The Immersive Thriller: How I Used QR Codes to Heighten Suspense in My Latest Novel

with Carter Wilson

In today's newsletter, our own Carter Wilson takes you behind the scenes of his tenth book release, Tell Me What You Did, and explores how blending traditional storytelling with multimedia elements like video and QR codes creates an immersive experience—and why, for him, the joy of the creative process always comes first.

The Immersive Thriller

Oh my God it's book-launch month. This is my tenth release, and it's always nerve wracking. Will readers like the book? Will anyone show up to my events? How many stubborn typos will be pointed out to me, and will my mother tell me I'm still using too much profanity with my characters?

My new thriller, Tell Me What You Did, will be out on January 28. Truth is, within a couple of months before a release the author has some indication of a book's potential success, and I will say my new release gotten a lot of positive pre-release attention. It's an angry, scary book—perhaps I successfully tapped into the national mood? Or perhaps part of the reason is I did something a little out of the ordinary in Tell Me What You Did by including a handful of multimedia elements.

I have a history of including more than just words in my books. In Mister Tender’s Girl, astute readers can find a website and password in the book which unveils artwork and a fake message board that both play roles in the book. In The Dead Girl in 2A, art from a fictitious (and dark) children’s book were placed throughout the story. In the case of Tell Me What You Did, there’s video.

Let me explain.

The protagonist, Poe Webb, hosts a successful true-crime podcast. She interviews everyday callers who have something to confess, and while she records the online conversations, she always deletes the recordings a week later to preserve the guests’ anonymity. But, unknown to her callers, Poe always records video of her side of the conversation on her iPhone.

I decided I wanted to see what those recordings might look like, so I hired the wonderful actor Rebekah Kennedy to play the role of Poe and recreate those recorded scenes. She did an amazing job, and I get goosebumps every time I watch these short scenes. The three videos are linked by QR codes in the book, so all the reader has to do is scan the code with their phone to watch. Even my acknowledgements are done by video.

If you're a writer looking to use multimedia in your novel, great! But, like writing your book, don't half-ass it. Make it good. Spend money if you have to. I hired experts to create great content for me, and I don't expect a return on that investment other than the pride of having something cool and different in my stories. Of course, your editor will have final say about its inclusion in your story, but they’ll be hard pressed to say no if you deliver great multimedia content. Side note: always be aware of any possible copyright issues if you're using images/video/music.

How many readers will bother scanning the QR codes? I have no idea, but I'd be surprised if it were more than 5%. I did receive some reader feedback from the Easter eggs I planted in Mister Tender's Girl, but I really don't know how many checked. And keeping stats isn't really the point, is it? It's about making the story the best possible version it can be. Inserting multimedia into novels is just like writing the novel itself: I do it for me. I tell the story I want to tell, and if that story is best serviced with some multimedia, I'll add it in. All the while I don't even know if a publisher will want my book. All the effort could be for naught. But if I've learned anything from over two decades of writing, it's that if I'm not finding joy in the process, it's not worth doing at all.