Saturday, May 31, 2008

Second Life, Part II

NOTE: The following is from a Second Life travelogue I wrote for one of the masters-level classes I'm taking this semester. More from it to follow.

Book Island Publishing Village


Woo-hoo! So, you’ve written a book and want to get it published? Visit Book Island and find everything you’d want, from freebie bags giving your avatars free t-shirts, books and pirate gear (and what writer could possibly pass up free pirate gear?) to publishers form the vanity press to art and technology houses. And Scandanavian printing houses, in case you’ve written something that appeals specifically to Finns or Danes. Again, the networking angle is in high play here. Chat with fellow budding writers, find out how you might could get that dumb book you’ve been working on since high school published and in general make a high-falutin’ snobby fool of yourself. What could be more fun than that?

How about talking with a potential publisher, or at least the hired flunky of a potential publisher? E-mails and letters to the publishing houses won’t get you as close as Second Life, though, as you’ve guesses, there’s really no assurance you’re talking with a power-broker or the Intern they hired to run their SL site. But it’s worth a try, eh?

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/222/213/36

Written Word


So, you’re a writer. Writers write, don’t they? Yes. But they apparently also visit Second Life, where, at The Written Word, they can exchange ideas, texts, criticisms, snotty Oscar Wilde-is witticisms and then listen in as SL denizens interview a published author. Hey, that could be one of us pretty soon, eh?

Again, the networking possibilities here are staggering. The art of writing requires constant feedback, and here it is in the offing, if you’re brave enough and can figure out how to talk in Second Life, rather than relying on text – though they do say they will critique text if you’re shy or your voice sounds like Snow White on Helium. But they want you to speak. So on the Waterstage, they offer the most succinct tutorial on activating voice I’ve seen in weeks of trolling through Second Life – so they certainly do want to hear from you.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cookie/57/121/24

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