>furry writing awards

that's a thing?

I suppose you could make the arguement that it isn't for the Ursas, given the attached document.

The Coyotls might become something, I certainly regard them much higher, for requiring standards to achieve.

I honestly didn't know we had those. I've been noted that I'm on the furry writers list but that's about it.

I think that's part of the situation I'm trying to stress. Most folks don't know about them except for the four dozen furries that produce enough writing to win one. It's not really well publicized, that I can tell, and furry publishing is a micro genre. Sure, they produce a good amount, but with so much of it self published, self promoted, etc... and most of it either being of poor objective quality or sexual in nature, it does not do much to make the fandom more mainstream or as shareable with those outside the fandom that may enjoy the content.

The furry writers list is basically a catalog of any written work here at all. While it's a handy list of writers, it includes everyone of every level, and is more a phone book of writers than anything else. While it obviously has its uses, it's a directory.

The Ursas are awards that given the attached document really aren't worth being proud of. The Coyotl awards, you have to do the work to be eligible, and then only your fellow guild members can vote and nominate, who have the experience and the resume to know what they're evaluating.

I have a minor listing on the Furry Writers directory, but I was not aware there were awards. Do they get your stories on the Oprah Book Club, then?

Honestly, neither award truly has much clout. Winning any or all likely means nothing to anyone outside of the fandom, unlike a Hugo award, which I'm certain would enhance your profile as an artist. An Ursa really doesn't prove anything other than you can type and you have two friends.

However, at least the Coyotl must be earned by your peers.

Hmm...Yeah, I doubt I'd get either award anyway. I write stupid stories and that's how I like it. Only reason I got on the directory in the first place is for Turnabout Cupcakes.

Though this raises a question: if one must be voted in by fellow Coyoti winners, how was the first won?

Not Coyotl winners, Furry Writers Guild members. Membership in the guild requires a sale to a paid publication, or two to a non paying venue that fits certain criteria.

Ahh...Yeah, I doubt I'll get that, then.

I stopped caring about the awards or having my name promoted to them some time ago. Although, I do still have the Ursa Major Award I won on display at home.

Dominus tecum

You I could believe merited said award. Some others, not so much. Thing is, there's no consistency.

Do you think my assessment is fair?

The Ursa Majors very quickly turned into a popularity contest which means material in the furry fiction category that did not include pornographic material wasn't going to win anymore. And that has largely proven accurate.

I do not know enough about the Cóyotls (can't say I have heard much of them), but from the description you gave it sounds accurate enough.

I wasn't there to pick up my Ursa Major award so a friend of mine accepted it for me and gave it to me at the following Anthrocon. So I was carrying it around in my backpack for the con. While wandering the Dealer's Den one of the promoters of the Ursa Major asked me if I'd ever heard of it. I pulled out my award. The poor fellow did a mental facepalm. So yeah, unless you are already promoted by the folks at Sofawolf, the Ursa Major won't do anything for your recognition.

Dominus tecum

I know that it disappointed me when I kept seeing the gay furry porn win ALL THE TIME. I like Kyell, I like his work, though from what I hear one of his latest projects kind of was less well received by a furry that I know who read the work, but regardless, I was disappointed when it started to seem like ONLY adult writing was going to get noticed.

They're new, I know they've only done it a few times, but I prefer it if for nothing else being more of an earned accomplishment.

I do so love that story of yours, and you know why. ;)

I have only ever read one thing by Kyell, and that was a story he had in last year's Furnal Equinox con-book. It was okay, nothing fantastic but certainly better written than a lot of stuff I've seen in the fandom, but what rubbed me the wrong way was when I was told they had to use it because it was by Kyell. I'm certainly a little arrogant about my own work and would be very disappointed if anything I wrote wasn't accepted in a con-book, but at the very least I know I'm being judged on the quality and appropriateness of my work. I guess that is a perk that goes with being rather unknown.

I hope it's not because you know the person who had to do the face palm!!

Dominus tecum

I think we all are, though I agree there... It should be based on quality. :)

Oh, at least in part. ;)

Then you must explain to me what the other part that you love about my story is!

Dominus tecum

Irony is always funny. :)

I do have to wonder if awards for what seems like an extraordinarily niche genre are even necessary - if no-one outside the writers themselves are aware of the award's existence, how much weight does it really carry?

Then again, perhaps I'm just cynical about them since it's another thing I'm unlikely to have any participation in, like cons.

