New John Thompson Book

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erdnasephile
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby erdnasephile » April 22nd, 2018, 7:43 pm

Joe Mckay wrote:Good to see the market for magic books is looking better.


I agree--we've had quite a few high profile releases in the last 12 to 24 months. I hoping the publishers are making enough $$$ to keep them coming.

Question: currently in the board game industry, a lot of huge, expensive board games are going the Kickstarter route to raise funds, sometimes raising millions of dollars a pop and generally enabling these projects to get to market when they otherwise might not.

I don't know much about the Kickstarter financing particulars, but is crowdfunding like this practical enough in our small cottage industry to support the production of some of these expensive projects?

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Richard Hatch » April 23rd, 2018, 1:38 am

Leonard Hevia wrote:James Alan noted today on the Cafe:

We are pleased to announce that The Magic of Johnny Thompson is now sold out, and officially out of print. Although individual dealers may still have individual copies in stock, so if you look quickly you may still be able to get one. Because of the size of the book, we're unsure yet if there will be a reprint.

Thank you to everyone who has made it such a success, most of all Johnny.


I have it on good authority that Charlie Randall will be bringing a few copies to the FFFF convention...

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Steve Bryant
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Steve Bryant » April 23rd, 2018, 11:54 am

There is a wealth of new information in these books, including complete acts. Details at Little Egypt Magic.



http://littleegyptmagic.com/magic.html

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Joe Mckay » April 23rd, 2018, 12:59 pm

@erdnasphile - that is an issue that interests me as well. I think Kickstarter is low risk since you get a refund if the product does not get released? So it would be nice to see more people look into that. Recently (over on the Cafe) I backed a Kickstarter campaign for a small magic book that caught my eye. So hopefully this is the first of many.

Richard Kaufman did a similar thing by getting lots of pre-orders for the brilliant (and massive) Tenyo books to help with the printing costs. There are not many people in magic with the stellar reputation that he has for quality and actually delivering on promises. Sadly there is a history of people getting let down and ripped off in the magic world. Usually it is not even deliberate. Just things spinning out of control and planned projects being delayed by years. As such Kickstarter style campaigns have yet to catch on in magic due to the accumulated bad will caused by so many pre-orders not being released on time. Or, for that matter, at all...

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Joe Naud
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Joe Naud » April 23rd, 2018, 11:35 pm

I would not say that Kickstarter is low risk. A bunch of us have pretty much given up on getting our paid for goods or our money back for a dice cup project. I don’t want to paint a bad picture about all such projects but this was my first experience and getting screwed has not been much fun.

See this link for details:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50643

Peace, Joe

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 24th, 2018, 12:43 am

We are just a month or two (I believe) from sending my 600+ page book on Theodore DeLand to the printer. It will essentially be the same size as one volume of Tenyoism.

And as with Tenyoism, I will be reliant on the magical community to help me get this book published through pre-orders. I believe it will work just as well this time. It's heartening to know that my customers and friends of the last 40 years will help enable books like mine to be published.
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Matthew Field
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Matthew Field » April 24th, 2018, 4:20 am

The DeLand book is mind-blowing. The man was a (troubled) magical genius.

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Arnaud
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Arnaud » April 27th, 2018, 3:59 pm

Anyone knows where I can still find a copy of the Johnny Thompson books in Stock?

Arnaud.van.Rietschoten@gmail.com

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 28th, 2018, 12:30 am

You need to Google around the internet. I suspect that there is already a copy being sold on the secondary market.
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Arnaud » April 28th, 2018, 1:16 am

Richard Kaufman wrote:You need to Google around the internet. I suspect that there is already a copy being sold on the secondary market.


Yes at 999$....
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 3022103036

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Leonard Hevia » April 28th, 2018, 2:23 am

Hi Arnaud--I sent you an e-mail with a link to a shop that might still have a few copies left. You need to move fast my friend!

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Leonard Hevia » April 28th, 2018, 9:08 am

Arnaud got his set. That establishment has one more copy left. The first PM I receive gets the link to the store.

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Leonard Hevia » April 29th, 2018, 1:16 pm


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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Chris Aguilar » April 29th, 2018, 2:01 pm

Leonard Hevia wrote:2nd printing coming July 2018:

http://www.magicana.com/buy/publication ... y-thompson


And now the speculators get confused because they don't know whether to quickly try to dump their current copy at arbitrage pricing or perhaps double down and order more copies.
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Joe Mckay
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Joe Mckay » April 29th, 2018, 2:04 pm

I always got the impression that speculators lost money trying to turn a profit on the release of The Castle Notebooks by Bruce Cevon?

