The Saga of Preorders
Asi Wind recently closed out the pre-orders for Repertoire II, the much anticipated sequel to his 2018 blockbuster book, Repertoire. In case you missed the preorder window, fear not! The book will be available again once it’s actually in print, estimated to be by the end of the year. I’ve preordered, and I plan to discuss it on Erudite Magic, so you’ll be some of the first to know what it’s like.
Speaking of pre-orders, there’s been some discussion on Magic Books Anonymous about the Todd Karr Miracle Factory two-volume Erdnase book set called The Expert. If you haven’t seen it, it was available as a preorder years ago for $350. As of the writing of this newsletter, it’s no longer showing on the front page of the Miracle Factory website, and there’s still no update on when it will go to print. I’m not sharing this as gossip, but rather to open up a broader discussion on what should be acceptable for timelines on preordered products.
As I just attested, I preordered Asi’s book in good faith, with the understanding that it will be out in the next six months. However, as a rule, I don’t usually preorder books. The longest I’ve ever waited for a preorder book is Aaron Fisher’s Paper Engine 20th Anniversary Edition from the Kickstarter campaign in late summer 2020. The clock is still running on that one, but I know there’s some good news coming on that front. Even with a happy resolution, however, it’s still made me cautious about preordering books that are not yet complete or ready to go to print.
For whatever reason, magic (and magic books in particular), seem to be ripe for eager magicians to part with their hard-earned money all based on the promise of an unpublished secret. Often preorders are associated with a slight discount to give people something to offset the risk, but what if the risk is never seeing the book at all - what kind of discount can make up for that?
A cursory search through The Magic Cafe or your favorite magic Facebook group yields plenty of interesting stories about magicians who preordered a book, only to wait years or never see the product at all. In fact, this has been going on for a long time. Feel free to share your favorite story in the comments below.
So, what about you; do you pre-order? Why or why not? What’s the longest you’ve ever waited for a pre-ordered book? Let’s discuss what the expectations should be, or how the magic world should handle this sort of thing.
Jack Carpenter is Back
Jack Carpenter is generally known as an underground card man, but his material has surfaced a few times through videos, a sprinkling of lectures here and there, as well as a number of books: Modus Operandi, The Expert’s Portfolio No. 1, and The Expert’s Portfolio No. 2. The latter Portfolio title was released in 2017, so he’s had time to curate some material for book lovers’ consideration.
This time, he’s back with a new book that’s more than just card material, called Carpenter’s Conceptions. I haven’t read this book (it’s too new), but as Erudite Magicians, I know you want to be some of the first to know about new book offers.
From what I can see perusing the table of contents, it looks like this is mostly card material over the 28 routines (as you would expect from someone like Jack), but there are a few money and rope outliers as well. There appear to be variations on classic themes (like Jazz Aces, Hotel Mystery plots, instant assemblies, and triumph) as well as some gambling demonstrations.
I haven’t made up my mind whether or not I’ll acquire this one since it’s supposed to retail for $70, but I’m sure it will appeal to many of you. If you end up with it, let me know your thoughts.
More Hidden Gems
Believe it or not, when I create an episode and turn it loose into the wild, I’m never quite sure how it will be received. While there’s certainly plenty of thought put into it, at the end of the day, I usually cross my fingers and send it out. I’m fortunate that I’m not doing this to feed my family - merely for the love of it!
Anyway, Sunday’s episode about hidden gems in out-of-print books seems to have resonated with many of you, and I’m really glad that it’s pushing all of us back into our libraries to examine the great routines we already own.
With that in mind, I believe I’ve discovered a new continuing segment to this newsletter - hidden gems…here’s another one that I didn’t share with everyone. Just you, the insiders. 🤫
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