Get started creating your own magic book to sell

You probably already have everything you need

Back Cover Sample

When commissioning a Learn Magic instant author kit, I'll need a few things from you to customize it and make it your own. You probably already have them, so it should be pretty easy.

I use Dropbox to transfer and store your files so you'll have access to them also. When our project is begun, I'll set up a folder and send you an invitation link so you can use it to send me files. There is plenty of storage space (about 1tb), so send the largest files you have.

Of course I'll need your contact info. Website link and phone number are usually all that's needed, sometimes not even the phone number. Email address also if you don't have a contact form on your site.

A hi-resolution (300dpi) logo is very helpful, especially on the front cover. If you don't have a logo, you're in luck. I love designing logos! When you purchase my instant author kit, I will create a logo for you at a reduced rate. See elsewhere in this blog where I created a logo for Kyle Groves and the Party People Magic Theater. You can also check out my portfolio to see samples of other logos I've designed. 

As you can see in the photo of the back cover, the third paragraph is a short bio highlighting your main "selling points". Keep it short and simple, no need to include many details. I can edit it to fit in the space.

Phil Ackerly's Magic You Can Do - Customization Project

Just finished customizing Phil Ackerly's book

click to embiggen

Phil Ackerly, from the San Francisco Bay Area in California, is ready to start selling his customized magic book to increase his show income. Phil has been voted the Bay Area’s best entertainer 5 times... pretty impressive! His site is www.MakePhilAppear.com, a pretty clever name for a magician's website.

He had very distinct ideas about how he wanted his book designed, and I was able to make it all happen. When I work with you to customize your book, I make sure it's just what you want.

His book is now available online, check it out at www.CreateSpace.com/7330454

In the process, Phil's attention to detail highlighted a few things that I updated in the main template, including an opening welcome page. Click below to see it...

Instant Author Kit - New & Improved!

You can be an author and not write a word!

One of the ten new cover designs available.

For years I've been selling my Learn Magic instant author kit. Up until now it's been a series of PDF files that the purchaser then edits themselves with their contact info, name, photos, etc. It's been well received critically...

This is without a doubt the BEST back of room sales book I have ever come across. What makes this so great is that you get SO many options to customize it. This is a no-brainer if you want to have a personalized magic product to sell after your show.
Paul Romhany, editor Vanish Magazine.
Review page 190
October/November 2013 issue.
VanishMagazine.com

But it hasn't sold nearly as many as I first expected. I got to thinking, how could I make this more appealing. Why are people hesitant to buy? Then I realized...

Customization project for Kyle Groves

Learn Magic with the Party People!

From Kyle Groves theater in Colorado.

I just finished customizing a Learn Magic book for Kyle Groves, it will be available on Amazon in a day or two. He also needed a logo. I enjoy designing logos.

UPDATE! The stores are live now...

CreateSpace

Amazon

Kyle and his father "Mr. E", run a really nice little theater in Pueblo, Colorado. It's a great idea for an event facility. Check it out... www.ColoradoMagician.com

He wanted a logo that was classy and fun. Kyle sent a lot of photos to me via DropBox. I was looking thru them getting ideas when I saw this photo.

That was a big help. I quickly came up with this logo...

Teach Magic - Get Routine

Developing a routine by teaching a trick.

I've been teaching beginner magic classes for many years, even before I started teaching with Circus Camp in 1992. I've compiled many of those tricks and other bits in my book Learn Magic with Mister Greggy. It's also an instant author system which I've been updating.

I really enjoy teaching, and I'm getting pretty good at it. One of the things I've noticed is I develop simple routines with each trick I teach, so I can use those tricks when I do strolling work (since they are all close-up).

The latest trick I've been teaching, not included in the book, it a ring climbing up a rubber-band. Very simple in technique, most kids 7 and older can do it after just a bit of practice.

When I first demonstrate the trick I do a short routine so they know what trick I'm teaching. I don't have a video of my actual routine, but here's a kid online demonstrating the trick so you have a better idea what I'm talking about.

 

TAGSmagic channel on Youtube

OK, So I Cheated a Little

The one-book version of my
Learn Magic instant author kit
in black and white with a color cover
which also includes 9 extra color covers.

I developed an instant author kit, called Learn Magic, which I sell to other magicians. It's a pre-written instruction book for young magicians that has blank sections on each of the 44 pages and cover.

When purchased, the buyer has full re-sale rights which means they can add their name and contact info to the pages and cover, then print them and sell them as their own magic book. Of course, they can't sell them as an instant author kit, just as a buyer of a clip art collection can't turn around and sell that collection as clip art.

These are popular to sell after shows, as a BORS item. BORS - Back Of Room sales. Many magicians often double their fees by setting up a "souvenir stand" and selling items after the shows. This is a good way to make money from clients looking for a free show to be donated. Agree to do the show but only if you can sell stuff afterward.

When I originally designed this book, I used color photos. This took a lot of time, and I learned a lot about photography in the process. So far so good. The hands you see in the photographs are mine, since they were readily available and I knew the tricks I was teaching.

My friend Ken Scott (one of the best children's entertainers in the country) bought a copy of Learn Magic and had great success selling them after his shows. One day at a convention, I think KIDabra, he related a funny story where a child, having just bought a copy, asked Ken why his arms weren't hairy like the pictures in the book. Funny, but it got me to thinking... The kid's got a point. If a magician wants to sell this book as their own, color photos of my hands and arms won't always match theirs. The magician may be a woman, or African American, or non-hairy. I had a problem...