Sorry for the slightly late blog – I got distracted with the Women’s World Cup matches every evening.

Why yes, I do also have some important writing projects I’ve been procrastinating from, why do you ask?

We do have some new to share, though! Furry Book Month and Oxfurred Comma are rapidly approaching, so it’s about time to start sharing some of what we have planned.

Oxfurred Comma
Everyone’s favourite online furry writing convention will be back for another year! We will be running the convention on Twitch on October 21/22 – save the dates! Exact times TBC but expect it to run through the day on a USA schedule. Those interested in running panels are encouraged to let us know as soon as possible – with details on what your panel will be and who will be taking part. Panels can be pre-recorded or run live.

Send us an email or message one of the guild staff directly for more information on running panels.

Flash Fiction Contest
As always, we will also run a flash fiction contest with the winner announced at the conclusion of Oxfurred Comma. Exact details are still be finalised in terms of theme and how to submit. Keep an eye on our socials for more details to come.

Novel Bundle
The story bundle we ran last year was a great success, so we’re keen to do it all over again! But this time we’re intending on doing something a little different – we’re planning on two bundles! One will be a general rating like last year, and a second bundle will be for more adult-rated content.

As it was last year, we will be opening this bundle up to all self-published works by FWG members. At this stage, we have not had the necessary discussions with publishers to include any works published by them. Send us a message if you’re not sure.

Novels included in last year’s bundle will not be considered at all for this year’s bundles. Authors included last year may submit separate novels, however we will be prioritising new authors who were not included in the 2022 bundle.

Submission details will be shared soon. Like last year, this bundle will be available for a limited time during Furry Book Month.

Social Media Update
While not related to Oxfurred Comma or Furry Book Month, it is still an important situation to address. Twitter has been going through an… interesting time recently, and users are starting to leave in larger numbers. So that the FWG can maintain a strong social media presence, we are currently in the process of shifting to other platforms. It is unlikely we will fully leave Twitter at this stage, but we are in the process of setting up a Mastodon account, and should soon be getting onto Bluesky as well.

Once these two sites have been set up, we will approach guild members to get details on their accounts on these platforms – we want to keep track of all members if and when they depart Twitter!

That’s about all for the news updates this month, but there are still plenty of anthology calls open, including a few new ones from FurPlanet!

Feisty Felines and Other Fantastical Familiars – Deadline October 15th 2023
Altered States: Draconic Desire – Deadline November 30th 2023
Get Wild – Deadline December 1st 2023
Indulge – Deadline January 31st 2024
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Furry Femdom Erotica – Deadline When Full
F/F No Erotic Anthology – Deadline When Full
Isekai Me! – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
Beyond Their Pale – Deadline When Full
#ohmurr! – Deadline: Ongoing

We also invite you to check out the new and upcoming releases from guild members:

Gnoll Tales, by NightEyes DaySpring. Released June 30th 2023.

Fang Volume 11, edited by Sparf. Released July 1st 2023.

In The Light Of The Dawn, by the Furry Historical Fiction Society (featuring multiple FWG members). Released July 1st 2023.

The Red Vixen After Dark, by Royce Day. Released July 1st 2023.

The Dry Spell, by Ryan Loup-Glissant (Slip Wolf). Released July 1st 2023.

Clade, A Post-Self Anthology, edited by Madison Scott-Clary. Released August 2nd.

The Prince of Thorns, by Tim Susman. Available for pre-order. Released November 14th 2023.

Commander Annie and Other Adventures, by Mary E. Lowd. Available for pre-order. Released November 14th 2023.

We’re all looking forward to seeing your ideas for panels at Oxfurred Comma, and we hope to soon see your submissions for the novel bundle and flash fiction competition.

Until next time.
Safe writing.
J.F.R. Coates

And just like that, we’re halfway through the year.

Many of the guild’s writers and publishers have just come back from Anthrocon, where there were many new book releases (check out the bottom of this blog), and we hope many sales! If you picked up a book or two at Anthrocon, please share some pics of your haul with us – and the publishers and authors! Don’t forget to leave a review as well!

There isn’t much guild new to share this month, though I am expecting a bit more at the start of August as we begin preparations for Oxfurred Comma and Furry Book Month. Expect some developments there to come soon.

The guild officers have also been in discussion with other ways to produce more content and opportunities for guild members. Stay tuned for more news here.

