Simmons and Smith reaching out from the grave.

[John LeBlanc]

I think we can agree that "everything that you do will come back to you". Karma, or whatever word you use, seems like a universal force, much like losing your car keys only when you're running late, or picking the slowest lane at the grocery store. What's less obvious is how the actions of some can affect the success of the actions of others.

Well, I'm not sure if either or both of the fellows mentioned in the subject of this post have, indeed, assumed room temperature, but I do know their deeds of years past are affecting a decision I'm making today: whether or not to toss $60 to the wind in hopes that I'll actually see four issues of Antimony before I, myself, feed the worms.

This is not a reflection on the publisher of Antimony -- whoever that is, his name is not easily found on the web site or the magazine ad.

And it's certainly not a reflection on the only two contributors currently identified -- Jamy Ian Swiss and Jon Racherbaumer. If it were legal, I'd have them both tied down to chairs, keyboards superglued to their hands, and a drill sargent shouting "WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!" all day and all night. (Weekends off occasionally. The drill sargent, I mean.)

Rather it's my recent experiences with other magic publications like this that has me pausing.

This wouldn't be much of an issue (ha ha) were it not for the the fact that Ken Simmons still owes me a refund, or my remaining issues for my subscription to "Onyx Magazine". Or my vivid, livid memory of trying to extract the remaining issues of "Gadfly" I was owed by Aaron Smith, who had the Simmonesque habit of completely ignoring my emails and phone calls.

And then there's AM/PM Magazine which Tom Cutts, at the MAGIC Live! convention, personally assured me will resume soon. Him, I'll cut a bit of slack.

(I would be remiss in not mentioning Jeff Busby, simply because he's the poster child for Screw-U Publishing.)

The misbehaviors of those who came before have a bearing on what goes on today. Each time a niche magazine like this folds after a protracted silence that says, essentially, to subscribers "shove your questions about your subscription up your rear end, I'm busy looking up big words in the dictionary" -- or at least that's the way it seems when I can't even get a simple reply -- things get tougher on the next lunatic who gets the bright idea to put out a quarterly magic magazine, and then actually does so and expects people to subscribe.

So, thank you Ken and Aaron.

On the other hand -- or should I say at the other end of the publishing universe -- there's Jim Sisti who handled refunds for the dearly departed Magic Menu in a manner that demonstrated his integrity was still firmly in tact when it was time to bury one of my favorite publications.

I'm all for supporting magic publishers. I get a special kind of satisfaction in supporting the irrational, but wonderful desire to share magic through the printed page. Getting robbed and stiffed, though, is not so satisfying. And the more Kens and Aarons, and the fewer Jims, makes more difficult the once easy decision to throw a few more twenties to the wind.

John LeBlanc

P.S. Yes, I subscribed anyway. What the hell.

[Jamie Badman]

Out of interest, who's actually behind this magazine ? I know it mentions Jon Racherbaumer and Jamy Ian Swiss as columnists but are they also the creators of the magazine or is there someone else ?

Anyone know ?!

Cheers,

Jamie.

[Temperance]

Link please?

[Jim Maloney_dup1]

Originally posted by John W. LeBlanc:
And it's certainly not a reflection on the only two contributors currently identified -- Jamy Ian Swiss and Jon Racherbaumer. If it were legal, I'd have them both tied down to chairs, keyboards superglued to their hands, and a drill sargent shouting "WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!" all day and all night. (Weekends off occasionally. The drill sargent, I mean.)

Yes, because neither of them write nearly enough as it is. ;)

-Jim (flips back to the 5-page Mnemonica review...)

[John LeBlanc]

Originally posted by Jim Maloney:
Yes, because neither of them write nearly enough as it is. ;)

-Jim (flips back to the 5-page Mnemonica review...)

Yes, five piddly pages. What a slacker he's become. :)

John LeBlanc

[Gene Taylor]

John, first off, thanks for subscribing!

Second, let me introduce myself as the person attempting to launch Antinomy. Honestly, the experiences you mention are among the reasons I am attempting this venture. I too was a subscriber to Onyx, and that experience probably kept me from subscribing to the other magazines you mention.

Let me state this clearly: If I cannot meet the obligations of this magazine and deliver four issues per year, I will cancel the publication and refund all subscriptions. This applies to getting the magazine off the ground as well. If I cannot achieve the goals required to cover my costs, I will refund all monies received and swallow my costs to date. I think this kind of committment is important. A subscription is a kind of contract. I intend to honor those contracts.

That said, this is largely a single person startup. I'm sure it will be difficult. Also, I should clarify that Jon and Jamy are only contributors. I am honored that they were willing to pariticpate in this project with me, a complete unknown within the magic world, but they are in no way responsible for producing the publication.

I could go on. It's been a dream of mine for some time and I'm excited by the possibilites.

People who have not seen the ad can learn more at the Antinomy Magic website.

Thanks for your interest!

Gene Taylor
Editor & Publisher
Antinomy

[John LeBlanc]

Originally posted by Gene Taylor:
That said, this is largely a single person startup. I'm sure it will be difficult. Also, I should clarify that Jon and Jamy are only contributors. I am honored that they were willing to pariticpate in this project with me, a complete unknown within the magic world, but they are in no way responsible for producing the publication.

I could go on. It's been a dream of mine for some time and I'm excited by the possibilites.

Gene, thanks for the information. I hope others join me in supporting your efforts.

I wish you the best of luck and I can't wait to see the first issue.

John LeBlanc

[Temperance]

Gene.. Seems your email address isn't valid, is the address on the site spelt correctly?

Euan

[Richard Kaufman]

I sent an e-mail to the address given. I haven't received a response, but it hasn't bounced back, either.

[Gene Taylor]

Euan, what email address are you using? As far as I know, the addresses on the site are spelled correctly. If anyone is aware of any typos, let me know.

Richard, I just checked email and saw yours. I will be replying shortly.

Please use this email, or one of the others on the site, if you are trying to contact Antinomy: editor@antinomymagic.com

Thanks for your interest.

Gene Taylor
editor & publisher
Antinomy

[Temperance]

submissions@antinomy.com on the submissions page...

[Gene Taylor]

Oops! That is a typo. The address should be submissions@antinomymagic.com not @antinomy.com.

I'll correct this and apologies to anyone who may have tried this address. The addresses on the email page under "contacts" are correct.

Gene Taylor

[Gene Taylor]

Euan,

I've been unable to reply to your last email due to your domain name being blacklisted by spamcop.net at a relaying mailserver. I keep getting "failures" when I try to send it.

If you can email me via another email address, I would be happy to respond.

Apologies to everyone for the post to an individual!

Gene Taylor
editor
Antinomy