A cross-country misadventure
3 Raccoons in Canada
Three raccoons leave British Columbia for a birthday trip to Toronto, the Raccoon Capital of the World. A spectacular navigational mistake lands them in the Yukon instead, and the trip becomes a cross-country detour through all ten provinces and three territories, helped along by the local wildlife they meet on the way.
Why raccoons
I fell for the raccoon lore Toronto is known for. Then I saw one riding a garbage bin like a chariot and knew I had found my stars. They are the perfect mix of wit, mischief and curiosity, adorable but with an edge, and you never really know what they will do next.
The book comes from my own trips across the country and from everything they made me want to learn about it. Canada is enormous, and rich in culture from coast to coast to coast. This is my way of nerding out about what I found and telling the world the good parts, with raccoons and wildlife as the narrators.
It is funny, warm, and very me.
First review in:
★★★★★The three raccoons have my heart!!! I purchased this book to support the most genuine person I know (Anaias!) and fell in love with the artwork and story. In fact, I opened the package while standing in my kitchen and fully expected to glance at a few pages before saving it for later... then proceeded to get hooked and read the entire thing in one go. As an American, I learned more about Canada in this book than I did during my entire schooling :) Love love love.
3 Raccoons in Canada | Illustrated Graphic Novel | 156 Pages Full Colour
$39.99
Free shipping🌎 For US, UK, AUS and NZ orders, visit the Etsy store
What’s inside
Pick a province or a territory and see a double page from that leg of the trip.
They are lost and keep ending up in places they never heard of
Meet the anything-but-average crew that helps them find their way
Sixteen locals who get the raccoons across the country, more or less on purpose.
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Orca
Friendly, helpful and loyal, will get you places safe and sound.
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Sneaky Coyote
Curious but sneaky, definitely unreliable at giving directions.
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Yukon Grizzly
Wise and grounded, knows every local trail and best camping spots.
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Timmie the Moose
Adventurous, True North expert and loves to be told how big he is.
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The Beavers
They have been everywhere and know Canada as well as anyone else.
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Mama Bear
Mama bear and her cubs, you are going to love them, for sure.
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Silly Goose
Helpful, but only when it helps her first.
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Sasquatch
No wait, actually, you didn’t see anything.
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Beluga and Narwhal
Curious and well-intentioned, quietly conspiring to show you more of their remote region.
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The Sled Dogs
Fast and professional, get you to your destination in no time.
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Iceberg Bears
Warm-hearted despite the cold, keep you feeling safe and loved.
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East Coast Raccoon
As mischievous and unpredictable as one can be.
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Lobster
Actually doesn’t help, but you end up helping him instead.
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The Rebellious Cows
They have serious opinions about freedom and hockey.
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Moufette
Mysterious, a little shady and definitely working an angle.
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Toronto Raccoon
Great host and guide, shows you around the city like no one else.
1 / 16
A self-publishing journey
Three years from the first sketch to a printed book, every step done independently.
Three months went into the draft alone: building the storyline, plotting the route across the country, deciding who the raccoons meet in each region and what goes wrong there. Then two more years went into drawing every page on an iPad, around a full time job and a normal busy life. By the time I finished the pages, my style had evolved and the last ones no longer matched the style of the first. I redrew the whole book to match, and translated the French Canadian edition in the same pass.
With every page finally drawn, I assembled them in an online tool and read the story as a book for the first time. That brought another round of retouches, language clean up and design work. I then used a print on demand service to order two samples, one per language, and the experience showed me how underdeveloped print on demand is in Canada, with nothing competitive for an indie author who needs a small colour run. That ruled it out and cleared the path for the printing decisions. Placing that order is what forced the rest, since every option has to be chosen before anything prints: the size, the paper, the lamination, the covers, the legal small print, and the cost per copy that comes with them.
I queried agents and independent publishers in Canada and the US without much hope, and prepared the self published route in parallel. Finding a printer for a colour graphic novel is a search of its own: 156 pages, a run under fifty copies, and close enough to home that shipping would not eat the margin. I collected quotes across the country, compared them on quality, delivery and cost per book, and picked a local printer who met every criterion. Then everything waited on the ISBN, which took months. It arrived in July and the boxes landed at my door two weeks later.
With the books home, the work turns to selling them. Product listings went up on both Etsy and this platform, with incentives on early sales. Packaging was tested so copies arrive intact, international shipping came with its own hurdles, and shipping partners were chosen so the total cost stays reasonable for the reader.
Then promoting. The book pages on this site and the newsletter campaign were already in place, so the push went to social media, with videos on TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest, and to reaching out across Reddit, LinkedIn, Slack, Goodreads and StoryGraph.
The next phase, still ahead of me, is book fairs, local stores, and competitions where the book has a chance to reach a wider audience.
The book now belongs to the Little Me in Big Canada universe, built around the fun side of Canada and its local culture.
Started the draft
Completed the first version
Finished the book!
Contact literary agents
Translate into French
Print books
Open sales, the book is out!
Take the raccoons home
156 full colour pages, ten provinces and three territories, one birthday trip that goes very wrong. Printed in Canada, shipped from Toronto, in English or French Canadian.
First review in:
★★★★★The three raccoons have my heart!!! I purchased this book to support the most genuine person I know (Anaias!) and fell in love with the artwork and story. In fact, I opened the package while standing in my kitchen and fully expected to glance at a few pages before saving it for later... then proceeded to get hooked and read the entire thing in one go. As an American, I learned more about Canada in this book than I did during my entire schooling :) Love love love.
Already read it? Rate it on Goodreads or StoryGraph.