We have also been keeping a close eye on the situation happening on Twitter. For a long time, Twitter has been the FWG’s primary social media outlet. We are keeping our options open at the moment and will be looking to expand to another location – Mastodon and Bluesky are looking like the likely options at this stage. We will continue to maintain our presence on Twitter.

Once we have accounts set up on the new sites, we will begin the process of finding guild members already present on those platforms.

For those who don’t worry about failing social media sites, there are always short story opportunities! Please check out the current open calls.

Get Wild – Deadline September 1st
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Furry Femdom Erotica – Deadline When Full
F/F No Erotic Anthology – Deadline When Full
Isekai Me! – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
Beyond Their Pale – Deadline When Full
#ohmurr! – Deadline: Ongoing
Zooscape – Reoccurring submission windows.

There were also plenty of new releases during the Anthrocon weekend. These are the ones from the FWG members – though there were plenty of other new books to enjoy!

Gnoll Tales, by NightEyes DaySpring. Released June 30th 2023.

Fang Volume 11, edited by Sparf. Released July 1st 2023.

In The Light Of The Dawn, by the Furry Historical Fiction Society (featuring multiple FWG members). Released July 1st 2023.

The Red Vixen After Dark, by Royce Day. Released July 1st 2023.

The Dry Spell, by Ryan Loup-Glissant (Slip Wolf). Released July 1st 2023.

The Prince of Thorns, by Tim Susman. Available for pre-order. Released November 14th 2023.

Commander Annie and Other Adventures, by Mary E. Lowd. Available for pre-order. Released November 14th 2023.

From everyone at the FWG, we hope that the second half of the year can build upon the first six months.

Until next time.
Safe writing.
J.F.R. Coates

May certainly felt like a busy month with all three furry writing awards getting announced.
It was also an important month in the greater writing sphere, with the WGA strike in USA filmmaking, with possible actors strikes to follow. The FWG put out a statement earlier in May supporting this strike. Part of the purpose of the FWG is to benefit furry writers, and we stand in solidarity with other writing communities and organisations trying to do the same to their writers.

Once more, the FWG would like to offer congratulations to everyone who was a finalist and winner in the three furry writing awards throughout the month.
These awards help to showcase the massive talent on display in the writing community – it is no easy feat to get nominated as a finalist, especially given the quality of works that didn’t even make it that far. The winners and finalists should be proud of their achievements.
For those who missed the awards ceremonies, you can catch up on the finalists and where to find them on the FWG’s wrap-up posts.

Ursa Major Awards – Coyotl Awards – Leo Literary Awards

Each year, these awards seem to get more competitive. We can’t wait to see what works get nominated for the 2023 awards. They are sure to be as good as ever.

Perhaps a short story in one of these open calls will get a nomination? You won’t know until you submit!

Get Wild – Deadline September 1st
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Furry Femdom Erotica – Deadline When Full
F/F No Erotic Anthology – Deadline When Full
Isekai Me! – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
Beyond Their Pale – Deadline When Full
#ohmurr! – Deadline: Ongoing
Zooscape – Reoccurring submission windows.

There are also a few recent and upcoming releases from guild members.

HIV Isn’t Poetic, by Jonathan W. Thurston-Torres. Released May 3rd 2023.

Don’t Ask Me If I’m Okay, by Jessica Kara (Jess E. Owen). Released May 16th 2023.

Werecats Emergent, by Mark J. Engels. Released May 20th 2023.

Sun Runner: A Five Herds Story, by Frances Pauli. Released May 31st 2023.

Gnoll Tales, by NightEyes DaySpring. Available for pre-order. Released June 30th 2023.

Fang Volume 11, edited by Sparf. Available for pre-order. Released July 1st 2023.

In The Light Of The Dawn, by the Furry Historical Fiction Society (featuring multiple FWG members). Available for pre-order. Released July 1st 2023.

The Red Vixen After Dark, by Royce Day. Available for pre-order. Released July 1st 2023.

The Dry Spell, by Ryan Loup-Glissant (Slip Wolf). Available for pre-order. Released July 1st 2023.

The Prince of Thorns, by Tim Susman. Available for pre-order. Released November 14th 2023.

Commander Annie and Other Adventures, by Mary E. Lowd. Available for pre-order. Released November 14th 2023.

We hope writers and readers alike have found something to be inspired by with the awards last month. We look forward to hearing about what you are writing over the remainder of the year.

