Thank you thank you thank you!!!
over 1 year ago – Sat, Apr 15, 2023 at 09:02:30 AM

Hello everyone! 

A somewhat belated THANK YOU for helping us end with such an awesome final push! We found ourselves having to travel for some family matters this week, and while we were there watching the final seconds count down on our phones last night, we simply weren’t able to post a properly grateful update until now.

YOU HAVE MADE A LOT OF TOBYs VERY HAPPY! 😊

So what's next?

If you are new to Kickstarter, here's how it goes:

Starting last night (as soon as the campaign ended), Kickstarter began its collection process, which will continue for the next 7-14 days. If they run into any trouble with your payment method, they will send you a message every 48 hours to please log into your Kickstarter account to correct any error or update any payment information. If they are unable to collect your pledge after 14 days, your pledge will be marked as "dropped" (canceled).

If that happens, however, don't worry: your original pledge information will still carry into Backerkit, albeit without any collected funds credited to the order. So you will still be able to complete your pledge to ultimately receive your items, but please note that the total due will include your original pledge amount as well.

We will prepare the Backerkit Pledge Manager this week, and once that is ready and approved, we will send out your individual account links and backer survey to complete your order. These will likely go out on Friday, April 28th.

We expect to have all of the books from the printers and bonus items from the various vendors in mid-July (barring any unexpected delays). This should allow our fulfillment partner to start sending packages in early/mid-August. We will, of course, keep you posted along the way, sharing photos of proofs and production samples as we get them.

Thanks again, everyone! We'll have more news for you soon!

Second Stretch Goal met! Stickers for you and $1000 for pets in need!
over 1 year ago – Mon, Apr 10, 2023 at 04:31:57 PM

Hey everyone!

This is it -- the final stretch... only four more days until the campaign ends THIS FRIDAY! We're so grateful for each and every one of you who has joined the project! Because of you, we've broken the $20k stretch goal, which means we'll not only add a cool set of stickers to each physical copy of the book but we'll also raise our personal donation to the Anti-Cruelty Society to $1000! 😃

If you're not familiar with the Anti-Cruelty Society, here's a short video they produced reflecting back on 125 years of humane service, helping animals in need:

They rely on volunteer help and donations, and thanks to your support of MY FRIEND TOBY, we'll make a personal contribution so that dozens of homeless buddies will have a warm place to stay and full bellies until their forever family comes to pick them up. Last year was a good year, but there's still so much to do...

If you're still on the fence about whether to join this campaign, we hope you choose to come aboard! These are fantastic books, and every bit of support is appreciated! 😊

If you're already a backer, please share the link and spread the word! With four days to go, there's still time to make an even bigger impact! 😄

Thanks, everyone!

What a great launch! Thank you!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Mar 31, 2023 at 05:06:10 PM

Hey, everyone!

TOBY SAYS THANK YOU FOR SUCH AN AWESOME LAUNCH!

In all honesty and full transparency, we would have expressed this gratitude much earlier in the week (like, immediately), but some unexpected travel was suddenly required (we literally had to hop in the car and hit the road within minutes of pushing the "launch" button), and we are just now getting back to the desk. Nothing for anyone to worry about, it is all good, but we were so thrilled to hit that first donation level stretch goal in the first day. We know there are many doggies and kitties at ACS that will be very grateful. 😊

We're already halfway to the next stretch goal at $20k, which will not only double the ACS donation, but add some cute TOBY stickers to each package.  We'll post mockups of those early next week. In the meantime, we chatted with author GREGORY PANACCIONE and posted the first part of the interview on our website today -- check it out!

(Please note, the interview below is translated from French with minor edits for clarity and grammar.)

Magnetic: Let’s start with your characters, Toby is an adorable Terrier and seems like a very realistic dog. Is he inspired by a real dog — yours maybe? Did you grow up with pets?

Gregory: Yes, Toby is inspired by Zoé, who belonged to a friend of the workshop where I worked at the time (of writing the graphic novel). Graphically, she was very similar to Toby. Unfortunately, I never had any pets. But during my childhood, around me, I had the opportunity to meet many. I have always loved observing dogs and all animals (including humans).

Magnetic: Marcel, Toby’s friend and “roommate”… you know, is an artist. Is there a bit of you in Marcel?

Gregory: Physically not at all. I’m pretty skinny and dark. Marcel is always “out of step” with the world around him and I think that’s a bit my case too (even if I do improve over time). In this book he’s an artist, but in other stories, he is a professional tennis player, or a time travel policeman!

Magnetic: So Marcel and Toby both appear in some of your other works? That’s awesome, but why did you make that choice?

Gregory: I’m like a director who has his favorite actors. When I create a character, I like to see them evolve and put them in other situations. It’s a way for me to make my characters immortal and not belong to any space-time like our consciousness does!

Magnetic: Ok, last question (for now)! Was My Friend Toby your first graphic novel? What inspired this particular story?

Gregory: Yes, Toby was my first graphic novel. I was coming out of years of working in the cartoon industry, and while I learned a lot, I had accumulated a lot of creative frustration. This story was a way for me to let off steam, the life of a dog and his master, which is far from the marketing or commercial mindset that wore me out during my experience for the small screen. To tell the truth, at the start, this story was constructed as a joke to make my friends and I laugh. But when I sent it to Lewis Trondheim, my editor, he took it very seriously!

Stay tuned for another post where Gregory shares all about his creative process and projects he has coming up!

Thanks, everyone! Please keep spreading the word -- let's make a thousand new friends for Toby!🧡