Another month of the year has passed by. This month was Pride Month, and I hope people enjoyed reading the Pride Month Spotlights that were featured over the last few weeks. The Furry Writers’ Guild is blessed with so many members who identify as LGBTQ+, so in truth there could have been any number of people interviewed. We at the guild encourage everyone to continue supporting LGBTQ+ people and causes.
For this month’s newsletter, there will be three main topics to cover.
– The Leo Awards winners.
– Open anthology markets.
– Book promotion opportunities.
The Leo Awards are run by the Furry Book Review. They are a little different to other awards as there is never one single winner of each category. Instead, the awards seek to honour and highlight all exceptional furry fiction. As a consequence of this, all nominations that pass a benchmark score across a panel of judges is considered a winner of the award. This can be shared amongst the entire field of nominations, if all are considered worthy. (Note: I was one of the judges for this year’s awards, which were judged in March/April.)
The winners for the 2020 Leo Awards were as follows:
Novels
Disbanded, by Frances Pauli
Entanglement Bound, by Mary E. Lowd
Qoholeth + Gallery Exhibition, by Madison Scott-Clary
Fox Spirit: A Two-Tailed Adventure, by Amy Clare Fontaine
Whip and Boot, by Herr Wozzeck
Ritual of the Ancients, by Ian Madison Keller
Symphony of Hunted Truths, by Leilani Wilson
Novellas
What Makes a Witch, by Linnea Capps
Rightful Salvage, by Frances Pauli
Spin the Bottle, by Dajan Tafari
Anthologies
Difursity, by Weasel
Selections of Anthropomorphic Regalements, vol. 1, by KC Alpinus
Sensory De-tails, by Thurston Howl
Burnt Fur, by Ken MacGregor
OhMurr, by Weasel
The Haunted Den, by Tarl “Voice” Hoch and Thurston Howl
The Electric Sewer, by Thurston Howl
Short Stories
“The Battler” by Cedric G! Bacon in Even Furries Hate Nazis
“The Fire in Her Claws” by Mary E. Lowd in Daily Science Fiction
“Paths” by Kyell Gold in Sensory De-tails
“Water” by Utunu in The Voice of Dog
“Summer Strawberries” by Mary E. Lowd in The Voice of Dog
“Loving You is Wrong” by NightEyes Dayspring in The Voice of Dog
“Ember in the Night” by BanWynn Oakshadow in SPECIES: Wildcats
“Sharp” by Thurston Howl in Electric Sewer
“Keep Breathing” by Karter Mycroft in Zooscape
“Too Much Play” by TJ Minde in Give Yourself a Hand
“The Pine Lesson” by Ian Madison Keller in Ironclaw: Book of Legends
“These Are the Days of Our Lives” by Weasel in Sensory De-tails
Poems
“On Meeting My First Fur” by Chazz Chitwood in Furry Slut
Nonfiction
“Furry Erotica and Pornography: Art, Sex, and the Self” by Katav in From Paw to Print
From Paw to Print, compiled by Thurston Howl
Book Covers
Disbanded, by Ilya Royz
Selections of Anthropomorphic Regalements, vol. 1, by Jonas Jödicke
When a Cat Loves a Dog, by Idess
Furry Slut, by Jessica Hart
Fox Spirit: A Two-Tailed Adventure, by Paola Tuazon
Purrgatorio, by Joseph Chou
Please support these wonderful writers by clicking through the links and buying what stands out to you. Trust me, they are all deserved winners!
Nominations are also open for the 2021 Leo Awards.
As always, the Furry Writers Market is the go-to place to find out which markets are currently open for submissions. Here is a quick rundown of the open calls.
- Untethered – Deadline: July 15th 2021
- Wolves Gay – Deadline: July 30th 2021
- Furward Slash: A Furry Adult Techno-Horror Anthology – Deadline: November 30th, 2021
- Pirating Pups – Deadline: November 30th, 2021
- The Nightmurr Before Christmas – Deadline: October 1st, 2021
- #ohmurr! – Deadline: Ongoing
- Zooscape – Reoccurring submission period.
- Isekai Me – Deadline: When full.
An important note to add as well: The Submission Grinder now has a search category specifically for furry calls. This will mean another important tool in finding furry-specific anthology calls.
The Furry Writers’ Guild is also looking for books to promote.
If you are a guild member who has a book release coming up, then please get in contact with us so that we can help share this news through our social media outlets. We will be keeping an eye out for new books ourselves, but if you don’t want us to miss it, send us an email or message and we can make a note of it.
For now, we will only promote self-published books if they are from a guild member. All books through a publisher will be considered. This scope may well change in the future, so keep checking back to our social media feeds and blog posts for more information.
The second half of 2021 is upon us. Things may not have been easy so far this year, but hopefully the next six months will see a gradual return to a better normal.
Keep writing, keep reading. Make it all furry!
J.F.R. Coates
Furry Writers’ Guild 