Until next time.
Safe writing.
J.F.R. Coates

The final furry awards of the year are the Leo Awards, which were announced earlier today. Once again, we present the winners here for you to check out.
Winners are listed in bold – note that the Leos are structured differently. They do not award a ‘Best in Category’, rather they award multiple per category that reach a certain threshold of quality as determined by the panel of judges. Therefore, multiple winners (or indeed no winners) can be listed per category.

Novels
Red Pandamonium (Chaos Menagerie #1) by Roan Rosser
Full Circlet by Frances Pauli
Scars of the Golden Dancer by NightEyes DaySpring
A Furry Faux Paw by Jessica Kara
Lost Inside the Blue Line by Harry A. Wozzeck
Toledot by Madison Scott-Clary
Mouse Cage by Malcolm F. Cross

Novellas
The Otter’s Wings: A Labyrinth of Souls Novel by Mary E. Lowd
Royal Red: A Cozy Fantasy Adventure by K.C. Shaw

Anthologies
ROAR 11, edited by Ian Madison Keller
When The World Was Young, edited by The Furry Historical Fiction Society

Short Stories
“Octopus Ex Machina” by Mary E. Lowd
“What Gold Smells Like” by Frances Pauli
“Let Him That Speaketh Fate to Men Have No Fate Of His Own” by Rob MacWolf
​”Lids” by Utunu
“Mark of the Stranger” by Casimir Laski
“Vagabond” by Tiberius Rings & Fruitz
“Hanging by a Thread” by Nenekiri Bookwyrm

Poems
“The Homecoming of Daniel Usherswell” by Rob MacWolf
“In the Night Among the Cedars, In the Shelter of the Mountain” by Rob MacWolf

Nonfiction
“Furry Fiction: The Squishy Edges and the Heart” by Mary E. Lowd

Book Covers
ROAR Volume 11, by Fresaboba
Mouse Cage, by Pye Parr
When the World Was Young, by Heskynn

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees for the Leo Awards – and thank you to Furry Book Review and the panel of judges for bringing us the Leo Awards.
The Furry Writers Guild hope these awards have helped to motivate writers to produce something for next year’s awards – and has given readers something new to consider.

We’re here again – this time for the Coyotl Awards! We just finished streaming the awards live on Twitch, but for those who missed it or wanted to return to check out the winners, we have them for you right here!
The winner for each category is marked in bold.

Nominees for Best Novel:
Scars of the Golden Dancer by NightEyes DaySpring
Red Pandamonium by Roan Rosser
A Furry Faux Paw by Jessica Kara
Mouse Cage by Malcolm F. Cross

Nominees for Best Novella:
Royal Red: A Cozy Fantasy Adventure by K.C. Shaw
The Otter’s Wings: A Labyrinth of Souls Novel by Mary E. Lowd
Fox and Troll Steal Math by Jeff Reynolds

Nominees for Best Short Story:
“Lids” by Utunu
“Let Him That Speaketh Fate to Men Have No Fate of His Own” by Rob MacWolf
“Coyote Woman Sings the Blues” by Marissa James
“Mark of the Stranger” by Casimir Laski

Nominees for Best Anthology:
Tales of Feathers and Flame edited by K. Vale Nagle and John Bailey
When the World Was Young by The Furry Historical Fiction Society
ROAR 11 edited by Ian Madison Keller
Winter of Wonder: Fauna edited by Andrew Ferrell

Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the 2022 Coyotl Awards.
We are all very eager to see the stories and anthologies in 2023 to see what is nominated for next year.
There is still one more furry award to come this year – we will be sharing news about the Leo Awards when we get it.

The online ceremony for the Ursa Major Awards just took place on YouTube. For those who wish to watch the stream to find out the winners, you can relive the ceremony here.
For everyone else, we have compiled together the finalists below. The winners will be marked in bold.

Best Anthropomorphic Music
• Another Railway Day, by Nonnie, album, November 23.
• Can Opener’s Notebook: Fish Whisperer, by Vylet Pony. album, Feb 22.
• Cute Cervid Vol. 1, by CUTE CERVID (various artists), album, December 2.
• idaidaida, by ida deerz. album, June 3.
• Visiting Narcissa, by Patricia Taxxon. album, June 3.

