Sybilmagic: What a cracking reply Peter I have read some of your posts in the Cafe and always found them thought provoking. Thanks for provoking those thoughts again!!
In many (arts) professions the term hobbyists gives you a free reign almost, because if their produce (work) is good or bad it would not reflect badly on those that produce good work. However with magic I feel it is another ball park because people do not necessarily know what they should expect of a magician, I mean how good should they be?
Thanks again Peter.

Peter Marucci: Sybilmagic asks rhetorically "how good should a magic hobbyist be."

Well, it doesn't really matter if it's magic, music, or street cleaning; and it doesn't really matter if you're a raw hobbyist or a seasoned professional.

No matter what you are doing, you should always strive to be the best that you can be.

Sean: It's the question everyone gets asked, but It's always interesting to know! How did you get started out in magic? Was there any special people who inspired you to go on to become a magician?

Peter Marucci: Actually, Sean, I probably started out the way most other magicians began.
I was about 8 or 10 years old and my parents got me a small magic trick (it was the ball and vase and I still have that one!); I was fascinated by it and prowled joke and novelty shops looking for more (our town was far too small for a magic shop).
Then I discovered our local library, which has a large collection of magic books in the adult section (Mulholland, Elliott, and so on); why that was, I had no idea; I just read them voraciously.
And then, in magazines like Popular Mechanics and Popular Science, that my father got, there was a classified-ad section in the back that often listed magic tricks and catalogs.
This was the first time that I realized there were such things as magic catalogs!
I would send away and then wait patiently (or not so patiently) for the letter carrier to bring the latest treasures.
Then my parents took me on a weekend trip to Buffalo, New York, where I saw my first live magician and went to Gene Gordon's magic shop! (Gordon was one of the founders of the International Brotherhood of Magicians).
When I got back home, I just HAD to join the IBM (and did).
The monthly magazine alone, the Linking Ring, opened up a whole new world for me.
But, being isolated from most other magical influences had its benefits, too. Because I wasn't copying someone else's style, I developed my own; and because I wasn't copying other tricks, I managed -- over the years -- to develop my own tricks and routines.

Now, after all that, aren't you sorry you asked! LOL!

Sean: I know a few young people who are interested in getting some of their own material published. What tips or advice could you give to them, or indeed anyone looking to get a book or manuscript published in the magic world?

Peter Marucci: As for publishing books, I don't believe I can be of much help, since I don't have a book in print.
And, as for lecture notes, I do that myself (including the printing) so it's more a case of having the material rather than any difficulty in getting it published (or even printed).
Individual tricks are another story.
There are many magazines around that take unsolicited ideas: The Linking Ring, MUM, for example (don't know the policy with Genii or Magic).
Or you could have a contribution published on one of the many web sites: Here at The Magic Bunny, in Top Hat magazine; the e-zine Visions (www.online-visions.com); the Magic Cafe (www.themagiccafe.com); and, for bizarre, the "contributions" section of Bizarre Magick.com (www.bizarremagick.com) or Dragonskull (www.dragonskull.co.uk).
The main thing you have to have is patience. Some of these publications, especially the ones in print, work with very long lead times (the difference in time between when an article is received and when it appears in print), sometimes as long as a year.
When I began writing the monthly Showtime column in the Linking Ring magazine, I had already contributed three One-Man Parades (a Parade is a collection of tricks and the whole thing usually runs about 40 typewritten pages) and still had to submit about six columns in advance so a bank could be built up and so that the editor could be sure that I had the material to continue (that was about 12 years ago, so I guess I do!).
In many cases, you may face rejection; don't take it personally (it most certainly isn't meant that way!).
Keep on trying and I will guarantee that eventually your offering will be accepted. And that, done often enough, may lead to something permanent.
Just don't expect to get rich -- or even expect to make a living -- off what you may earn. Much of the material is volunteered (since few if any of the people running the print or electronic operations are being paid) and "payment" is in the form of recognition and of having YOUR method or routine in print as proof that it was done by you on or before that date.
I hope the above does not sound too negative.
I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from adding to the total of magical knowledge.
After all, we all stand on the shoulders of giants and someone in the future will stand on our shoulders.
That's how magic -- and humankind -- progresses.