Laura Thomas (@Laura_Raptor) is a writer living and working in Canada. Previously, she has published a full-length novel, but has changed her focus to the short form novella, especially in the Erotica genre. Laura has created a productive workflow and lifestyle that allows her to publish up to three stories per week to online and via electronic platforms like the Amazon Kindle.
Check out Laura under her pen name, Selena Storm, (@Selena_Storm) where you can find about 40 titles.
 
Show Notes & Links

Apologies to Joel Duggan, our first international guest
Laura lives in Hamilton, Ontario
Virginia Wade
EL James
Novels are 80,000 words; lately Laura’s works are 5000-7000 (better returns for the genre)
How stories are born
Laura is inspired by things that interest her
For some people, kink/fetish comes first; Laura does the opposite finding the setting first
There’s only so many ways to say “he put this in that.”
“I felt like I was north of The Wall” (a reference to the winter of 2013-14 and A Song of Ice and Fire)
Wrestlemania, inspired some of the content in her books
Laura does her own cover design
Laura’s husband is a comic artist
“New York Publishing”
Harry Potter by JK Rowling
Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Laura self-publishes her stuff because publishers take too much money
Scott Sigler, author and self-publisher, also goes it alone
The New York Times Bestseller List
Vanity Printing
National Novel-Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) should be succeeded by National Novel-Editing Month
“The days of the celebrity author are done.”
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, and the “Hit Model”
Publish or Perish (not just for professors)
Laura publishes 3 short stories per week
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, and The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by “A. N. Roquelaure.” (actually Anne Rice)
Silvia Day, prolific author in romance/erotica
Cosmopolitan, a communal effort for graphics, photography, print, etc.
Laura & her husband have a podcast, The Untitled Mike & Laura Project
Ghost Adventures
Bigfoot Erotica and other books by Virginia Wade
“There’s no such thing as an overnight success.”

Tools

A smart phone, for recording thoughts/ideas on the go
Living room PC, for streaming videos and Google Docs, etc.
MS Word
Amazon (Amazon Canada)
Smashwords
Barnes & Noble (in Britain, but not yet Canada)
Twitter is the number 1 platform for communicating/promoting
Tumblr
DeviantArt (for book covers with some text explanation)
GoodReads, hit or miss from a promotion point of view
Audible, and their star-rating
KDP Select, for Kindle
Reddit, if you find the right communities

Techniques

Use a crummy computer to avoid distractions while writing
Use a different computer in a different setting to see a document with fresh eyes
As the document evolves, use an e-reader to keep things fresh
Format the text for each format, following guidelines for each publishing platform and device
Write three books to sell as a bundle (buy two get the third free)
Try disconnecting from the Internet to actually get something done

Habits

Create a morning routine, as you would for a job
Keep the “lunch break” brief
Treat writing — and promotions — like a full-time job
Some kind of media (like television) in the background