Best Website
Online collections of art, stories, and other creative and/or informational works. Includes galleries, story archives, directories, blogs, and personal sites.
• e621, reverse image search for the furry community
• Fluffle, Furry art and stories
• Fur Affinity, Furry art and stories
• Kemono Café, Furry webcomic hosting
• Wikifur, Furry wiki

Best Game
Computer or console games, role-playing games, board games.
• Cult of the Lamb (Developer: Massive Monster, Publisher: Devolver Digital; Aug 11)
• Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series (Developer: Monkey Craft, Publisher: Bandai Namco; July 8)
• Lookouts (Developer:ParanoidHawk and ColDoggo, Publisher: itch.io; March 31)
• Stray (Developer: BlueTwelve Studio, Publisher: Annapurna Interactive; July 19)
• Tunic (Developer: Andrew Shouldice, Publisher: Finji; March 16)

Best Illustration
Illustrations for books, magazines, convention program books, cover art for such, coffee-table portfolios.
• Ais05, Dragon Party, (Twitter, October 18)
• Caraid, Jedit Ojanen, Mercenary, (Twitter, August 18)
• Jacato, Wind Watcher (Twitter, March 3)
• Wildering, Space Boy, (Twitter, December 1)

Best Magazine
Edited collections of creative and/or informational works by various people, professional or amateur, published in print or online in written, pictorial or audio-visual form.
• Deep Sky Anchor, edited by Mary E. Lowd. (Internet; May to December)
• Dogpatch Press, edited by Patch Packrat. (Internet; January 12 to September 30)
• Flayrah, edited by GreenReaper, Sonious, and Dronon (Internet; January 1 to December 29)
• InFurNation, edited by Rod O’Riley. (Internet; January 1 to December 30)
• Zooscape, edited by Mary E. Lowd (Internet; Issue 14 to 16)

Best Comic Strip
Newspaper-style strips, including those with ongoing arcs.
• Carry On, by Kathy Garrison Kellogg (Internet, January 4 to December 30)
• Duncan & Eddie, by Chevril. (Twitter; January 1 to December 26)
• Foxes In Love, @foxes_in_love. (Twitter; January 1 to December 21)
• Part Time Dragons, by Part Time Dragons. (Internet; Dragon Bite Meat to The Disturbing Side Effects of Immortality)
• The Whiteboard, by Doc N. (Internet, January 4 to December 23)

Best Graphic Story
Includes comic books, and serialized online stories.
• Slightly Damned, by Chu. (Internet, pages 1038 to 1081)
• Sonic the Hedgehog, written by Evan Stanley and Ian Flynn, art by Aaron Hammerstrom, Evan Stanley and Adam Bryce Thomas. (IDW; issues 48 to 55)
• Usagi Yojimbo, by Stan Sakai. (IDW Publishing; issues 25 to 31)
• Usagi Yojimbo: Lone Goat & Kid, by Stan Sakai. (IDW Publishing; issues 1 to 6)
• The Whiteboard: Sherlock Holmes, by Doc N. (Internet, October 3 to December 23)

Best Non-Fiction Work
• Art, Furries, God, by Patricia Taxxon. (YouTube, video; Jul 6)
• Furries & The Ethics of Cringe Culture, by Kurtis Connor. (You Tube, video; September 30)
• Furry Fiction: The Squishy Edges and the Heart, by Mary E. Lowd. (Deep Sky Anchor, article, December 5.)
• Ursa’s Major Issue – Confident self-promotion vs humble passionate skill, and a voting system’s favoritism, by Sonious. (Flayrah, article; June 9)
• Who Runs The Internet? Furries, by Dylan Reeve. (The Spinoff, article; January 11)

Best General Literary Work
Story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, non-fiction works, and serialized online stories.
• Circles: Volume 4, by Andrew French, Scott Fabianek, and Steve Domanski. (Fenris Publishing, collection, Febuary 21)
• ROAR: Volume 11, Edited by Ian Madison Keller. (Bad Dog Books, anthology, July 1)
• Usagi Yojimbo Origins, by Stan Sakai. (IDW Publishing, trade paperback collection; volume 2 to 4)
• Usagi Yojimbo (Trade Paperback), by Stan Sakai. (IDW Publishing, trade paperback collection; Tengu War to Crossroads)
• When the World Was Young: A Prehistoric Anthology, edited by Madison Scott-Clary. (The Furry Historical Fiction Society,anthology, December 1

