The second annual Carolinas Writers Conference on Saturday, April 17, will offer a wide range of subjects to appeal to already-published authors, writers-to-be and readers of all ages.

The writers conference will be held from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at South Piedmont Community College's Lockhart-Taylor Center, 514 N. Washington St., Wadesboro.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. with an opening ceremony getting under way at 8:45 a.m. The cost for the event is $30 for adults and $6 for students (with an ID).

Author Ellyn Bache, "Daughters of the Sea," will be the 9 a.m. featured speaker, discussing “Tips for Fiction Writers” for all attendees.

The first round of breakout sessions will begin at 9:55 a.m.— featuring Michelle Buckman, “How to Write a Winning Synopsis”; Claudia Dane “Finding Your Theme Across Genres”; Bill Mitchell, “Sports Journalism: Blue Collar Writing”; Barbara Cole, “Writing Children’s Books”; and Judi McCoy, “All About the Business of Novel Writing.”

The 10:50 a.m. sessions will include David Shaffer, “Mysteries from the Eyes of a P.I.”; J.D. Rhoades, “Lawyers, Guns and Money”; Dixie Land, “Steps in Writing a First Novel”; and David Drake, “Writing Science-Fiction and Fantasy.”

Author Michael Malone, "The Four Corners of the Sky," will greet the after-lunch crowd as the conference’s second featured speaker. He will address “Handling Sin with Laughter: Why I Write Mysteries and Comedies.”

The afternoon breakout sessions will begin at 1:25 p.m. and will feature M. Scott Douglas, publisher/managing editor of Main Street Rag Publishing Co.; Joy Brown, “Writing Your Memoirs”; Susan Sipal, “Putting Harry Potter Magic in Your Novel”; and Susan Sloate, “How to Become an Amazon Best-Seller.” In addition, Suzanne Adair will read excerpts from her historical mystery/suspense series.

The last breakout sessions of the day will begin at 2:20 p.m. and will feature Maureen Sherbondy, “Becoming a Poet and the Road to Publication,” David Shaffer and Dixie Land, “The Perks of Independent Publishing”; and storyteller Karen-Eve Bayne, “Stories for Our Time.” Ellyn Bache also will read excerpts from her novels during this time period.

Author Chris Roerden, "Don't Sabotage Your Submission: Insider Information from a Career Editor to Save Your Manuscript from Turning Up D.O.A," will be the third featured speaker. She will present “How to Make Your Novel Rejection Proof” at 3:10 p.m.

The last session of the day will begin at 4:05 p.m. and will feature selected presenters in a panel discussion on “How to Get Published.”

The 2010 Carolinas Writers Conference sponsors are the Anson County Writers' Club, South Piedmont Community College and the Hampton B. Allen Library.

For a complete schedule and a list of presenters, visit www.ansoncountywritersclub.org and click on the writers conference button in the menu.