Three months ago I woke up at three in the morning with this wild idea that I needed to have a QR code on the book jacket of Ravenscraig that would link to a book trailer.   I had never seen a QR code on a book jacket, but it seemed like an obvious use for this great technology that allows you to scan the code with your smart phone and link to a web page.  What if you could get a quick overview of the story in a video on your phone while you are standing at the bookstore with the novel in your hand?

So much for sleep.  I put the coffee on and started working on the book trailer. (My day job is in video production.)  Because Ravenscraig is historical fiction, I was able to draw on images that had inspired me along the way in the writing of the book.

The QR code (which stands for Quick Response) is technology that caught my fancy only recently with my own upgrade to a “smart phone”.

Scan, buzz, link, and see the video.  Very cool.  I am lucky to have tech-savvy friends who helped me see how easy it was to get my own QR code (at no cost) and how to link the video to a “landing page” on my  blog, so that I would have the flexibility to update the video and know with certainty that the QR code would link.

This week, it was a thrill to go to McNally Robinson  in Winnipeg and see the freshly arrived books on shelves a few days in advance of the launch.

There on the back, you’ll see the QR code ready to scan and take you to the overview of the story in a short video displayed on your phone.

Sometimes those crazy ideas in the middle of the night really are worth a trip to the kitchen for a pot of fresh coffee.