Our new campaign is live: MY FRIEND TOBY!
about 1 year ago – Tue, Apr 04, 2023 at 04:12:11 PM

Hi everyone!

We wanted to let you know that our next Kickstarter campaign is now live, and we'd really love it if you would check it out and support this new project! 😊 It is quite different from MONOLITH or any of our other previous campaigns, but we love it just the same (and hope you will, too):

We love animals. We are big proponents of animal rights and wildlife exploration, with no less than 20 books in our catalog focused on animal tales. From kid's books to all-ages-wildlife adventures, we’ve got graphic novels for animal lovers of all types. April is Animal Cruelty Prevention month, and we are planning a number of things to support that noble cause, starting with our next Kickstarter for MY FRIEND TOBY!

MY FRIEND TOBY is a 144-page, wordless canine adventure about a simple terrier living a simple life with his human friend Marcel, a heartbroken artist who is having trouble making ends meet. But Toby doesn’t know anything about money or bills or electricity; he’s happy as long as there is food in his bowl and new territory to claim in the neighborhood. To him, everything is fine... at least until a stray cat appears, bringing all kinds of questions (and maybe a few unexpected answers)…

This book is adorable, and I’m not kidding when I say I laughed out loud a few times “reading” it. Yes, it is wordless, but it captures the language-less mindset of a dog in a way that seems both perfectly understandable and scientifically plausible. Triple-Eisner Award-nominee Gregory Panaccione (A SEA OF LOVE) is an animation industry storyboard artist turned graphic novelist, and his expert pacing and cinematic eye give this heartwarming story a truly cinematic feature quality.

To help tie MY FRIEND TOBY to our Cruelty Prevention efforts, we will be making an independent donation to the Anti-Cruelty Society based on the campaign’s performance. Kickstarter doesn’t allow pledge funds to be used for charity, or to make it sound like any portion of raised funds will be used as such, but we’ve worked with Kickstarter Trust & Safety Committee to approve our initiative to make a completely independent private donation based on how well the campaign does.

So please consider backing MY FRIEND TOBY to not only get a wonderful graphic novel (or graphic novels, plural – we have several bundles with exclusive bonus items!), but to also help some needy animals find good homes in the process. 😊

Thanks, everyone! We hope to see you there! ❤

KLAW: WERE-WARS Graphic Novel series and Card Game is now LIVE!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Sep 20, 2022 at 07:41:25 PM

Hi everyone!

We wanted to let you know about the newest Kickstarter campaign by Magnetic Press's gaming division, Magnetic Press Play,  that just launched this morning -- KLAW: WERE-WARS!

The campaign is for both the four-volume graphic novel series by Ozanam and Jurion and also for the brand-new Combat Card-and-Dice tabletop game! You can back the project for only the graphic novels, for just the game series, or both! You don't have to be a gamer to help support the campaign! The books alone are a prize!

If you're not familiar with the KLAW series, it opens with teenager Angel Thomassini as he first encounters the secret world of Dizhi as the unwitting recipient of the Tiger Totem. His world is turned upside down from that moment on, introducing him to an entire universe of hidden powers and agendas struggling to maintain a balance between order and chaos. As he grows through the series, he encounters a cast of conflicted characters with shifting priorities, each revealing yet another layer of intrigue. It's an ongoing tale of outsiders and misfits, teens and adults, all put in complicated situations over the primordial powers they've been granted.

We are releasing the fourth volume in the series with this campaign, but don't worry --

You can get all four digital volumes FREE with every copy of the new volume 4 hardcover!

Beyond the thrilling graphic novel saga itself, you'll also want to dive into the action and wage war with other were-creatures in KLAW: WERE-WARS Combat Card-and-Dice Game!

This fast-paced and original card game includes everything you need to initiate beastly battles: 190 Action, Item, Host, and Totem cards, 12 custom dice, 30 conditional token markers, 4 Battle Fan card holders, and a fully-illustrated 24-page rulebook all within a magnetic-latch box. An additional 120 Card expansion set introduces the "Forgotten" Zodiac and dozens of new Items, Actions, and status conditions to add even more depth to the gameplay! Together, with over 300 cards, the possible warrior configurations are in the MILLIONS!

Please check out the Kickstarter page to see all of the campaign-exclusive extras and limited-edition bundles available, including some cool resin miniature statuettes, gaming mats, and dice towers!

