How To Get A Second Life

Second life®(SL) is an amazing virtual world where anything is possible. You can fly,

dance in a club, teleport from location to location, talk to and befriend people from all

around the world, join like-minded groups, change your look as many times as you want,

build homes and create products and businesses. You can even make real money.

There are no specific goals in SL and, unlike video games, there is no end. It is an

ever-evolving, ever-widening metaverse. The only limit is your imagination.

For many newcomers (or newbies, as they are affectionately called by more

experienced residents), this digital landscape with its huge realm of possibilities and

vast array of menus is very daunting. There is a very steep learning curve and many

residents go in once and never return because they find it all too difficult to master.

When I, Andrew Sullivan, first joined SL in 2005 as ‘madddyyy Schnook’ there were

hardly any resources for newbies. I soon realised that if I could teach myself using the

limited information that was available to newbies, I could write my own virtual

guidebooks. After a long struggle and many hours I finally wrote a 32-page virtual guide

to making clothes, which was a major success and led to almost 60 other books. Since

then I have set up my own business in SL providing virtual guidebooks to help other

people learn how to master various aspects of SL. I have sold hundreds of thousands of

these guides to people who are hungry for information and guidance for their second

life. As well as selling books from my shop, I also provide new residents with impromptu

lessons. I always get that satisfied feeling when the same resident comes back a few weeks

or even months later to thank me for the invaluable advice I have given them. Many of

my students have given me clothes, shoes and all sorts of gifts to thank me for my help.

The success of my guides has enabled me to do what many only dream of and give

my job up in real life (RL) to work for myself in SL. I always find it amusing to explain

to people what I do for a living – friends are usually shocked when I say I spent the

morning talking with a dragon and two princesses and drove around my shop in a

horse-drawn carriage.

With this book, I am hoping to help out the people who need guidance the most –

those who are just starting out in SL – so I can properly introduce them to this virtual

world and show them the opportunities that are available. It will also be a valuable

resource for more experienced SL residents wanting to learn additional skills and

further their knowledge.

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