May 20th, 2013
Making QR codes
When scanned by smart phones or tablets equipped with cameras and the proper app, these handy little images can connect people immediately with any webpage.
You can have one for your website. If you have a free story to give away, you can send people right to the page that they can download it from. If you have ebooks, send them to the page they can purchase it.
Let’s say we want to make a QR code for the MWAmidwest.com website.
Open a new browser window or tab, and go to the webpage you want to make a QR code for, in this case it’s http://mwamidwest.com
Select that URL from the browser window and copy it. This will make sure you don’t make a mistake typing the URL.
Go to https://bitly.com/
Where it says “Paste a link to shorten it,” paste the link.
It will return a link, something like this: http://bit.ly/fL7z7A
Now here’s the tricky part. Copy that link – all of it – and paste it into the location bar (this is the place where you see URLs displayed, like “https://bitly.com/shorten/” which is what your browser should be showing you now)
Don’t hit return or enter just yet. You need to edit the URL to ad “.qr” to the end.
So it reads http://bit.ly/fL7z7A.qr
That should load in a page that displays the QR code associated with the bitly url for your webpage. Go ahead and click that link and you’ll see the QR code for MWAmidwest.com
And that’s it. Right click on the image or click-and-drag it to your desktop and you have an image that’s ready to go on business cards, postcards or even book covers.
Categories: From our MWMWA president, Printers Row |
Tags: marketing, QR codes, website | No Comments
May 17th, 2013
We have lots of MWA Midwest programming planned for this year’s Printers Row Lit Fest. Join us!
Saturday, June 8th
12:30 p.m. Mystery panel: Michael A. Black, Julie Hyzy, Clare O’Donohue, moderated by Lori Rader Day
2 p.m. Flash Fiction presented by Mystery Writers of America (60 minutes) Sara Paretsky, Barbara D’Amato and Raymond Benson
4 p.m. Bryan Gruley, Alec Nevala-Lee, Brian D’Amato and Libby Fischer Hellmann moderated by Robert Goldsborough
Sunday, June 9th
1 p.m. Mystery Writers of America writing workshop Laura Caldwell
See the full schedule here:
http://graphics.chicagotribune.com/litfest/
See you there!
Categories: Uncategorized |
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January 30th, 2013
Love is Murder is this weekend, and MWA is there too.
On Friday, we’re sponsoring a writers track in room Pollack A
Noon to 1 pm: Pitching to agents and publishers with Jamie Freveletti, Robert Goldsborough and Shane Gericke
1 pm to 2 pm: Character Development with William Kent Krueger
2 to 3 pm: Writing Dialogue with Libby Fischer Hellman
3 to 4 pm: Marketing in the new era with Libby Fischer Hellman
On Saturday, Afternoon Tea is in room Cassatt D from 3 to 4 pm.
If you are interested in attending and hosting a table, it’s not too late. If you haven’t already contacted me, please do so at aabroder@yahoo.com
And then on Sunday, we’ll be holding a chapter meeting in room Avedon B from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm.
Among other things, we’ll be hearing about the MWA mentor program. You don’t have to be attending Love is Murder to attend our chapter meeting. The conference is at the InterContinental Chicago O’Hare, 5300 North River Road, Rosemont, IL.
It costs to park, so carpool if you can. Hope to see you there!
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December 14th, 2012
This Sunday at 1 pm at Centuries and Sleuths in River Forest, join us for our annual MWA Midwest Holiday Party! With special guest Max Allan Collins!
Lunch will be served. RSVP to mwamidwest@gmail.com
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November 9th, 2012
This Sunday, November 11th, meeting will feature Rejean Morgan, intellectual property attorney. Morgan is the principal of AbrahamMorgan, a law firm in Lake Forest, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. Rejean’s practice is focused on patent, trademark, copyright, publishing, and contract law. While in law school, Rejean received the BNA Award for Excellence in Intellectual Property and was a section editor of the school’s Intellectual Property Law Review.
Rejean particularly enjoys teaching and welcomes the opportunity to speak with writers and small businesses regarding protecting their intellectual property. She will be giving an overview of intellectual property in general, and in particular, what writers and self-publishers need to know about copyrights, trademarks, and contracts.
Our meeting will be at 1 PM Central Daylight Time on Sunday, November 11 at Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore, 7419 W. Madison St., Forest Park, IL 60130.
And if you can’t make it to the store, you can watch and interact with us online as we’ll be broadcasting the meeting over the Internet via ustream. Go to
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mwa-midwest
Categories: Meetings |
Tags: Rejean Morgan | Comments Off
October 20th, 2012
UPDATE: Unfortunately our guest was ill that Sunday. We’ll be seeking to reschedule her early next year.
