Harvest Time Part Six

Most years, around the Harvest Moon (the full moon closest to the start of autumn) I have a Harvest Time post. Harvest Time is, traditionally, a time for gratitude. It’s also a time for renewal and transformation. In the same way crops are harvested, and the fields are cleared to prepare for the next planting season—I take this time of year to reflect and prepare for new growth.

The Harvest Time posts have also been my opportunity to make some declarations that ideally turn some people off from the site. This is my way of gathering up the readers and supporters I want to continue on with and leaving behind the ones who aren’t resonating with the vibe here. Separating the wheat from the chaff, to bring it back to harvest terms.

I’m genuinely not looking for more readers or more supporters. I think people think this is some reverse psychology type of marketing. “He says he doesn’t want more supporters as a way to get more supporters!” No, I just don’t want to be in the mindset of chasing a dollar with this site. Then I have to start thinking about what appeals to the broadest group of people, rather than just following my own interest. If I had to concern myself with appealing to a wide readership, I couldn’t go down rabbit holes like spending three posts talking about the Hot Rod.

It dawned on me the other day that the reason we’re getting 9-hour instructional downloads is because the people releasing the tricks are trying to appeal to as many people as possible. My desire—that they would just release a download with the most powerful uses of the trick or gimmick based on their experience performing with it—was rooted in my narrow experience of writing this site. It occurs to me now what a luxury my situation is. I can just write about my experience with things because I was never looking to make this site as big as possible or to appeal to people broadly.

I don’t have a message to spread. And I’m not trying to maximize my profits from this site. I do this because I enjoy thinking about magic and writing about magic and testing out magic ideas in the real world. The support structure of the site lets me identify a core group of people who are on a similar wavelength. Maybe they aren’t traveling the exact same path, but they are at least navigating the same constellation. And it affords me the time it takes to write and perform so much. That’s what the support structure is there for. Not to optimize my earnings. I’d rather be supported by 50 like-minded souls than 50,000 casual fans.

Wait… hold on a sec…

50,000 supporters X $25/month X 12 months in a year =

15 million dollars.

Okay, I take that back. For one year, if 50,000 of you want to support the site, I’d be okay with that. But after that I will regain my integrity and just write for the true fans.

As I mentioned, often the message of my Harvest Time post is intended to prune away some readers/supporters. And that’s true with this year’s message which is this:

Don’t support the Jerx as a financial investment.

Why do I say this?

Late last year, a copy of The Jerx, Volume One went up for bid at one of those fancy-pants magic auctions. They estimated it would sell for $300-$500. It ended up selling for closer to $4000.

Every few weeks, someone will email me about it and be like, “Holy shit…Did you see this?” They, understandably, assume I’d want to get on here and talk about what hot shit I am and rub it in the faces of the people who had an issue with the price of the book when I first released it.

But I actually don’t like that the book sold for that much.

First, I don’t love the idea of people selling the books at all. In my utopia, everyone would just hold onto them forever because they cherish them so much. Yes, I know, that’s a ridiculous notion, but it’s genuinely how I feel. Imagine someone said to you, “Hey, you know that love note you wrote your girlfriend? She sold it for $300.” Would you like that? I mean, part of you might be flattered someone would pay $300 for a love note you wrote. But the other part of you would be like, “Hmm… I wish she didn’t sell the note I wrote her. Maybe I should be fucking the person who paid $300 for it?” For me, and the way I operate the site, the books are closer to a love letter than they are a copy of Scarne on Card Tricks, so it’s a little depressing when I hear of one being sold, regardless of how much it sold for. As corny as that sounds.

Second, it sets up a false expectation in people. “That book sold for $4000? I have that book. I’m going to sell it for $4000!” I promise you, you’re not. I think that price was a fluke based on there being a small number of people who really wanted it and it rarely being sold by anyone who had it. If others go to sell their copy it may only sell for 1/10th of that price.

"Geez, Andy. Don’t talk down the potential value of the book like that. What if I want to sell it someday?”

I'm just being honest. I've always said I would protect the value of the books by not reprinting them in any form, and I've kept my word with that. But I'm not going to promote the idea that they're worth so much money just a few years down the road.

There are a limited number of supporter slots. I want those slots to be filled with people who get some joy and value from the material, not speculators.