NEW WORLD NOTES: THE BOOK (Updated)

It should show up in trade magazines in the next few days, but I wanted to make sure New World Notes readers read it here first:  I'm enormously excited to announce my book on Second Life will be published next year through Collins, an imprint of publishing giant HarperCollins.  Here's the official blurb as it'll read in an upcoming Publisher's Marketplace:

NOTES FROM THE NEW WORLD, an exploration of the online virtual world known as Second Life, where more than a million residents live and play (some earning six-figure incomes in the process), as it transforms into the next generation of the Internet, replacing the World Wide Web, and attracting attention from MTV, Warner Brothers, Harvard, authors, even political candidates, to Ethan Friedman at Collins, in a deal that includes the virtual book rights for publication in Second Life.

In what I believe is a publishing first, HarperCollins will explictly buy the rights to the book's Second Life edition, as well, so Residents can purchase a virtual copy of the book, and, of course, have it signed by me at in-world appearances.  At the same time, an excerpt of the SL edition will be released under a non-commercial Creative Commons license, so Residents can integrate it into sculptures and other interactive installations they create in-world for events centered around the book's debut.

My massive thanks to Ethan for bringing it into the HarperCollins fold and nurturing it there, and to my agent David Fugate of LaunchBooks, who saw the potential of a Second Life book early on and fought for my version of it from the very beginning.  My deep gratitude as well to Linden Lab, for helping incubate my blog (along with the world) throughout the first few years, and above all, to my readers here, and all the talented and soulful Residents and Linden developers I've met and written about.  They're the ultimate reason this book is being written, and I hope it does justice to all they've accomplished.

Now comes the hard part: writing about a world that continues evolving on a near daily basis.

Update, July 4th, 2007:  The title is now The Making of Second Life: Notes from the New World.  Publication date aimed for early 2008.

Comments

[rikomatic]

That's super-exciting! Congrats, Ham!

[Raffila]

WTG! In-world appearances, publication rights--yeah!
You're the right man for the job, too.
Best wishes,
Raffi

[Shockwave Plasma]

What will the authors name be?

Your RL or your SL name?

[Urizenus]

wooot! yay Hammie!

(don't forget to write two or three chapters about me!)

[Celebrity Trollop]

Congratulations, Hammy! That's super exciting!

[Relee Baysklef]

That's great! I like the idea of Books in SL, I have one on my virtual coffee table even. Though I do feel a little uncomfortable about paying full price for something I can't take out of the metaverse if something terrible were to happen.

[Linda Zimmer]

A huge congrats, Hamlet!!!

[Interfect Sonic]

Yay! SL books!
Any plans to sell this on the TG? I want a copy.

[Kefrens LOWE]

Really Great !!!
Now, I'm impatiently awaiting for the French release ^_^

[haya Kiama]

Congratulations!

"...and, of course, have it signed by me at in-world appearance." *snort* That just made me LOL.

[Alastair Chamerberlin]

And to think we can say we knew you when!! You're the man now dawg!

[Ben King]

Congratulations! Looking forward to reading it!

[Hamlet Au]

Thanks all!

Far as the virtual edition, Relee, the details aren't worked out yet, though I'll definitely work to make it affordable. May do it like Julian, and offer a deal for the virtual edition only...

[Zillow Dejavu]

Very interesting. And congrats! My first three novels were published by HarperCollins. It's a great house and now it sounds like they're on the cutting edge of publishing.

[vaspers the grate]

This is great. The book will be a training exercise for my digital surrogate, ie virtual clone who reads all my imaginary media to me so the web effluvium does not overwhelm me.

Haptic immersive telepresencing means we can now reach out and touch someone, and not just fantasize about it.

twitter.com/vaspers