, middle grade, nonfiction picture book, picture books, SCBWI events, Writers Day 2021, young adult

By Brenda Scott Royce, Contest Coordinator

The event was virtual, but the excitement was still palpable as the winners for the 2021 Writers Day Contest were announced at the end of Writers Day on Saturday, June 12. First place winners in each category (Picture Book, Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Nonfiction/Other) will receive free tuition to next year’s Writer’s Day, as well as a manuscript critique from one of this year’s faculty members. Excerpts from the judges’ comments are included in the list of honorees below. If you’d like to contact any of the winners to request their manuscript or discuss publication, please let us know!

The Sue Alexander Grant is Open for Submissions!

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call for submission, contest, Nicholas Ponticello, Nick Ponticello, SAG award, submissions, Sue Alexander Grant, Working Writer's Retreat

by Brenda Scott Royce 

The 2021 Sue Alexander Grant contest opens today, offering one SCBWI-L.A. writer a guaranteed spot and free tuition to the Working Writers Retreat (to be held virtually this year on October 9). Winning a golden ticket to this always popular event is not the only reason to enter. Since COVID-19 sidelined last year’s event, 2020 winner Nicholas Ponticello will be among the attendees at the 2021 virtual retreat. But winning the prestigious prize has already impacted his career:

Attention Non-fiction Writers: SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship Contest Opens April 19!

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contests, Edward Underhill, Joseph Taylor, mentorship, narrative nonfiction, Nicole Maggi, nonfiction, writing

by Edward Underhill

Editor’s update (6/1/21): The deadline for the SCBWI-L.A. 2021 Mentorship Contest has been extended to June 18, 2021! Get your entries in ASAP!

In March 2020, my partner had just moved her work home for the foreseeable future, my day job was suddenly paused while everyone scrambled to set up remote work, and Los Angeles was entering lockdown. With the roads suddenly quiet outside and more time on my hands, I decided to take a risk and submit my newly finished YA novel for the SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship Contest with mentor Nicole Maggi.

Need a Writing Boost? Enter the 2021 Writers Day Contest!

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Celia Viramontes, Jim Cox, Virginia Pooler, Wakako Rollinger, Writers Day, Writers Day 2021, writing contest

by Brenda Scott Royce, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.” — novelist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

While our annual SCBWI-L.A. Writers Day will look somewhat different this year (we’ll be meeting virtually!), one thing that hasn’t changed is the contest. As usual, the manuscript contest is open to all who register for the event, and there’s no additional fee to enter. Submissions will be accepted in four categories: Picture Book, Middle Grade novel, Young Adult novel, and Other (which includes non-fiction and poetry). Winners receive a free written critique from one of the Writers Day faculty members PLUS free tuition to Writers Day 2022 (or equivalent). Winners and runners-up will be acknowledged in Kite Tales.