This is only our second game category campaign, so we could really use your support! Please check it out and spread the word if you can! 😊

ADRASTEA by Mathieu Bablet launches TOMORROW!
about 2 years ago – Tue, Mar 01, 2022 at 09:12:26 AM

Hi everyone!

Just a quick heads-up if you haven't already seen the news:

OUR NEXT CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES TOMORROW!

ADRASTEA by Mathieu Bablet

For those of you who backed last year's campaign for SHANGRI-LA and CARBON & SILICON, you know how amazing Mathieu's work is. (International backers, you will soon... they're on their way to you as we speak...!) Set in Greek mythology, this new book is equally beautiful, poetic, action-packed, quirky, and epic. It tells the story of a man who cannot die, so after 1000 years of watching loved ones die and his empire crumble, he sets out on a quest to demand answers from the gods of Olympus...

We'll be offering a limited edition, campaign-exclusive "Immortal" Bundle with a bunch of nice extras, as well as the usual array of stretch goals and bonus prints for pre-registering and pledging on Day 1.
Plus:

*** FREE SHIPPING for backers of OGRE GODS or ARSENE LUPIN! ***

Much like we did with SHANGRI-LA + FALSE GUARD + THE WALL, if you backed either of our previous two campaigns for THE OGRE GODS SAGA or ARSENE LUPIN, GENTLEMAN THIEF, or pre-order either from their Backerkit stores before closing at the end of March, we can add your physical pledge items from this campaign to your previous order so that they ship together at no extra cost! Free shipping will be applied to all qualifying pledges during pledge management in Backerkit.

This is going to be another beautiful book, a perfect companion to SHANGRI-LA or CARBON & SILICON, and we're excited to give ADRASTEA the spotlight treatment it deserves!

Hope to see you there tomorrow!

ARSENE LUPIN, GENTLEMAN THIEF ends in TWO DAYS!
about 2 years ago – Thu, Feb 10, 2022 at 12:05:31 AM

Hi everyone!

Just a quick note in case any of you might be interested and missed the news:

There are only TWO DAYS LEFT to join the ARSENE LUPIN, GENTLEMAN THIEF Kickstarter campaign before it ends!

This is a gorgeous and super-fun new edition of the classic crime capers of the original dapper burglar who inspired a century's worth of film and media, including the recent live-action LUPIN series on Netflix and the fan-favorite anime series LUPIN THE 3rd!

You don't want to miss out on the fabulous package of exclusive, limited-edition bonus items that have been unlocked to be included with all physical pledges for FREE! Right now, that's about $40 worth of exclusive collectibles that will not be available anywhere else once this campaign is complete. And you can get this whole beautiful art package for simply pre-ordering the $30 base tier or $40 Limited Edition Cipher Edition tier!

If you also backed our OGRE GODS campaign or choose to pre-order it after the fact from our open Backerkit shop, you can get FREE SHIPPING by bundling both packages into one! Both campaigns will ship in May, so it's the perfect way to save on the skyrocketing cost of shipping these days.

We're hopeful that we'll unlock the numbered bookplates at $90k, but if even a portion of you non-backers watching this campaign come on board in the next 48 hours, everyone will benefit from having a matching "Holmes" lapel pin added to the set. It really is a bargain worth taking advantage of! (Can we hit that last stretch goal to make it $50 worth...? The lapel pins are sweet...)

Oh, and of course, there's THE FABULOUS BOOK ITSELF! 😊

Please check it out and help spread the word!

Shipping update and a word about replacement requests
over 2 years ago – Sun, Oct 24, 2021 at 08:11:32 PM

Hi everyone!

Hope you're all wrapping a productive week and preparing for a nice weekend. Our week has DEFINITELY been productive (as you may hear about on other channels or by email very soon...) It has been great to hear so much wonderful feedback from everyone who's been thrilled by their MONOLITH packages! We're glad it has been worth the wait and it's nice to finally put some of these late shipping issues in the rearview mirror...

...of course I can hear all of you international backers thinking "What about us abroad??" Well, good news...! 

The bulk freight is departing US and heading for the international hubs on Monday!

(And now I can hear you all thinking "What?? just now leaving??"...)

As has been made a point pretty much ad nauseum these past several months, particularly in these MONOLITH updates (sorry), the shipping crisis has made booking overseas freight incredibly competitive and expensive, so (as I think we mentioned earlier) we arranged for Quartermaster to ship MONOLITH with SMALL WORLD to the international hubs, which saves everyone a bit and also makes our shipment more competitively-sized.

