I was discussing this with a friend yesterday. Looks like it is already being tried out. http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/12/write_poems_get_a_second_life_2.html Since this is poetry, it may be difficult to test whether this simulation would generate sales in the real world.

But this got me thinking, if Starbucks and other corporations are making an appearance in that world, i wonder if any publishers are offering the chance to get published in the virtual world - with a twist. You pay to get your work published. We all know how much publishers need that extra income. Would it work? Who knows? The whole thing is an economy built on selling people their fantasies.

not to worry --hlsander, Tue, 06 Feb 2007 10:51:03 -0800 reply

It's definitley an idea on publishers' radar.

not to worry --paschal, Tue, 06 Feb 2007 11:35:27 -0800 reply

i feel like i am on the edge of some insider info. care to elaborate?

not to worry --hlsander, Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:27:13 -0800 reply

Sorry -- can't just yet... :)

Penguin did this last year with Snow Crash --paschal, Mon, 19 Mar 2007 11:23:34 -0800 reply

'Penguin worked with the London-based virtual world design agency Rivers Run Red to create an in-world version of the book - this offers readers excerpts of the text, an audio clip and a link which clicks through to a dedicated Second Life page on the Penguin website, complete with the opportunity to buy the book at a discount.'

http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,,1930135,00.html

class trip --mauve, Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:05:24 -0800 reply

Maybe we can have a class trip to Penguin's (if it is still up)

Is reading on screen, as an avatar, actually satisfying? Especially compared to reading (and touching) a book in... first life?

Link to recent post by Heather Sanderson --paschal, Sun, 25 Mar 2007 16:20:48 -0800 reply

http://thinkubator.ccsp.sfu.ca/SecondLife#bottom

Bantam recently opened a store in Secondlife --paschal, Sun, 25 Mar 2007 16:23:42 -0800 reply

>From March 14 - Bantam Dell established a commercial and social presence in Second Life.

books and second life --mauve, Mon, 23 Apr 2007 19:46:30 -0700 reply

so, maybe online games such as second life are taking a chunck of the entertainment indystry (including the book publishing industry), but all these online games need manuals, user guides and other books to support them! We are not out of business quite just yet.

Check out the user guide: Second Life, The Official Guide