Authors outside the virtual world at times pay attention to the virtual world. Terry Pratchett visited once for a talk in a promotion of his book Nation. Science Fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson used to pop into Second Life for a talk or two, dressed as a coyote. I’ve talked, more than once, with Nara Malone who has formed community links with authors in Second Life and beyond into OpenSim, especially with projects such as The HyperGrid Stories Project.
Over the weekend whilst roaming around the Science Fiction Convention 2015 in Second Life I stumbled across the works of another author, UK based SciFi & Fantasy author Elinor Caiman Sands.
Elinor has a small exhibit in the Risa sim at the conference, featuring promotion of her books and some Second Life based artwork. Elinor is a fan of alligators, I’m not sure how many of them really exist in swamps in the UK, although legend has it that the UK was indeed once a very swampy land. However she does have experience of the British Labour party, so she should be used to people showing their teeth and trying to snap.
At the exhibition four of Elinor’s e-books are promoted :
- Europa Spring
- Elinor’s Little Book of Funny Critters
- The Martian Ascent
- Mouse About the House
These are all short stories and were published as Kindle editions in 2014.
The display itself is small but makes its point. You’ll be offered an information pack if you visit and there’s a free sample as well as an opportunity to join a group or get some free gifts.
In the virtual world of course, you don’t get to do book signings, so I haven’t had a chance to talk to Elinor about her work or how she utilises Second Life but it’s clear that Elinor has been active in Second Life.
These days, with independent publishing, there are many authors around and a virtual world is a good place for authors to not only promote their work, they can, as exemplified by the likes of Nara Malone, get interactive with their fiction.
Going forward, Virtual Reality may make it possible for even more interactive work to be produced and new avenues of promotion for authors and storytellers.
The way stories are delivered is likely to change as technology develops, but those who tell and write stories should be able to adapt to bring their visions to new audiences over the years. One thing I’d like to see in Linden Lab’s nextgen virtual world is a more feature rich way of delivering stories, notecards and textures don’t really cut the mustard, although they can be used to tell a good tale.