That SMALL WORLD/MONOLITH bulk is leaving Quartermaster next week, and should reach their respective hubs in the UK, Australia, and Asia by November 8th. Those hubs have all the data formatted and ready to go, so they should be able to turn shipments around in a matter of days of receiving. So you should have BOTH campaign packages in the next 4 weeks or so!

Yes, we had hoped both of these shipments would have left the US a few weeks ago, but without going too far into it (check out the latest SMALL WORLD update for the full story), we had an entire palette of books disappear in transit and had to scramble to find replacement inventory, some of which did not exist. 😟 Yes, it has been a roller coaster month here. Happy birthday to me! 😋

Everything has been sorted out now (as far as MONOLITH is concerned -- your orders are good!), so things are now on their way. 

These two campaigns hopefully represent the last of the crisis-impacted campaigns, as we seem pretty well on track for catching up with everything by the end of the year. This year has been a challenge (for everyone),  and we truly appreciate your patience! 😊

A word about replacements...

We're proud to say that the overwhelming majority (easily 99%) of folks have been happy and excited by their MONOLITH packages. Quartermaster Logistics does an amazing, professional job packing everything (the worst complaint we've heard is they might over-protect stuff with all of their bubblewrap and big boxes)... but that's the side of "safe" we'd prefer them to fall on! QML's customer service is great, too -- if you have any issues with anything they've sent, you can email [email protected] and they will take care of you as best as they can.

That said, while they will take your claim and review your photos, there are some limits to what they can replace. Not only because some stuff (like limited, free bonus items) might no longer be available, but also due to what we refer to as the "reasonable handling threshold." 

We take pride in our product and book designs. And Quartermaster treats things with the utmost respect and care when packing. And while they choose to ship through reputable providers like FedEx, there are always -- ALWAYS -- dozens and dozens and dozens of hands touching your package between QML and your doorstep. And not all of those hards are gentle.

This is why Quartermaster uses so much bubblewrap inside such large boxes.

But dings happen.

And by dings, I mean just that -- a bumped corner or spine. The corner of a print creased.

Sometimes worse.

When it is worse -- torn spines, exposed cover boards, creased or deformed pages, waterstained contents, missing items... what we call "gross damages" -- QML will replace those items (*if still available) without a problem.

Replacing mere "dings," however... well, that gets very costly, especially with the escalating rates to ship both replacement items back and forth. The total cost of replacing a single book can negate not only that sale but THREE OTHER SALES (depending on the cost of shipping). That may not sound like much if you're talking to a large publisher, but Magnetic Press is not in that league (yet). We're two folks trying to grow. And that growth can be hampered when asked to replace a perfectly good book because of a mere, hardly-noticeable-to-most blemish that could happen at any point in delivery. 

We love books. We love making books that are worth holding and gifting and keeping on a shelf. We understand wanting a book to be presentable.

But "presentable" covers a lot of ground. That saying "don't judge a book by its cover" also applies to books.

The real magic of a Magnetic Press book is the content -- the amazing, unique art and stories we're trying to bring to market. The authors in Magnetic's family are among the most talented creators in the world. And we love spotlighting them with each campaign.

And when we have to replace a book that truly, within all reason, may not really need replacement, it takes a sale (THREE sales, actually) out of those authors' pockets.

These books have traveled literally around the world to meet you. Printed in a factory in China, trucked to Shenzhen, loaded onto a boat that crosses the entire Pacific Ocean to Long Beach, offloaded for inspection, loaded back onto a truck to board a train to Chicago, offloaded onto another truck to St Louis, checked into our warehouse, then re-packed onto another truck to Quartermaster in Florida. Then wrapped and packaged and handed to FedEx who pass it among who knows how many carriers before it finally hits your doorstep. And if you are overseas, you can add a second boat and warehouse cycle to that mix. It is a lot of miles. Can you imagine taking the journey your book has taken? 😁

So if you receive a book with a freckle or nick, please consider the overall condition of your items in light of all of those miles traveled. It is happy to be in your hands. Love it as much as it loves you. 🥰

Okay, sermonizing over. I'm probably gonna get a lot of comments on this one. 😊 That's okay -- I do genuinely welcome the back-and-forth, and sincerely want everyone to be happy and satisfied with their pledge packages. We work hard on making your support worthwhile and appreciate all of you 100%! 😘

(Is the kiss emoji inappropriate...? I take it back if it is, sorry... it's Friday...)

Thanks again, everyone! 

We'll post more updates as international order items arrive at their hubs!