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Feb 13 – Feb 19, 2012 Edition 2012 San Francisco Book Festival Set for Union Square

SAN FRANCISCO _ The 2012 San Francisco Book Festival will hold the outdoor portion of its annual competition honoring the best books of the spring season at Union Square on Saturday, May 19.

Union Square is a cosmopolitan plaza bordered by Geary, Powell, Post and Stockton Streets in the heart of downtown San Francisco. It is surrounded by stores, hotels and a theater district, making it one of the largest shopping and tourist destinations in the world. Publishers, authors and other vendors interested in being a part of this special opportunity should email SanFranciscoBKFest@sbcglobal.net to obtain an exhibition space registration form and more information on the outdoor event.

The 2012 San Francisco Book Festival will consider non-fiction, fiction, biography/autobiography, children’s books, compilations/anthologies, teenage, how-to, cookbooks, science fiction, audio/spoken word, history, wild card, gay, photography/art, poetry, unpublished, travel and spiritual works. There is no date of publication deadline.

Our grand prize for the 2012 San Francisco Book Festival is $1500 cash and a flight to San Francisco for our gala awards ceremony and day festival on Saturday, May 19.

Submitted works will be judged by a panel of industry experts using the following criteria:

1) General excellence and the author’s passion for telling a good story.
2) The potential of the work to reach a wider audience.

ENTRIES: Please classify your book and enter it in the following categories. Multiple entries must be accompanied by a separate fee for each book.

  General Non-fiction   General Fiction   Children’s books   How-to   Spiritual   Photography/Art   Gay   Poetry   History   Teenage   Biography/Autobiography   Audio/spoken word   Compilations/Anthologies   Best Unpublished Short Story   Cookbooks   Science Fiction   Wild Card

In addition to honoring the top selections in the above categories, The San Francisco Book Festival will award the following chosen from submissions:

1) Author of the Year- Honors the outstanding book of the competition.
2) Book Design of the Year – Honors outstanding and innovative design.
3) Publisher of the Year- Honors the top publisher based on materials displaying
excellence in marketing and promotional materials, as determined by our judges.

FESTIVAL RULES: San Francisco Book Festival submissions cannot be returned. Each entry must contain the official entry form, including your e-mail address and contact telephone number. All shipping and handling costs must be borne by entrants.

NOTIFICATION AND DEADLINES: We will notify each entry of the receipt of their package via e-mail and will announce the winning entries on our web site (www.sanfranciscobookfestival.com). Because of the anticipated high volume of entries, we can only respond to e-mail inquiries.

Deadline submissions in each category must be received by the close of business on April 25, 2012. Winners in each category will be notified by e-mail and on the web site. Please note that judges read and consider submissions on an ongoing basis, comparing early entries with later submissions at our meetings.

TO ENTER: Entry forms are available online at sanfranciscobookfestival.com or may be faxed/e-mailed to you. Please contact our office at 323-665-8080 for fax requests. Applications must be accompanied by a non-refundable entry fee of $50 in the form of a check, money order or PayPal online payment in U.S. dollars for each submission. Multiple submissions are permitted but each entry must be accompanied by a separate form and entry fee.

Entry fee checks should be made payable to JM Northern Media LLC. We’re sorry, but entries must be mailed and cannot be delivered in person or by messenger services to the JM Northern Media offices.

Entry packages MUST include:

1) One copy of the book;
2) A copy of your official entry form or a reasonable facsimile;
3) The entry fee or receipt for online payment;
4) Any press/marketing materials you wish to send. Marketing is used as a tie-breaking consideration by our judges.

Entries should be mailed to:

JM Northern Media LLC
attn: San Francisco Book Festival
7095 Hollywood Boulevard
Suite 864
Hollywood, CA 90028-0893

AWARDS: The San Francisco Book Festival selection committee reserves the right to determine the eligibility of any project.

The 2012 San Francisco Book Festival is part of the JM Northern Media family of festivals, which include the DIY Convention: Do It Yourself in Film, Music & Books, New York Book Festival and Hollywood Book Festival.