urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:seanan_mcguire The Journal of Seanan McGuire Seanan McGuire 2016-12-01T03:59:38Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:seanan_mcguire:680842 2016-12-01T03:59:38Z 2016-12-01T03:59:38Z Shriekback, "Malaria." Hello, happy people!<br /><br />Thursday (December 1st) will be the first of the <b>Thirteen Days of Hogswatch</b>, my now-annual "Seanan gives things away for thirteen days because why not" celebration, and I just wanted to issue a few quick reminders. Namely...<br /><br />1. Each giveaway will have its own rules. Some will be US-only. (Most will honestly be US-only, because I can't afford to pay international postage at this time. More about this to come.) Others will say things like "your comment must include the word 'banana' to be considered a valid entry." <i>Failure to precisely follow the rules of a giveaway will mean you cannot win.</i> There is no wiggle room here, at all. This is partially for my sanity, and partially because when I give things away, the free stuff blogs tend to signal boost, and insisting that the rules be followed means that there's enough of a barrier to entry that I can be reasonably sure things are going to people who actually want them.<br /><br />2. No, you do not need to follow this blog to win. That being said, each entry will say something like "the winners will be posted at X time, and will have until Y to contact me." Every time I do a giveaway, I have folks contacting me days after the stated time, wanting to know if they can still claim their prizes. I fully understand that life happens&mdash;I've been the late one before&mdash;but the timelines are firm. So if you don't follow this blog normally, I recommend checking in daily until all Hogswatch giveaways are over.<br /><br />3. In the instances where I am willing to deal with the cost and complication of international shipping, I may say "you must pay postage to receive your prize." If you'd like to volunteer to pay international postage for a giveaway winner, please comment on that day's giveaway to indicate this. Make sure it's a first-level comment, and not a reply to a specific person. (If you're only willing to pay for a specific person, tell them in private, and y'all can work it out without me.)<br /><br />4. All prizes have already been selected, but I will not be revealing them until the day that their drawing begins.<br /><br />5. You can enter all thirteen days if you want to. Winning day one does not bar you from winning again on day eight.<br /><br />And that is all. First entry goes up tomorrow!