Best Short Fiction
Stories less than 40,000 words, poetry, and other short Written works.
• Bears & Bravery, by Gre7g Luterman (illustrations by BearHybrid). (The Bear Minimum patreon; April 5)
• Draught Horse, by Huskyteer. (ROAR 11; July)
• Null, by Elise Zoe Heider. (Google Docs; April 10) Mature Audiences
• The Otter’s wings, by Mary E. Lowd. (ShadowSpinners Press; October 15)
• The Swift-Footed Darling of the Rocks (Do NOT Actually Call Me That), by Marie Croke. (Zooscape; issue 14)

Best Novel
Written works of 40,000 words or more. Serialized novels qualify only for the year that the final chapter is published.
• A Furry Faux Paw, by Jessica Kara. (Page Street Kids; July 26)
• Brothers At Arms (The Zyearth Chronicles Book 2), by R.A. Meenan. (Starcrest Fox Press; February 14)
• Mouse Cage, by Malcolm F. Cross. (Fenris Publishing; July 13)
• Scars of the Golden Dancer, by NightEyes DaySpring. (Dancing Jackal Books; March 4) Mature Audiences
• Toledot (Post-Self #2), by Madison Scott-Clary. (Self; January 21)

Best Dramatic Short Work
One-shots, advertisements or short videos.
• Horns (Directed by FattyDragonite; December 9)
• The Legend of Pipi (Directed by Julia Schoel and Birgit Uhlig; Jul 16)
• Monkey Wrench – The Ghost Egg (Directed by Joshua Palmer; Jul 18)
• Tales From Scorchwater Valley – The Rhino and the Redbill (Directed by Alex Henderson; February 15)
• Tales of Zale – Flickering Lights (Directed by Sif Savery; September 7)

Best Dramatic Series
TV or YouTube series videos.
• Bluey (Created by Joe Brumm; Season 3 (Part 2))
• Helluva Boss (Directed by Vivienne “VivziePop” Medrano; Season 2, “The Circus” and “Seeing Stars”)
• The Owl House (Created by Dana Terrace; season 2 episode 11 to season 3 episode 1)
• Tuca & Bertie (Created by Lisa Hanawalt; Season 3) Mature Audiences.
• Zootopia+ (Directed by Trent Correy and Josie Trinidad, Season 1)

Best Motion Picture
Live-action or animated feature-length movies.
• DC League of Super-Pets (Directed by Jared Stern and Sam Levin; July 29)
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado; December 21)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Directed by Jeff Fowler; April 8)
• The Bad Guys (Directed by Pierre Perifel; April 22)
• Turning Red (Directed by Domee Shi; March 11)

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners of the Ursa Major Awards.
Join the Furry Writers Guild live on Twitch at 6pm PST May 29th to find out the winners of the Coyotl Awards!

The Furry Writers Guild aims to improve conditions and opportunities for all furry writers. This is why we stand in solidarity with the WGA and the writers striking to improve working conditions in the film & TV writing industry.

During this time, there may be temptation for independent writers to step up and fill the gaps created by striking writers. Should writing in the film & TV industry be a long term ambition, then the FWG cautions our members against breaking the picket line and negotiating any writing role with struck companies. Even a seemingly-innocuous meeting may lead to complications with future WGA membership.

For more information on the rules around the strike, please see the WGA’s page here.

Everyone at the FWG hopes this strike comes to a swift and satisfactory conclusion for the writers of the WGA.

We’re back for another year!
There have been no need for elections again this year as all incumbent candidates went unopposed. Due to this, your team of guild officers will remain unchanged for the 2023-2024 period. We are:

President: J.F.R. Coates
Vice President: KC (Kate) Shaw
Treasurer: Watts “Chipotle” Martin
Public Relations Officer: Resolute
Markets Manager: Vincenzo “Scribbles Cheetah” Pascuarella
Cóyotl Awards Chair: Madison “Makyo” Scott-Clary

We are all very happy to be continuing for another year, and look forward to helping expand the reach of the Furry Writers Guild during the next twelve months and beyond. Given there was no opposition in the nomination period, we hope this means our members are all happy with the work we have been doing!

May is usually the time when all the furry awards are announced, and this year will be no exception. The Ursa Major Awards closed for voting on March 31st, and the announcements for the winners are expected early this month. There is no date confirmed yet, but we will keep you aware of any updates when they happen!

The Coyotl Awards closed for voting recently. Maddy is in the process of finalising the votes and we are confirming how we will be presenting the awards. This will most likely be a livestream ceremony hosted through our Twitch channel. Details and dates to come.

