It’s that time of year! Furry Book Month is here, where we celebrate the wonderful skill and talent on show within the furry writing community. We have a few things planned that we hope will uplift furry writing and give new readers the chance to explore the wonderful worlds our writers have to share.

We encourage every writer – and reader – of furry fiction to share your experiences on social media with the #FurryBookMonth hashtag so we can get some visibility on the best of our community. Is there a book you read recently that you loved? A new release or an old favourite? Share it with everyone! Are you an author with something new and exciting, or a promotional sale? Share that too!

For this month, let’s get the conversations happening around furry fiction.

To help get things started, we have two book bundles this year for you to enjoy. Like last year, we have a general bundle with 9 books by our members, but this year we have also added an 18+ bundle with titles of a spicier persuasion. They are both available on Gumroad at a pay-what-you-want (minimum purchases US$10 and US$7 respectively), with all proceeds being split evenly with each contributing author and the FWG.

You can pick up the General bundle here: https://furrywritersguild.gumroad.com/l/FurryBookMonthBundle
It features books from:

Tales of Feathers and Flame – John Bailey
The Fifth – Saylor Ferguson
A New Life – B. Kozer
Horizon: Salvaged Heroes – Joel Kreissman
Throwback – Frances Pauli
Aces High – J. Daniel Phillips
The Dragon’s Paladin – Justin Lee
Gryphon Insurrection Boxset 1 – K. Vale Nagle
Lost Inside the Blue Line – Herr Wozzeck

You can pick up the 18+ bundle here: https://furrywritersguild.gumroad.com/l/FurryBookMonthBundle18
It features books from:

Bringing Down Upworld – Kandrel
Harmony – Flash Kitterson
Edax Sapiens – Kadon L. Peterson
Gods For The Machines – Morpheuskibbe
Royal Red – K.C. Shaw
CCS – Tagenar

We hope you’ll check out these great bundles for a fantastic price. They will be available for the duration of Furry Book Month!

Oxurred Comma

Oxfurred Comma was created to fill the gap left behind by in-person conventions when the pandemic started to create lockdowns. When those conventions started to return, the consensus was to continue Oxfurred Comma – both to provide an outlet for those who felt unsafe returning to the physical conventions, but also to give furry writers a space of their own.

The last two years have definitely seen that interest remain in running this online convention. That interest appears to have dwindled for 2023.

The last opportunity to organise the Oxfurred Comma panels has now been and gone, and there simply have not been enough panel submissions to create any meaningful schedule.

As such, Oxfurred Comma will not take place this year.

I will discuss what has changed and what we can learn from this with the FWG staff, and we will then open things up to the membership base as a whole to determine whether we will make another attempt in 2024, or if we will consider the needs and desires for the convention to have faded.

Please not that, as it was always a part of the convention, the flash fiction contest will also not take place this year.

Thank you to those of you who did submit an entry to the flash fiction contest or a panel. With conversations to come over the next few months, we will share our plans for what role Oxfurred Comma may play in the future.

But Furry Book Month isn’t about dwelling on bad news! We have plenty of exciting things to come over the next month, and that includes anthology calls! There are a couple of new ones that have opened recently, so have a look through the list and see what options there may be for you.

Feisty Felines and Other Fantastical Familiars – Deadline October 15th 2023
Halloween Microfiction – Deadline October 16th 2023
Altered States: Draconic Desire – Deadline November 30th 2023
Get Wild – Deadline December 1st 2023
Sniff – Deadline December 1st 2023
Night of the Howling Dead – Deadline December 8th 2023
Indulge – Deadline January 31st 2024
Androids and Dragons – Deadline When Full
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

Furry Book Month is also a great time to pick up a new read! Check out the latest and upcoming releases here.

Angel, by R.A. Meenan. Released September 20th 2023.

The Price 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.

Peace And Love, by Huskyteer. Available for pre-order. Released December 1st 2023.

We hope you’ll join us in sharing the best of what furry writing has to offer. Share your thoughts about your favourite books – leave plenty of reviews and start up conversations about what furry writing means to you! We hope you’ll enjoy the book bundles.

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

We come to September, the final month before Furry Book Month and Oxfurred Comma! Preparations are going on in earnest behind the scenes, but there are still things you can all do as well! We are open for submissions for the furry book bundles and the flash fiction contest! We are also opening our call for panellists to present at Oxfurred Comma. More information on all of this below.

Oxfurred Comma Panels
Panel ideas can now be submitted! We have the option to run panels live or pre-recorded, and can be run around any manner of writing topics! Please submit your panel ideas for approval to this form: https://forms.gle/5nYCQgUQTTpS3oCv8

Oxfurred Comma will run October 21/22, so if there are any time or date preferences for running live panels, please let us know in the form. Looking forward to seeing your great ideas!

Flash Fiction Contest
The flash fiction contest is unthemed again, so your 500 word furry stories can be about anything you can imagine! Entries can be sent in with the following link: https://forms.gle/GnSdDTrneyjWsDye8

You do not need to be a FWG member to submit an entry. All entries should be kept to a PG-13 rating. Just one entry per person.

Novel Bundle
We are open for submission for two novel bundles – one adult rated and one PG-13. This one is open for FWG members only, and priority is given to those authors who were not included in last year’s bundle, and we will not consider novels that were included last year.

Both novel bundles have the same entry form: https://forms.gle/CeB2D4QNQMrZLGSYA

As with last year, the bundles will be made available on Gumroad for a pay-what-you-want (minimum price of $10), with proceeds split evenly between all contributing authors and the FWG. Please get in your entries for this before Sunday 24th, as we want the bundle to go live on October 1st.

Social Media
To update on our post last month, the FWG is now set up on both Mastodon and Bluesky. We haven’t yet started the long process of ensuring we are following all of our members, but you can join us on the two platforms with the links below.

Mastodon: https://furries.club/@furrywritersguild
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/furrywritersguild.bsky.social

If flash fiction is a little short for you, then don’t fret! We have a few new short story openings this month.

Feisty Felines and Other Fantastical Familiars – Deadline October 15th 2023
Altered States: Draconic Desire – Deadline November 30th 2023
Get Wild – Deadline December 1st 2023
Sniff – Deadline December 1st 2023
Night of the Howling Dead – Deadline December 8th 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 hope you will also check out the following upcoming and recent releases from our members.

Clade, A Post-Self Anthology, edited by Madison Scott-Clary. Released August 2nd 2023.

Werecats Convergent, by Mark J. Engels. Released August 21st 2023.

Angel, by R.A. Meenan. Released September 20th 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 all of us at the guild, we are looking forward to Furry Book Month in October. We hope you’ll join us for a great month of celebrating furry fiction.

Until then.
Happy writing.
J.F.R. Coates

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