What’s it like to publish a book using funds from a crowdsourcing site like Kickstarter? C. Spike Trotman – who ran not one but two successful kickstarter campaigns, will be at Centuries and Sleuths, 7419 Madison St. In Forest Park, tomorrow at 1 pm to tell the Midwest Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. It’s free and open to all.
Categories: Meetings |
Tags: kickstarter, Spike | Comments Off
October 10th, 2012
SinCC and Schaumburg Township District Library
presents …
WRITERS’ WORKSHOP DAY
four sessions taught by Sisters in Crime [AND MWAMidwest] published authors
Saturday, October 13
10:30 am – 4:30 pm
at
Schaumburg Township District Library
130 South Roselle Road , Schaumburg , IL 60193
SCHEDULE (65 minute sessions):
10:30-10:35 Welcome/Intro
10:35-11:40 CREATING MEMORABLE CHARACTERS – with Gail Lukasik
11:40-11:55 Fifteen-minute break
11:55-1:00 CRAFTING SUSPENSE – with Patricia Rosemoor
1:00-2:00 Lunch
2:05-3:10 POINT OF VIEW – with Michael Allen Dymmoch
3:10-3:25 Fifteen-minute break
3:25-4:30 KILLER OPENING SCENES – with Clare O’ Donohue
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR INSTRUCTORS!
GAIL LUKASIK …
PATRICIA ROSEMOOR …
MICHAEL ALLEN DYMMOCH …
CLARE O’DONOHUE …
REGISTRATION INFO
There is no charge for the workshop classes.
These sessions are open to all SinC members and to the public.
Feel free to sign up with a friend!
There is no individual workshop registration, just the full day.
You are not required to stay the whole time if for some reason you cannot.
BY PHONE: Call the Schaumburg Library’s Information Desk at 847.923.3347
REGISTER ONLINE: Use the following link to register online: http://tinyurl.com/8hoqub5
The link will take you to a form for this event at the library’s website. Enter your name and phone number. If you would like to receive an automatic e-mail reminder, also enter your e-mail address. That’s it!
Directions to the library: www.stdl.org/location.asp
Schaumburg Library main website: http://schaumburglibrary.org/
Categories: Extra event |
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September 2nd, 2012
What does a forensic psychologist do? Come meet Dr. William “Kip” Hillman, a board-certified forensic psychologist.
Dr. Hillman is a board-certified forensic psychologist in Chicago. He does forensic assessments, consultations, and testimony in fitness to stand trial, insanity, substance abuse, coerced confessions, psychological autopsies, and risk for violence, including sexual violence. His range of experience includes work in prisons, inpatient psychiatric hospitals—and 12 years of marriage to a writer.
The meeting starts at 1 pm on Sunday, September 9 at Centuries and Sleuths. Bring a guest. Bring questions.
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September 2nd, 2012
Authors must put themselves in the forefront if they’re going to sell books. That was the message
MWAMidwest members heard at the August meeting from a special guest, Rebecca Crowley, founder and CEO of RTC Publicity in NewYork.
“My most successful authors are those who take an active role in their own promotion,”she said. But it takes a team. Family. Friends. A hired publicist is just part of the team. “My best ideas are born in conjunction with other people,” Crowley said.
Actually, she admitted, “A lot of my [book marketing] ideas come out of marketing other products.”
What works? Finding a way to “go viral” online. Crowley said. Also email newsletters that show off your personality instead of only selling, selling, selling.
Working with her clients, Crowley does a lot of blog outreach and still insists that hand-selling—through word of mouth, through individual interactions in person or online—is the best way to sell books. Social media, Crowley said, is a hand-selling opportunity—but you have to do it right. “It should be an ongoing dialogue,” she said. “Don’t start a million online profiles and walk away. Do one really well instead of five really poorly.”
Lori Rader Day is the editor of Clues.
Categories: Event, Meeting report, Uncategorized |
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July 28th, 2012
Rebecca Crowley, founder and CEO of RTC Publicity, will be sharing her expertise with the Midwest Chapter of Mystery Writers of America on Sunday, August 5 at 1 pm.
Our meeting will be at 1 PM Central Daylight Time on Sunday, August 5 at Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore, 7419 W. Madison St., Forest Park, IL 60130.
And if you can’t make it to the store, you can watch and interact with us online as we’ll be broadcasting the meeting over the Internet via ustream. Go to www.ustream.tv/channel/mwa-midwest
You’ll have to watch a lame commercial for a few seconds, but then you’ll be connected to the live stream.
To ask questions of our speaker, email cns7419@sbcglobal.net
Categories: Meetings |
Tags: Centuries & Sleuths, Mystery Writers of America, Rebecca Crowley | Comments Off