There currently aren’t any updates on when the Leo Awards are expected to be announced, but these are usually a few weeks to a month behind the other awards, so may not be announced until next month. You all know the drill now – we will share updates when we know more information!

A note on the Ursa Major Awards – they are currently requesting any donations, no matter how small, to keep the awards going. If you are in a position to do so, please consider leaving a donation to help this award continue for many more years to come. Details can be found here.
We would also like to remind readers and writers alike about the launch of our Patreon page. Through this, we hope to ensure the guild is able to cover its own costs, as well as taking on the costs of the Coyotl Awards, which have previously been taken on by the award chair. This could allow us to expand the impact of the awards, giving us more options in the future to make them bigger and better in all aspects.
We hope that our members will consider the Patreon page as a way to provide voluntary dues in the absence of any regular membership fees, and that readers can use it as a way to benefit furry writing as a whole. We are grateful for any support that is given, and in the future we will look to ways to reward that generosity with more tangible benefits.

There are a number of anthology calls still open throughout May, with one closing within a week of this post going live. If you’re stuck for writing ideas, these may help spark that creativity.

Dog Save The King – Deadline May 19th
Get Wild – Deadline September 1st
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Furry Femdom Erotica – Deadline When Full
F/F No Erotic Anthology – Deadline When Full
Isekai Me! – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
Beyond Their Pale – Deadline When Full
#ohmurr! – Deadline: Ongoing
Zooscape – Reoccurring submission windows.

Please also consider picking up one of the following pre-orders or recent releases from our fantastic members:

A Zookeeper’s Guide To Dating, by Roan Rosser / Ian M. Keller. Released April 4th 2023.

HIV Isn’t Poetic, by Jonathan W. Thurston-Torres. Released May 3rd 2023.

Don’t Ask Me If I’m Okay, by Jessica Kara (Jess E. Owen). Available for pre-order. Released May 16th 2023.

Werecats Emergent, by Mark J. Engels. Available for pre-order. Released May 20th 2023.

As always, if you are a FWG member and have a new release you would like added, please get in contact!

On behalf of all FWG officers, I would like to say thankyou to the members for trusting us to continue our leadership for the next twelve months. I hope we can repay that faith and help expand the guild and better the state of furry writing for everyone.

Until next month.
Stay safe and happy writing.
J.F.R. Coates

We’ve skipped over April Fools and jumped right into the month itself, where we are now deep into the annual Furry Awards Season.
The Ursa Major Awards have now closed for voting, with announcements of the winners expected at the end of the month or early next.
FWG members can still get their votes in for the Coyotl Awards for another couple of weeks – until April 15th.
The Leo Awards currently have the judging panel convening to determine the winners. There is no further public votes for these awards.

The FWG will be sure to share announcements of all the winners for these three awards, so keep your eyes on our socials as well as those for the individual awards to keep up to date with who will be chosen this year.

In case you missed it last month, we announced a revamp of FWG membership profiles, encouraging all members to utilise their profiles better, to give links to works and to make it easier for readers to find out more information about the incredible talent our members have. This is in conjunction with a massive update to the Suggested Reading List. Work on the updated profiles has been completed based on the responses through the form – members who have not yet submitted their profile update form can continue to use the one emailed out in February. If you have already had your profile updated, we prefer that you use the standard profile update form. There are still some updates to be made to the Suggested Reading List, including the Anthology Series.
If you are an FWG member but did not receive the email advising you of these changes, please get in contact with us through the guild email so that we can ensure you are not missed in this update.

We would also like to remind readers and writers alike about the launch of our Patreon page. Through this, we hope to ensure the guild is able to cover its own costs, as well as taking on the costs of the Coyotl Awards, which have previously been taken on by the award chair. This could allow us to expand the impact of the awards, giving us more options in the future to make them bigger and better in all aspects.
We hope that our members will consider the Patreon page as a way to provide voluntary dues in the absence of any regular membership fees, and that readers can use it as a way to benefit furry writing as a whole. We are grateful for any support that is given, and in the future we will look to ways to reward that generosity with more tangible benefits.

April is also the start of the new election campaigns for the major positions in the Furry Writers Guild. Members who wish to announce candidacy for any of the officer positions in the FWG are required to announce their intention to run before April 30th by posting in the relevant thread in the forums.
Should there only be one candidate per position, there will be no election held and the candidates will be elected unopposed.