A sure fire way to make money that, perhaps, didn't work out.

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Ian Kendall » April 29th, 2018, 3:19 pm

Given how the price of the Colour Books of Mentalism crashed when Prism was published, I think magic book speculation is a risky business...

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 29th, 2018, 3:42 pm

Of course there will be a second printing. Really large demand for this unique set of books!
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby performer » April 29th, 2018, 3:42 pm

This thread reminds me of the wise adage of an old grafter I once knew who used to be a magician. In addition to telling me all sorts of things about famed svengali pitchman Joe Stuthard he also imparted the following wisdom, "Magicians will buy ANYTHING! If you were to advertise gold plated thumb tips they would buy them simply because they were gold plated"

I have found this to be true over the decades.

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erdnasephile
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby erdnasephile » April 29th, 2018, 5:07 pm

Ian Kendall wrote:Given how the price of the Colour Books of Mentalism crashed when Prism was published, I think magic book speculation is a risky business...


I think the same could be said of publishing expensive magic books as well!

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby performer » April 29th, 2018, 5:22 pm

erdnasephile wrote:
Ian Kendall wrote:Given how the price of the Colour Books of Mentalism crashed when Prism was published, I think magic book speculation is a risky business...


I think the same could be said of publishing expensive magic books as well!


I was given the secret of how to become very, very, very rich publishing magic books by someone who had already done it. He gave me the secret on his deathbed but I have never done a thing about it since I don't have the expertise. And I probably never will. He gave it to me because he was so grateful for a psychic reading I gave him years ago.

And no. I am not kidding...................

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Q. Kumber
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Q. Kumber » April 29th, 2018, 5:51 pm

Good to see there will be a second printing but as a purchaser of the first edition (paid for the day it was announced) I'd suggest there be some difference, such as no signed copies, as a gesture to those who put their hands in their pockets first.

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erdnasephile
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby erdnasephile » April 29th, 2018, 6:19 pm

Q. Kumber wrote:Good to see there will be a second printing but as a purchaser of the first edition (paid for the day it was announced) I'd suggest there be some difference, such as no signed copies, as a gesture to those who put their hands in their pockets first.


Agreed.

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Jack Shalom » April 29th, 2018, 6:24 pm

I was given the secret of how to become very, very, very rich publishing magic books by someone who had already done it. He gave me the secret on his deathbed


How to get a million dollars through magic publishing:

First, start off with two million...

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby performer » April 29th, 2018, 6:46 pm

Jack Shalom wrote:
I was given the secret of how to become very, very, very rich publishing magic books by someone who had already done it. He gave me the secret on his deathbed


How to get a million dollars through magic publishing:

First, start off with two million...


For most people yes. For this particular gentleman no. Far, far less than that. However, on this occasion I will have to curb my natural tendency to gossip. I was given the secret on two conditions. One was that I would never tell a soul and I feel I have to honour that. If I knew anything about magic book publishing I would have done this myself long ago.

I shall give you one clue though. It wasn't Erdnase..............

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Chris Aguilar » April 29th, 2018, 9:27 pm

erdnasephile wrote:
Q. Kumber wrote:Good to see there will be a second printing but as a purchaser of the first edition (paid for the day it was announced) I'd suggest there be some difference, such as no signed copies, as a gesture to those who put their hands in their pockets first.


Agreed.

Not happening.

Second Printing? Yes . . . we are!

We are pleased to announce that, with the sell-out success of The Magic of Johnny Thompson, Magicana is now preparing a second printing of this historic book.

But, it will take a little time, because Johnny wants to make sure the reprint is the same as the first, which means he is going to sign each copy, just as he did before. Johnny is that kind of a guy—he doesn’t want to disappoint anyone.

So please hang in!

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Leonard Hevia » April 29th, 2018, 11:49 pm

The value in these books for me are the finesses and tips Johnny imparts. His handling of the Bluff Pass and Vernon's Multiple Shift are wonderful. Rich magic history abounds within the descriptions of the effects. I was wowed reading the detailed description of Vernon's Castle act. I knew his set list but not the context in which it was presented, and the specific reasons for the order of each effect.

There are also unpublished moves and routines the masters left behind that Johnny thoughtfully included. I'm left with the impression that he has tied a number of loose ends in these books that Vernon, Miller, Carlyle, Riser, and others did not get around to publishing. The last of magic's Mohican stepped in with his broom and gently swept up what the legends left behind on the floor...

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erdnasephile
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby erdnasephile » April 30th, 2018, 12:49 am

Chris Aguilar wrote:
erdnasephile wrote:
Q. Kumber wrote:Good to see there will be a second printing but as a purchaser of the first edition (paid for the day it was announced) I'd suggest there be some difference, such as no signed copies, as a gesture to those who put their hands in their pockets first.


