FRIDAY: Needed a break from technolgy, so dropped in on session on “How to Write & Publish Your First Book.” Minal Hajralwala, author of “Leaving India: My Family’s Journey from Five Villages to Five Continents,” summed up the process in one sentence: It was hard!” All panelists discussed need to be disciplined and to set deadlines. Also a good agent can make all the difference. How to you find an agent? It’s like dating… one of the panelists said. “you just have to go out and meet them and pick the one that feels right.”

— Esther Wu