Not interested in running for a guild officer position? Why not instead consider a story for one of the following open anthology calls:

Paw Anthology – Deadline May 1st
Dog Save The King – Deadline May 19th
Get Wild – Deadline September 1st
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Furry Femdom Erotica – Deadline When Full
F/F No Erotic Anthology – Deadline When Full
Isekai Me! – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
Beyond Their Pale – Deadline When Full
#ohmurr! – Deadline: Ongoing
Zooscape – Reoccurring submission windows.

Please also consider picking up one of the following pre-orders or recent releases from our fantastic members:

Rafts, by Utunu. Released March 16th 2023.

Kelpie House, by Frances Pauli. Released March 27th.

A Zookeeper’s Guide To Dating, by Roan Rosser / Ian M. Keller. Released April 4th 2023.

Don’t Ask Me If I’m Okay, by Jessica Kara (Jess E. Owen). Available for pre-order. Released May 16th 2023.

As always, if you are a FWG member and have a new release you would like added, please get in contact!

Please keep an eye on our socials over the next month, as well as the forum to see who will be putting their hand up for the guild leadership positions.

Stay safe and happy writing.
J.F.R. Coates

We can’t blame February for rushing by – it is the shortest month of the year, after all. But even so, we’re already here in March.

We’re well into furry award season now. The Ursa Major Awards are now open for voting. Please do take the few minutes to vote on these – they are the awards with the widest voting eligibility, so they are a great barometer for what is popular across the entire fandom.
Nominations for the Coyotl Awards are still open for FWG members until March 6th. Guild members, please make sure you’re submitting your nominations ahead of the voting period to come.
Nominations for the Leo Awards should now have closed. There is no voting for these awards. Instead, a judging panel will determine the winners of these categories.

Of course, the awards are not the only things of interest that happened during February.
In case you missed it, we announced a revamp of FWG membership profiles, encouraging all members to utilise their profiles better, to give links to works and to make it easier for readers to find out more information about the incredible talent our members have. This is in conjunction with a massive update to the Suggested Reading List. While this is still a work in progress, there has been plenty of responses already, and I’m really hopeful that these resources will prove much more beneficial in the future when we wish to highlight certain members.
If you are an FWG member but did not receive the email advising you of these changes, please get in contact with us through the guild email so that we can ensure you are not missed in this update.

The second announcement we had during February was the launch of our Patreon page. Through this, we hope to ensure the guild is able to cover its own costs, as well as taking on the costs of the Coyotl Awards, which have previously been taken on by the award chair. This could allow us to expand the impact of the awards, giving us more options in the future to make them bigger and better in all aspects.
We hope that our members will consider the Patreon page as a way to provide voluntary dues in the absence of any regular membership fees, and that readers can use it as a way to benefit furry writing as a whole. We are grateful for any support that is given, and in the future we will look to ways to reward that generosity with more tangible benefits.

March may not be quite so exciting in terms of announcements and updates, but behind the scenes we’re still working on a few more plans we hope to bring public before too long. And of course, the reading list and member profiles will continue to get updated over the next couple of weeks.

While you wait for all of that, why not check out some of the open submission calls?

Paw Anthology – Deadline May 1st
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Furry Femdom Erotica – Deadline When Full
F/F No Erotic Anthology – Deadline When Full
Isekai Me! – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
Beyond Their Pale – Deadline When Full
Found Family – Deadline When Full
Heroes Rise Up – Deadline When Full
Punk’s Not Dead – Deadline When Full
Save The Corgis, Save The World – Deadline When Full
#ohmurr! – Deadline: Ongoing
Zooscape – Reoccurring submission windows.

We hope you’ll also check out the list of recent releases and upcoming books from our guild members.

Happy Howlidays, edited by Vincenzo Pasquarella. Released February 22nd 2023.

A Drop In The Motion (Paperback and Hardback), by Dwale. Released February 23rd 2023.

Rafts, by Utunu. Available for pre-order. Released March 16th 2023.

Don’t Ask Me If I’m Okay, by Jessica Kara (Jess E. Owen). Available for pre-order. Released May 16th 2023.

As always, if you have something to add to either of these lists, please let us know as there will always be something we miss!

Until next month, please keep up with our socials (Twitter isn’t dead yet!) and our chatrooms on Discord and Telegram for the latest updates and information. I hope you’ll also browse through the Reading List as it is updated.

Stay safe and happy writing!
J.F.R. Coates