QR Codes for Publishers and Authors

Connect with readers in innovative ways

Want to use physical space to create digital experiences? Check out these best practices.
Publishing
Drive more ad dollars
Ad placements with QR codes instantly make a paper page become digital. And with the ability to seamlessly add affiliate links and track attribution, they can validate your publications engagement.
Drive more ad dollars
Electrify your content
With QR codes, your content is never static, even if it’s published offline. Now your printed works can always be fresh, relevant, and evolving with codes that scan to different digital destinations to engage your readers.
Electrify your content
Passively market your work
A QR code can be placed on anything and direct to anywhere. This means every surface is an opportunity to promote your brand. Link to lead magnets that incentivize email signups, direct to your socials, and to complementary products.
Passively market your work
Access the Flowcode API for real estate
Need to create Flowcode QR codes at scale for your publishing needs? Want your performance data piped directly to your systems? Create unique codes for every issue and personalize content by region.
Access the Flowcode API for real estate

Best practices for QR codes for publishing

Want to use physical space to create digital experiences? Check out these best practices.
Use dynamic codes
Flowcode’s QR destinations are never permanent. If you want to change your destination to somewhere else, you can do that in an instant.
Design your QR code
Flowcodes are not your typical black-and-white code — they’re artistically designed to fit the visual aesthetic of your brand. They really pop.
Connect to a Flowpage
A Flowpage is a mobile landing page for people to land when they scan your QR code. Display bios, research, videos, socials, and more.
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"I love Flowcode! Round. Customizable. I made it the colors of my book cover and even including my favicon. It’s on the back cover of my printed book, and I’ve used it in marketing materials—either printed or on a sticker—to direct people to my website. Next up: make one for my PayPal account to sell my book. It’s fast and easy to create!"
Gretchen Staebler
Author
Tips for fostering relationships with your readers
Want inspiration? Learn from this spotlight!
Enable constant product discovery

Keeping readers in your funnel after one purchase can be a difficult task. Make it easier than ever for readers to stay in your pipeline by providing them a simple way to discover more of your publications and across different channels. QR codes on books are a great way for authors to drive readers to their entire book roster for their next purchase. Publishers can use QR codes on books to drive readers to related authors, best-seller lists, and curated recommendations by genre. Attaching QR codes to books creates a personalized and seamless online shopping experience for readers to continue to discover publications you are selling. You can also create an ebook QR code or audiobook QR code to allow readers to quickly access publications in the format best suited for them. Keep readers and fans seamlessly in your pipeline by enabling them to continually explore, shop, and purchase related items instantaneously and at their convenience.

Make each publication interactive

Turn every static book you publish and sell into an opportunity to bring readers into your inner circle. Adding QR codes on books enables you to to directly connect with your readers and fans in the long term by fostering a community and bringing your personality as an author to life and fostering a fan base. Let readers scan a Flowcode you place on your book cover that brings them to: an inside look on the author or writing process, an updated publication or tour schedule, and links to your social media or blog so fans can always remain engaged. For publishers, do the same with highlighting your publishing persona, highlight upcoming book tours and events, and more! QR codes on books are also an opportunity to drive readers to leave reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and more. Allow super-fans and influencers to gather affiliate links instantly and help drive growth of your sales. Never let readers miss a beat when you connect them with your digital presence to gather new publications, attend events, and interact with you on social media.

Turn interested readers into buyers instantly

Turn your offline marketing collateral into more than just an opportunity for exposure. On every print ad – from magazines, to a-frames, to fliers – adding a retail QR code to your marketing enables consumers to purchase in the moment when intent is high. Offline marketing can be expensive and often hard to drive and track. Increase engagement by enabling customers to use a retail QR code to directly drive users to your selling platform, amazon, or audiobook platform. Alternatively, steer customers to the nearest bookstore with an interactive map of stores carrying your books near them. Turn each impression into a conversion when you make it easy to instantly purchase your books. Retail QR codes also uniquely capture data: use Flowcode engagement to see when and where consumers are scanning, and use Flowpages to see how customers move through your purchasing funnel. Allow consumers to enter their contact information for discounts, freebies, and more in order to capture their contact information for future email and SMS retargeting.

Key features you get with Flowcode

Features and analytics to help you get more downloads.
Unlimited Flowcodes
Create and update an unlimited number of QR codes anytime.
Create a Custom Code
From colors to logos, create a code built for your brand.
Advanced Analytics
Gather robust first party data that unlocks insights about brand new offline customers.
FAQs for QR codes for publishing
Question not answered?
Can you add a QR code to a book?

Yes! QR codes can be added to any surface, and books are no exception. When adding a QR code to a book, make sure you choose a solution by companies like Flowcode where all code destinations can be edited, even after they have been printed. When you print the code, it’s best to make it no smaller than 1” so it can still be scanned by devices.

How do QR codes work with books?

QR codes with books work by sending readers to different online destinations after they scan a code. Whether it’s to learn about the author or show more books by the publisher, QR codes help create additional touch points with readers.

How do I create a QR code for a publication?

There are tons of solutions for creating a QR code for a publication, but Flowcode offers a free QR code generator where you can create and print a code in minutes. Add any online destination to your code and send readers there once they scan the code with their phone.