Later this month, I’m going to the Writer’s Digest 2012 Conference. It’ll be my second time attending and I’m really excited. (Links to my recaps of the 2011 conference are at the end of this post.) As I talked about last year, I love writing conferences because they’re inspiring, plus you can learn from experts and meet other writers.

Before you attend a conference, you should take the time to get ready. If you’ve spent hundreds of dollars to register (and even more if you have to travel or stay in a hotel), you want to get the most out of it. Here are a few ways to prepare:

1. Pay Attention to the Agenda. How you prepare for a conference depends on what you’ll do when you get there. If you signed up for a workshop where your manuscript will be critiqued, your book needs to be polished before then. If the conference includes pitching sessions, you’ll want to research the literary agents you’re pitching and practice ahead of time. If you sign up for a conference months in advance, give yourself enough time to work on these things.

What I’m Doing: Last year when I went to the Writer’s Digest Conference, I didn’t participate in the pitch slam. This year, I’m ready. Fingers crossed I get requests!

2. Bring Supplies. Carry a notebook. Extra pens. Glasses, if you need them. Don’t let your lack of supplies prevent you from gathering notes. Even if you aren’t typically a note-taker, I still suggest jotting things down. The pros are presenting to you. That kind of in-person exposure isn’t available everyday!

Also, bring business cards. Most likely, an agent or editor at a conference won’t take your card but they’re great for handing out to other writers so you can stay in touch. The basic information you need on a card is your name, title (writer), and contact info (website, email address, twitter handle, etc.) Here’s another tip: if you want to include a phone number, set up a Google Voice account.

What I’m Doing: I’m ordering Moo business cards because they’re affordable and good-quality. They even have a bunch of writer-appropriate designs. I ended up choosing one of their other designs because I was drawn to the colors.

3. Plan to Mingle. Writing is such a solitary activity so use the conference to connect with other writers. If you’re going alone, the idea of talking to total strangers might intimidate you. But you should remember that you all have writing in common. Think of some ice-breakers ahead of time, for when you find yourself in a position to chat with someone. Some good ones are: What do you write? Where are you from? Is this your first time at this conference? If you go into the conference planning to speak to people, you’ll most likely leave it with new friends.

What I’m Doing: I’m going to make a conscious effort to break out of my shell and talk to other writers. I met one of my writer friends (hi, Gina!) at last year’s conference. Since then, we’ve started weekly write nights with a couple of other people.

Are you going to any conferences this year? If you’ll be at the Writer’s Digest conference, let me know! I’m going to try to tweet while I’m there so you can follow along @ghenet. And once it’s over, I’ll share what I learned right here.

2011 Writer’s Digest Recaps
On Not Pitching
Putting the Fire in your Fiction 
Building the Perfect Plot