SL book signing with Play Money author Julian Dibbell

Today Julian Dibbell did an in-world book signing and Q&A for his new book Play Money.  In an interesting twist, Julian not only is selling a virtual version of his book in Second Life, he  also has a two-for-one deal to get both the virtual and real versions of the book for 6250 Lindens (about $20.)

I bought both flavors, even though I have to say the Second Life edition  is kind of silly.  I don't see the point in peering over the shoulder of my own avatar to read a book.

It was a fun event actually, with a few dozen avatars present, all clamoring to get their copies signed by the author. Julian was very game (no pun intended), and obviously comfortable in a virtual environment.  Most of his experience is with Ultima Online, if I understand correctly.  There is another Q&A with Hamlet Au later this evening that I will unfortunately have to miss.

Here is my "signed" copy of the book.  I can't say much about the content of it, but I can say that Julian has very nice penmanship. :)

Seriously, I look forward to reading the dead tree version as soon as it arrives.  It sounds fascinating from the Amazon write-up:

...With city-sized populations of nearly full-time players, these [MMORPG] games generate their own cultures, governments, and social systems and, inevitably, their own economies, which spill over into the real world. The desire for virtual goods--magic swords, enchanted breastplates, and special, hard-to-get elixirs--has spawned a cottage industry of "virtual loot farmers": People who play the games just to obtain fantasy goods that they can sell in the real world... Play Money is an extended walk on the weird side: a vivid snapshot of a subculture whose denizens were once the stuff of mere sociological spectacle but now--with computer gaming poised to eclipse all other entertainments in dollar volume, and with the lines between play and work, virtual and real increasingly blurred--look more and more like the future.

Can't wait to read it!