Gail’s Short Presentations

1-1.5 HOURS EACH

Miss Carriger is an experienced teacher – articulate, insightful, and not afraid to make a fool of herself. To ask about rates & booking please drop us a calling card. Her perspective is as a NYT bestselling full-time six-figure hybrid author. This means she has successfully worked with traditional publishers (big 5 & small press) and self published as well has dealing with adaptations (film, graphic), translations, and more.

Students! Please the left column of this page for references & resources!

CRAFT OF WRITING

Overview of the Heroine’s Journey

What is the Heroine’s Journey (as opposed to the Hero’s) and what aspects make for compelling narrative and voracious readers? Where do these elements originate and how do we write them? This deck presentation covers briefly what the Heroine’s Journey is, how it works, one source myth, one pop-culture example, and how it can be activated by authors. 

Level: Beginner

Also available for academic and book group discussions. This is the Cliff’s notes version of Gail’s longer in-depth seminar on the subject. 

• Citations & References for this presentation

Gothic Roots of Genre Fiction

Did you know most genre fiction was born out of the Gothic literary movement? Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery and Romance novels all borrow tropes and archetypes from the Gothics. Gail discusses what it means to “write Gothic” and how to manipulate the roots of genre to manage reader expectations when writing for the commercial genre fiction market.

Level: Beginner

Peopling Fiction with Comedy 

Deck-style presentation on bringing character depth, narrative pace, and social subversion to fiction using comedy. NYT bestseller Gail Carriger addresses how authors can analyze and source humor, the many different ways to inject funny into fiction, and why you might want to do so. 

RESOURCES

• The Power of Humor as Subversion for Fiction Authors + references

Level: Beginner

BUSINESS OF WRITING

(Gail is willing to offer a combination of the following beginner & intermediate short presentations as one long 5-6 hr seminar.)

Things I Wish I Knew FIRST  

In this presentation NYT bestselling author Gail Carriger covers all the things she wished someone had told her when she first started out in publishing. She’ll explain pesky concepts and terms that established authors and book industry professionals take for granted. She’ll review industry standards and expectations of authors, both in traditional and indie publishing. She’ll help you determine which path is best for your book and career: traditional publishing, self publishing, or a hybrid of the two. She’ll cover the things she believes EVERY author should have set up BEFORE their first book launch. This is also your opportunity to pick her brain.

Level: Beginner

• YT playlist of Gail + many others talking author business stuff
• Style sheet example

Failure is Just a Data Point

How can authors successfully fail? What systems can you set up to stabilize your career in times of crisis? Gail will offer tips on how to use failure as a guide towards advantageous change. How to set up your author business to pivot when something goes wrong. How to make informed decisions for the future. How using a data analysis toolkit can save yourself and your author career.

Level: Intermediate 

• How to Evergreen links using Redirection
• Analytics for Authors with Gail Carriger (The Writer’s Mindset podcast & YT)
• Imaginary friends and real-world consequences: parasocial relationships with fictional characters (YouTube video)

NOTE: This presentation is currently running 1.5 hours. Gail is reworking it to try to get it down, but for now, please allow additional time.

All Day Seminar: 3.5 – 5 HRS

Branding Basics for Fiction Authors

What does it mean to be a brand as an author? How is that different from simply writing and publishing a book? Why is it important to know about branding ahead of time? How do you figure out your brand and why? What are some best practices for authors coping with this complex identity and online world? Gail will discuss exactly how to build an author brand that encourages reader loyalty. Covers tips and tricks for your newsletter, social media, and blogging.

Level: Beginner-Intermediate 

CONFERENCES PLEASE NOTE

Gail uses Keynote on a MacPro (2020 M1) laptop for her lecture presentations. She’ll need facilities with projection and the appropriate cables (HDMI). For Q&A sessions she also likes a whiteboard, if possible.

One of her most successful writer’s conference offerings is always the unstructured:

Pick a Successful Hybrid Author’s Brain

Pick NYT bestselling Gail Carriger’s author brain on all matters hybrid. How to balance trad and indie? Tips and tricks around which path suits what kind of book. Seeking balance rather than just one option? Talk to someone who’s basically tried (and tracked) it all. Gail has over 15 years as a successful six-figure author who likes data.

Attendees love being granted access to ask burning questions and Gail loves answering them. This is run as a Q&A session. It is a lot easer for introverts to approach Gail when officially sectioned by a con. Gail always gets convention reviews praising this kind of session when it’s offered. We highly recommend you include this kind of thing in your programming.

“My cat must be very well educated – considering how many times I’ve practiced presentations on her. Then again, she always falls asleep in class.”

~ Gail Carriger