Bantam Dell, a division of Random House, recently opened the Bantam Dell Book Shop in Second Life. The growing on-line community already has a host of stores, but Bantam Dell Senior Vice President of Creative Marketing Betsy Hulsebosch claims this is the first North American publisher to set up shop in Second Life. The BDBS opened on 15 March with a live appearance by Dean Koontz, who read from his forthcoming novel The Good Guy (which is scheduled to be released on 29 May).
Visitors to the BDBS will be eable to browse through and buy books (all published by Bantam Dell), sip virtual coffee, and meet authors. In addition to further author events, BD plans to host virtual book groups and writing and publishing panels.
The BDBS was designed and installed by Electric Sheep, a digital design company. It is located on Sheep Island, SL territory owned by Electric Sheep.
See this article, published on 22 March, for more on the story.