Amazing Giveaway: A Free Pass to the 2012 San Francisco Writers Conference (Feb. 16-19, 2012) Worth $745

(Update: Joan Swan won the pass. Congrats to Joan!
Joan will be guest blogging about her travels here
on my GLA Blog following the event.)

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This is amazing news. Writer's Digest has 1 free pass to giveaway to a random commenter for a full registration pass at the 2012 San Francisco Writers Conference (Feb. 16–19, 2012). (Wow!) Make sure you read this entire post to see all the details of the giveaway, as there are some things you need to do to formally enter. To enter, you will need to comment on this post, and spread the news a bit via social media.

QUICK BACKGROUND

Writers conferences are a great way concerning how to find a literary agent. In addition to WD's own large writing conferences (New York every January and now we're adding Los Angeles in Fall 2012), WD also acts as a sponsor to some of the largest writing conferences in the country, one of which is the magnificent San Francisco Writers Conference, held this year from Feb. 16–19, 2012 (President's Day weekend). As part of our sponsorship, we have an unused full registration pass that, for whatever reason, was never given out as of today.

It turns out this baby is worth a whopping $745 ($695 for the full event and an additional $50 to be part of the "speed dating" portion). This pass is even more valuable because the SFWC is sold out. I'm not joking. This is like Willy Wonka's freaking Golden Ticket and some random commenter is about to be Charlie Bucket singing in the streets when they win (Beware Slugworth! Just kidding...)

WHAT THE WINNER WILL GET

The registration pass includes all sessions and keynotes in the main conference of the SFWC, at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel in the neighborhood of Nob Hill in San Francisco. It also includes two luncheons, two breakfasts, and one drink & pupus at the opening Welcome Gala. The pass also allows attendance to the agent Speed Dating potion. (Again ... WOW!) All in all, this is worth $745.

If you do not know about the SFWC, see all the details online. For starters, at least 22 agents will be there, to say nothing of all the authors and editors, as well. The location is beautiful. It's just awesome. I've attended once as a speaker in 2008 and loved it. They were kind enough to let me be a writers conference speaker again this year, and I will even be doing be acting as a query letter editor. (Will I see you there???)

THE RULES: HOW TO ENTER, AND WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

To enter this contest, you must follow all rules below as they are written. Because of the quality of this prize, we must double check that all rules were followed, so please take them seriously. Thank you.

(Deadline: Comment by end of day, PST, Friday, Feb. 10, 2012.)

1. Comment below on this post. If you're new to the WD site, note that you must quickly register to comment. And if you don't know what to comment about (which can be anything, naturally), may I suggest talking about your 2012 writing goals to pump other writers up.

2. Spread the word at least TWO (2) times through social media. If you do the same thing twice (such as tweeting it twice, please do so on different days or at least with some time between them, as the deadline allows.)

Note: This pass cannot be resold and is forfeit if traded for money. What this means is the ticket must either be used by the winner or given to someone else without monetary compensation. This rule per the SFWC. So please keep this in mind when commenting. If there is absolutely no way you can get to San Francisco and/or find a place to stay, then make sure you know someone you are willing to give the pass to, or else it will go to waste (and that is a very sad thought).

(Update: Joan Swan won the pass. Congrats to Joan!
Joan will be guest blogging about her travels here
on my GLA Blog following the event.)