Agreed.

Not happening.

Second Printing? Yes . . . we are!

We are pleased to announce that, with the sell-out success of The Magic of Johnny Thompson, Magicana is now preparing a second printing of this historic book.

But, it will take a little time, because Johnny wants to make sure the reprint is the same as the first, which means he is going to sign each copy, just as he did before. Johnny is that kind of a guy—he doesn’t want to disappoint anyone.

So please hang in!


Fair enough. Mr. Thompson's a great guy, and I'm glad the book is a big success. They never announced this as a limited edition, so it's cool by me.

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby performer » April 30th, 2018, 7:30 am

I rather like Mr Thompson's work particularly the way he does the Malini Card Stab. The thing that probably intrigues me the most about the book is the advertised trade show act he used to do. However, I won't spend $300 to find out what it is. I purchase a lot of books but I would never be daft enough to spend that much. And in any event I have enough tricks already.

I did see him do the famous egg bag routine on video but for some reason I couldn't get too excited about it. I have a very low attention span for magic and I found the whole thing a bit slow and dreary. 8 minutes for one trick tends to tire me out. But that is the trouble with seeing live performances. You get influenced the wrong way. I would probably love it if I had never seen it performed and just read the description in the book. And I often feel lukewarm about material that other magicians rave about because I am a strange human being and a bloody awful audience for magic. I can't bear watching lectures no matter how good they are and a performer has to be really superb to grab my interest.

Still here is the clip of Johnny Thompson doing the egg bag routine which is in the book. This clip will probably sell more copies to people less jaded than me:

http://www.magicana.com/video/johnny-thompson-egg-bag-0

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 30th, 2018, 2:01 pm

As a publisher you sometimes become the caretaker of someone's legacy. There are important things to take into consideration when deciding whether to reprint or not.

The most important is the value of a person's work and making sure as many people who want to know about it can know about it.

There is every reason the Thompson books should be reprinted.
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Brad Jeffers » April 30th, 2018, 2:38 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:There are important things to take into consideration when deciding whether to reprint or not.
The most important is the value of a person's work and making sure as many people who want to know about it can know about it.

It's very kind of them to reprint the book so that I too may be able to own a copy.

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erdnasephile
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby erdnasephile » May 1st, 2018, 2:03 pm

Matthew Field wrote:The DeLand book is mind-blowing. The man was a (troubled) magical genius.

Matt Field


Sometimes I wonder if there is any other kind, as the obsessiveness that often comes with that level of achievement frequently exacts a great price. Sounds like a fascinating book.

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Joe Naud
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Joe Naud » May 3rd, 2018, 6:36 pm

All, just to keep basic information about these fantastic books I got an email from Julie Eng confirming that the first print was 1500 copies. For you collectors out there, the reprint will have "First Edition, Second Printing" on the copyright page to designate the difference between the two print runs.

Peace, Joe

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Christopher1979 » May 3rd, 2018, 9:36 pm

Joe Naud wrote:All, just to keep basic information about these fantastic books I got an email from Julie Eng confirming that the first print was 1500 copies. For you collectors out there, the reprint will have "First Edition, Second Printing" on the copyright page to designate the difference between the two print runs.

Peace, Joe


That is nice to hear, thank you for that info!
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Joe Naud
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Joe Naud » May 9th, 2018, 10:57 am

This one on EBay goes in a couple of hours and is currently at $413!!

The Magic Of Johnny Thompson book, brand new and sealed https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 3301830658

Peace, Joe

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Pete McCabe » May 9th, 2018, 11:26 am

I am only up to his version of the Universal Card, but gosh that's brilliant.

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Richard Kaufman » May 9th, 2018, 4:40 pm

Waiting, out of necessity to take a REALLY deep dive into these books. That’s one of the pains in the neck about getting your own projects out the door!


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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Leonard Hevia » May 12th, 2018, 3:10 pm

Looking at the photos of Thompson's beautiful silver plated Bertram/Miller cups in the book, I think it would be cool if a cup maker would spin a limited edition set of these cups in .925 silver and engraved with hieroglyphics: The Johnny Thompson Cups.

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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Richard Kaufman » May 12th, 2018, 5:04 pm

Permission of the Ross Bertram estate would be required, and they would be "Ross Bertram Cups."
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Re: New John Thompson Book

Postby Leonard Hevia » May 27th, 2018, 10:55 am

A shrinkwrapped copy is for sale by a fellow on the Green Monster at the $295 price:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/view ... 0&forum=78


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