The Aretalogy of Vanni Bossi

[JHostler]

I'm currently watching the gazillionth copy of "The Aretalogy of Vanni Bossi" dip below $20 a Penguin "Open Box" flash sale. I absolutely LOVED this book, and can't help but think something went horribly wrong on the business end of things - i.e., gross overestimation of market potential. Is it as simple as that, or did something else happen here? Genuinely curious...

[Richard Kaufman]

Wonderful book. But a publisher really doesn't know how a particular book is going to sell. It's always a guess. And we don't know how many were printed, what expectations were, if several boxes of books were found, and so on.

[Grippo's Wish]

Open Box may mean that someone returned the book, for one reason or another. Or maybe it got slightly damaged.

[Chris Aguilar]

Perhaps the odd title put buyers off. It is a very good book.

[El Mystico]

Chris makes a good point. I remember discussing with Gordon Bruce years ago about the extent to which the title of Stanley Collin's 'A Conjuring Melange' hindered sales of that book!

[Richard Kaufman]

I think far more people were conversant with the meaning of "melange" when that book came out than would be today. I would say the title is irrelevant. Collins's name along should have ensured good sales of his book.

[Michael Close]

I think many prospective purchases base their buying decision on having seen some of the material performed. Vanni made a few US convention appearances, and he died almost eight years before the book was published. Consequently, it's possible folks just didn't realize how great his material is.

He was a brilliant man, and left us far too soon.

Kids, don't smoke.

[jason156]

Given the cost of magic books these days, hard choices have to be made on how to spend one's hard-earned cash, were there other books released around the time of this book's release that might have competed for those dollars?

[erdnasephile]

Jason156: FWIW, here's a list from the MC Book of the Year 2016 thread: https://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/vie ... &start=120

The Jerx, Volume 1 by Andy

(here is the vote tally, in alphabetical order)

3 Asymptotes by Ben Blau
1 Devil May Care by Iain Dunford
4 Faro Poetry by Nicolas Pierri
2 Grips, Lines & Looks by Marc Oberon/Paul Hyland
5 Handsome Jack, Etc by John Lovick
16 Harpacrown by Mark Chandaue
2 Hidden Agenda by Roberto Giobbi
21 In Order to Amaze by Pit Hartling
4 Jack Parker's 52 Memories, second (revised) edition by A. Gladwin
1 Jhana by Watkins
3 Magica III Gems from the Repertoire by Larry Barnowsky
22 Mentalissimo by John Bannon
1 MirACAAN 2 by Dorian Caudal
1 Only My Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
1 Second Coming by Ross Taylor and Fraser Parker
21 Secrets of So Sato by So Sato and Richard Kaufman
2 Stand Up Card Magic by Roberto Giobbi
1 The 80's Called...They Want Their Magic Book Back-Volume 1 by Jonathan Friedman
16 The Aretalogy Of Vanni Bossi by Stephen Minch
1 The Imagine Nation Project by Michael O'Brien
9 The Intrepid Rogue's Manual of Deception by Atlas Brookings
2 The Travelling Trickster by Mel Mellers
37 The Jerx, Volume 1 by Andy
5 V by Manos Kartsakis