Furry Book Month has drawn to a close for another year. Hopefully everyone who wanted a copy of the 2024 book bundle had a chance to download it.
For those of us who participated in the first Furry Novel Jam, congratulations! Even if you only wrote a handful of words in October, those were words you hadn’t written before. I didn’t finish my novella, but I wrote over 15,000 words total and feel really good about my progress. The Furry Novel Jam doesn’t have to end if you don’t want it to end!
Awards season is coming up fast, so if there are recently-published books on your to-read pile, this is a good time to bump them to the top. If you have recently-published works, this is also a good time to send in updates for your guild member profile and the suggested reading lists. If you have a book coming out soon, let us know so we can list it in future posts. Make it easy for potential readers to find what you’ve written!
Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
Paw Anthology: Volume 2 – Deadline November 21st 2024
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
The Second Hayven Celestia Anthology – Deadline July 15, 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
Please also check out the latest releases from our members:
Shadow Sun, by Jess E. Owen. Released August 30th
Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Released October 2nd 2024.
Happy writing!
Kate Shaw
Author: mercyfulkate
FWG Monthly Newsletter October 2024
Happy furry book month! My laptop decided to celebrate by bluescreening on September 30, so while I have managed to get it up and running again, it’s unfortunately delayed the book bundle release by a day or two.
Edited to add: Many thanks to JFR Coates, who stepped up and got the book bundle put together last night. It’s now available for purchase on Gumroad! There are two versions of the bundle, one with only books suitable for a general audience and one with those books and the 18+ books. The price works out to only $1 per book in the bundle, plus an extra $1 that goes to the guild to help with our recurring expenses. That’s a fantastic price for so many amazing books!
In the meantime, you can write your own book during our first Furry Novel Jam! The rules are simple: work out a writing goal that you feel you can accomplish during October, and start writing. You can begin a brand new project, finish a project you’ve been stuck on, or jump from project to project. As long as you get some words down during October, you win the novel jam and deserve accolades and possibly a cake.
We have some fun novel jam activities going on in the Telegram chat and Discord server, including word sprints, challenges, and a certain amount of complaining (all part of the writing life). Come join us!
We’re still looking for guild members who are interested in an officer position. We’ll be holding elections in April as usual, but if you’d like to help out sooner, just let one of the officers know. Duties are generally modest and the other officers (mostly) don’t bite.
Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
Paw Anthology: Volume 2 – Deadline November 21st 2024
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – 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
Please also check out the latest releases from our members.
Squeak Thief, by Kyell Gold. Released July 2024.
The Heavens Within Our Grasp, edited by Maddison Scott-Clary, featuring stories by multiple FWG Members. Released July 1st 2024.
Far Flung, by Utunu. Released July 3rd 2024.
The Eternal Party, by DarkEnd. Released July 4th 2024.
Therianthropic Dreams, by NightEyes DaySpring. Released July 15th 2024.
Return of the Queen, by Shaun M. McGrath. Released July 31st.
Shadow Sun, by Jess E. Owen. Released August 30th
Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Available for pre-orders. Released October 2nd 2024.
Happy writing!
Kate Shaw
Looking ahead to Furry Book Month
October is Furry Book Month, and we’re only a few weeks away! We have a few fun things going on next month to celebrate, including another book bundle!
We are taking submissions for both a general audiences and an 18+ book bundle until Sept. 26, 2024. To submit your novel for consideration, please keep the following qualifications in mind:
The author must be a member of the Furry Writers’ Guild.
The story must be self-published.
The story must be a novel.
The story must be a stand-alone or first in a series (no sequels).
The story must be furry.
The story cannot have been included in a previous bundle.
The bundles will be available on Gumroad for pay-what-you-want (minimum price of $10), with proceeds split evenly between all contributing authors and the FWG. Please get your entries in before September 26th, since we want the bundle to go live on October 1st. We would like to include around ten novels per bundle. Since we want to showcase as wide a variety of writers as possible, we are more likely to choose submissions by authors who have not been featured in a previous bundle.
Please fill out this form to submit:
https://forms.gle/rbGk3FVz4Pj2zpkX6
In other Furry Book Month news, it’s time to sharpen your typing claws because we’re launching the first Furry Novel Jam! This is similar to the November novel writing challenge that most of us have heard of. Instead of November, we’ll be writing throughout October–hopefully without as many distractions from holidays, school deadlines, etc.
The rules are pretty simple. Set a writing goal for October, and on Oct. 1, start! You can cheer on your fellow writers on the Discord server, arrange word sprints and mini competitions, and basically just have fun. It’s easy to lose the joy of writing amid the pressures we put on ourselves, and it can also be hard to make time to write. Sometimes turning the solitary, cerebral practice of writing into a ridiculous race with a bunch of likeminded people can help you regain both joy and discipline.
My planned novella is outlined (uh, mostly). What are you planning to write?
FWG Monthly Newsletter September 2024
Well, here we are. It’s September, the start of a new season and a new chapter in FWG’s history as our previous long-serving president, JFR (Jaye) Coates has stepped down and I am officially the new president. My name is Kate Shaw (writing usually as K.C. Shaw), and I’ve been in the background as vice president for several years now. I don’t post much so you might not know me, but I love everything the guild stands for and I’m proud to have helped Jaye bring so many important changes about since 2021. I hope I can continue her stellar work going forward.
Jaye will still be around, of course, as a guild member, moderator on various platforms, and editor of the forthcoming Tales from the Guild: Blood and Water anthology. We’ll miss her as president, but we’re all excited to see her writing and publishing adventures continue.
That said, we are now down several guild officers. If you’ve ever considered helping out, we currently need a treasurer and vice president. Feel free to contact me or any other guild officer if you’d like to step up, although we will also be holding officer elections as usual in April of 2025.
I’m delighted that my first “official” act as president is to congratulate guild member Edi Álvarez for doing so well in the International Latino Book Awards! His novel Virtus Draconis was a finalist for Best Fantasy Novel and won honorable mention for Best First Book. It’s available in both Spanish and English editions. His book Como una Fiera also won honorable mention for Most Inspirational Young Adult Book. Congratulations!
Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
Paw Anthology: Volume 2 – Deadline November 21st 2024
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – 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
Please also check out the latest releases from our members.
Squeak Thief, by Kyell Gold. Released July 2024.
The Heavens Within Our Grasp, edited by Maddison Scott-Clary, featuring stories by multiple FWG Members. Released July 1st 2024.
Far Flung, by Utunu. Released July 3rd 2024.
The Eternal Party, by DarkEnd. Released July 4th 2024.
Therianthropic Dreams, by NightEyes DaySpring. Released July 15th 2024.
Return of the Queen, by Shaun M. McGrath. Released July 31st.
Shadow Sun, by Jess E. Owen. Available for pre-orders. Released August 30th
Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Available for pre-orders. Released October 2nd 2024.
Many thanks to Jaye for her hard work over the years. I’ll do my best to ensure a seamless transition.
Kate Shaw
Furry Writers’ Guild 