Last Call: Jerx Supporter Slots Are Open (For the final time.)
/[Update: Family-Level slots are now filled.]
For the first time in over a year, supporter slots are now open here at the Jerx. This will be to support the 7th season of the site going from now until October 2023.
(Yes, October of next year. Going forward, Jerx Support Seasons will last 18 months. This is to go along with a more reasonable publishing schedule for the books. A book a year—on top of all the other writing I do related to this site—is bonkers. This new schedule will allow me to keep things going without burning out.)
This is not a post to convince you to back the site. It’s the opposite actually. I want to dissuade most of you.
If the money is even possibly an issue for you, you don’t need to think about supporting the site. Supporting this site is an indulgence, and wholly unnecessary for your advancement as a magician. The tricks and ideas I share in my supporter material are really just specific examples of broader concepts that are discussed for free on the site.
If your interest in the material isn’t that great, but you figure you’ll sign up to support in order to snag the next book because you’ve heard it could be a good investment, I’d prefer you not do that. I didn’t get into this to write books that are good investments. I want to write books people are excited to hang onto, not excited to sell.
This post is for the people who already know they want to support the site. Not anyone on the fence. If you’re on the fence, your money can definitely be used for better purposes.
There are now two levels at which you can back the site.
Friend Level ($10/month - No Physical Rewards)
Family Level ($25/month - Limited Spots)
Actually, there’s a third level as well.
Casual Level ($0/month - No rewards or anything. Just enjoy the site.)
Benefits of Supporting
Friend Level
Those who are at the “Friend Level” will receive the newest iteration of my review newsletter.
This new newsletter is called Love Letters and will be released on the first of every month, starting June 1st. Based on this post, each newsletter will cover the three commercially available effects that were my highlights during my performing and testing from the previous month. These may be individually released effects or something plucked from a book, video, or magazine. It will be mainly new tricks, but I’ll also be looking back at older tricks too. I’ll detail some of my experiences performing with the effect, and let you know how I’m using it and any “Jerxian” presentational ideas I have for it.
I’m excited about this format because it means I get to turn you onto stuff I’m really enjoying. I don’t need to spend four pages talking about a trick that sucks. (Well, I never needed to, of course. But that’s what ends up happening when you’re doing reviews traditionally.)
Since I introduced the concept of a “100 Trick Repertoire,” I’ve frequently been asked to release the details of what my repertoire consists of. I’m not intending to do that just yet. But with this newsletter you will definitely get word of what new stuff I’m cycling in. (My repertoire usually turns over by about a third each year. So with 36 articles over 12 issues, you should catch all the good new stuff.)
At the Friend Level you will also be able to purchase future releases I’m working on. Yes, that’s right. Spending your money will mean you can give me even more money later on. I don’t want to give too much detail on that yet, because I don’t want to commit to something that doesn’t end up fitting into my new schedule. But I have a few physical tricks I’m working on, as well as a hardcover, expanded reprint of The Amateur At the Kitchen Table that will be coming out at some point. The only way to have the opportunity to obtain anything I release is to be a supporter of the site. I’m not trying to be exclusionary with this stuff. It’s just that this is a small operation here, so everything I do is going to be a limited edition, and I’m just naturally going to offer those to things to supporters first. So there would just never really be a chance to make it out to anyone outside of that group.
People at the Friend level will also form the waiting list to get to the Family level (if they so choose).
To sign up at the Friend Level, visit the support page here.
Family Level [Currently Full]
Family Level supporters will receive the benefits described above, as well as:
Free advertising in the Love Letters newsletter up to two times a season. (You can advertise anything. It doesn’t have to be magic related. Hell, it doesn’t have to be an ad. Maybe there’s just a really handsome picture of yourself that you’d like others to see. You have two chances every 18 months to put whatever you want in front of all the Jerx supporters.)
A copy of my next book, Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon, which will be delivered at the end of the 7th season. (October 2023)
Family slots are limited and will definitely be gone by the end of this weekend—more likely the end of today. (Why do I limit the these slots. Two reasons: 1. This protects the financial investment of the people who support at this level. They end up with a physical product that is a limited edition and will maintain its value. 2. As I wrote in a recent letter to my supporters: “I like to know the people who are supporting my work. I'm always writing about my own personal journey and interests in magic. I'm not trying to create ideas that are broadly popular. I like knowing the name of every supporter, and the personal details about yourself that many of you have shared with me. There are a lot of magic sites out there trying to make a ‘community.’ I'm not interested in a community. I only want a bunch of individual relationships with the people who support the site. And I can't maintain that if I have an unlimited amount of supporter slots.”)
You can of course cancel your subscription at any time. I would recommend not signing up at the Family Level if you think you may cancel, as the primary bonus for signing up at that level (the book) is only available to those people who supported through the full Season 7 (May 2022-Oct. 2023)
As I wrote in the title to this post, this will be the last time supporter slots are officially open. In any future seasons that may happen beyond season 7, slots will go to returning Family members first, and any unclaimed slots will be offered to Friends. If a time comes when there isn’t enough interest from those groups to keep the site going, then I’ll know it’s time to shut this bitch down.