Posted on January 24, 2012 by Dan Blank

I just finished an incredible couple of days mingling with writers at Writer’s Digest Conference, 2012.

As usual, the event takes place in New York City, home of tall buildings:

The calm before the storm:

A first look at the crowd, about 400 writers in attendance:

Our hero, Porter Anderson who was reporting on the event via Twitter. He had a laser-like focus on each speaker, summarizing their best points in 140 characters:

The keynote by A.J. Jacobs, sharing his amusing experiences writing about his life:

A common appearance: laptops, iPads, and mobile phones, all taking notes:

We got a bit of snow on Saturday, but nothing like what we received during the 2011 conference:

And there were moments of sunshine:

My session at the event: “Becoming an Author Entrepreneur”

Me speaking:

Porter again, with his impressive reporting setup:

George Davis covers Christina Katz session:

James Scott Bell’s session on craft was literally standing room only:

Lunch:

Jane Friedman joins Porter:

Some authors were selling and signing their wares. I picked up Barry Eisler’s book, as well as Christina Katz’:

Christina Katz signing her book:

Barry Eisler gave the keynote on Saturday, a very honest look at not just his views on publishing, but the revenue streams that support it:

The crowd around Barry after his talk:

The lineup for the Pitch Slam, where authors get something like 3 minutes to pitch agents with their book idea:

Agents waiting for writers:

The floodgates are unleashed:

And the lineups begin:

My wife and son joined me at the venue. He is not yet writing:

A night on the town with friends from the publishing world. New York lights even make slush look romantic:

Writer’s Digests’ own Phil Sexton introduce a panel I was on called “Hardcore Author Marketing”

Kate Travers answering a question from the audience:

Overall, a really great event. Thank you so much to the organizers, speakers, and everyone who attended!

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