Now THAT'S a breakdown! thanks for the info!

Blair

Yes - that was very helpful.

Thanks guys!

A few of you have asked about borderless printing as well. Sometimes I print the covers with a white border from Word. When you want to print borderless, you have to have a borderless inkjet printer, or take the files to a professional printer. Gotprint offers 1,000 full-color glossy sheets for just $154 plus shipping! (If you're going that route, make sure you know how to prepare your digital files before you send them in.)

Another option is to find a local printer who can do borderless or "full bleed" printing. You'll pay quite a bit more per sheet, but you'll have them sooner, you don't have to do so large a run of them, no shipping, and local printers are often better about working with you to make small changes until you're content.

Hope that helps,
Kevin

I'd just like to take a moment to thank Kevin for releasing this wonderful product. Everything about it is top notch. Great gaphics that are easy to customize. Well explained instruction manual and some nice bonus materials. The price of the kit is absolutely crazy for what's being offered. The best part for me in buying this material is the excellent customer service and generous help Kevin has provided along the way. I would say that he has gone way above and beyond with his time. More business's could take a "page" out of his book!! I urge anyone wanting to offer their own book for sale to jump on this right away. I have a nice little library of books waiting for a new home.

John

ps. Just to be clear the above is completely unsolicited. I don't know Kevin personally and have only dealt with him through several PM's here on the Café..

John,
Thanks for the kind words, I wish I could do even more to help! I honestly feel that at $45, it's the best instant author bargin out there. Even if you don't do back of room sales, it's a great little tool to have for magic classes, giveaways, etc.

I hope the booklet becomes a great tool in your marketing/sales bucket!

Thanks again,
Kevin

Kevin,
This looks awesome! Maybe we could grab lunch one of these days, and I can buy one from you! Thank you for that amazing breakdown of cost, it really helps.

Best,
Aaron

I have to agree with your statement. I am very close on purchasing this myself. It seems to be an advancement in several ways over the one I currently use.

I hope everyone who ordered got my recent email. If not, just PM me or shoot me an email. After some great feedback, I added even more covers that were easier to print, used much less ink, and offered three new, unique designs. These are for anyone planning on printing their own covers at home. The introductory pricing is up until June 1 and includes the new bonus covers!

Aaron, sounds great, I've been meaning to catch one of your shows.

Thanks,
Kevin

Thanks Kevin. The new covers are great and a nice alternative for people printing them at home.

John

John
You sneaky dog. I complimented you on having such an impressive book on facebook, and now I find out by snooping around that your great looking book was Kevin's instant author.

PS Didn't I see your picture on the cover of that book?

Sorry Al. Wasn't trying to deceive you. Yes I purchased Kevin's Instant Author Kit. He gives you all the necessary files to be able to customize the books.
I moved some things around and added my logo to the front of the book. I just received three new covers from Kevin that use less ink to print from home.

John

Thank you both John, and Kevin for all of your help. I'm placing my order tonight.

Why would anyone put his/her name as creator to something he/she did not create?

Seems dishonest to me.

I just placed my order as well. The book looks great. The price is unbeliveable.

You don't have to put your name on the books at all. You can leave it blank or put "edited by", "arranged by", "compiled by" or "by". I put "edited by" on mine as I did make quite a few changes.

Bazinga, just as a for instance, do you invent ALL the tricks you perform? Or do you buy and use other peoples material? Should you preface each trick with who the creator/writer is?

All the best,

John

Bazinga
Why in the world would you buy someone else's magic trick and perform it in your show as if you owned it?

Good points. all/

We all are guilty of pilfering material! That is what we do in our shows every time we perform!

The "instant author" product is precisely published so that we can do exactly this. Mine says "Mike Maturen's East Magic Tricks For Kids" Doesn't say anywhere on it that I wrote it. Just my collection of tricks...that's all.

Bazinga,
This is why you're buying the license! If you took a book home from the library and republished it with your name, that would be dishonest.

The license that you purchase literally gives you the legal right to modify the content, then reproduce the books and bring them to market. There's nothing even remotely dishonest about licensing a product. (see below!)

Also, you don't have to put your name as "the creator." By simply putting "by Tom the Magician," you're not claiming to be the creator, "by" could mean it's distributed by, it's compiled by, it's sold by, or marketed by you.

If you think licensing is dishonest, you're in for a big surprise...licenses make the world go 'round! You think companies that sell products create them? Think again, that's simply not true.

Here's a quote from a great look at the world of licensing, as presented by Timothy Ferris, Author of the Four Hour Work Week.

"Licensing is renting your idea to a manufacturer. The manufacturer handles the marketing, manufacturing, distribution and basically everything else required to bring the product to market."

Visit here to read the entire post (highly recommended!): http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/200......s-video/

In the case of my instant author kit, you don't ever have to pay royalties! That makes it a killer deal.


Bazinga, you're entitled to your view. If you feel it's dishonest, then I wouldn't purchase it, if I were you. But don't come on here and call licensing dishonest. There's nothing dishonest about paying to license a product for re-distribution in your market. It's actually a brilliant idea that creates a win-win situation for both the creator and those who purchase the license.

Thanks,
Kevin

Al,

When I perform someone else's trick I never claim to be the creator or inventor. When I perform someone else's song I never claim to be the writer. And in fact when I perform or record a cover of someone else's song I pay, or the venue pays, a license for me to play that song.

as I said, It seems to me to be dishonest to claim authorship to a book when one didn't write it.


John,

Putting "Edited by..." or "Compiled by..." does cover the honesty of it. And, no I do not preface the performance of any piece with an announcement of the creator. Sometimes I do with a song in the intro, but not a magic trick. If it were a legal requirement I would. But MY POINT IS that I do NOT claim to be the originator of the thing.

That's a whole different point and you both know it.

Bazinga!

I never said licensing was dishonest. In fact I do pay licenses for my performances pieces. Why not put "Licensed by..." Joking there.

It's interesting that nobody actaully read my words. I said that claiming to be the creator of something you didn't creat is lying. I don't give a zit if you or anyone else does it. I just said I don't understand why. Now I do.

Bazinga!