As you can see by the other responses, quite a few folks don't even know they exist. I do since I was in the writers circle for quite some time so to speak.

I know that while the winners of said awards may say it's worth bragging about, I very much doubt that it would help in the slightest outside the fandom, when even within its borders most don't know they exist. Add to the fact that anyone can nominate and vote for anything, regardless of any criteria, and it removes any authority it may have. I mean, if any random person can vote and nominate anything without reading the work, what does that say about it?

It's democracy, I suppose. Anyone can have their say, regardless of how much they know about the subject at hand. How different are most governmental elections?

Still, at least to become a politician you need experience. :P

If not any actual ability.

I suppose that would apply to ANY field. :)

I suppose so. Sorry to be so cynical.

I'm pretty cynical myself.

So, as with several others, I have to admit that I did not know of these awards, or even how one got around to earning them. I don't honestly know if my written works would qualify, and recognition like an award isn't really necessary to me, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about it, nonetheless.

Well, the Ursas are effectively a popularity contest, while the Coyotls are a bit more effort based, judged by and nominated by published writers. I used to care about such things, but after I discovered how the Ursas function, I lost all interest.

As for if it would qualify, the Ursas don't have many requirements, self published, etc, they don't care. This is both a plus as it allows lesser known works to be nominated, but it's simultaneously a minus, since anyone could nominate anything simply because the author is popular, and as Twilight shows, bad things DO sell.

I was not aware of this. I was under the impression that the Ursa Majors held some weight, at least in the Furry fandom. But if what you're saying is true, then the UM award is of variable value. It might one year reflect very high quality work, but reflect a popularity contest the next.

I had never heard of the Coyotl award.

In the furry fandom, they might, but honestly it's like money. It's only value is what people decide it's worth. While I do believe that Phil and Matthiasrat deserve their awards, as well as some others, certain practices and other factors devalue the overall worth of the award and it's merits.

For example, I know one year, a writer won only because Kyell Gold had no entry that year. If Kyell had, they would not have won.

I think both have their problems. By limiting it to published authors, you're basically ignoring that the vast majority of writing isn't actually published, and certainly not in this day and age. Publishers are wither paid to publish or are notoriously risk-averse. That's not a replacement for quality.

On the other hand, the incestuous nature of the Ursa awards is also a problem.

So I don't think either is really a good award.

Fair enough, though at least the Coyotl's have more countermeasures in there for quality control.

I know that when I read one that had won for best novel, I couldn't even see how it objectively won, until I learned how the Ursa's actually work.

All awards are popularity contests at some point, and much of this is based upon taste and connections, no matter the award system.

Just to clarify, technically self-published works are allowed in the Cóyotls (including web-published, like things posted to FA), just as they are in the Ursas -- they don't have to have been published first. In practice, so far, I think it's been a little tougher for self-pubs to get nominated/win because enough members have to know about them and have read them, and they're competing against works from the major furry publishers that most of us are more familiar with.

I agree that all awards are subjective and no award system is going to be immune to popularity/name recognition issues. But I admit I give about a thousand times more weight to the Cóyotls simply because it's an award given by one's peers and not just by anybody with an email address voting for the only author they've heard of. >^_^<

And thanks for the recommendation, too.

You're welcome, you're one of the better ones I've enjoyed. ;)

Ah, I see. A fair point, though also self published also have lower quality standards in my experience since an author can publish it and be told it's great by their fans, whether or not it has any objective quality.

At least the Coyotls do more to ensure it's about the writing, not about the name recognition.

*nods* Well, the thing about self-publishing isn't really lower quality standards exactly -- it's not that the bar is set low; it's the lack of a bar at all. >^_^< So a self-published work could be something great that just doesn't suit traditional publishing because of its length or genre or the author just wanting full control over it, or it could be something that wouldn't get a second glance in any editor's slushpile because of poor quality. Or any level in between.

I know that's the problem with some of my things, I don't think traditional publishing would be interested, though I think it's good stuff.

There's always small press (furry or non). They can sometimes have the freedom to take greater risks in terms of what material they choose to publish, since they usually market to a niche and can be less concerned about having to appeal to the broadest mass-market audience possible.

Yeah, I know. I actually haven't written in way longer than ever before, mostly doing comic work (the words) at the moment, but I'm seriously thinking about trying to get back on the horse that bucked me so badly I did what I never thought I'd do and take a hiatus. A long hiatus. Still trying to figure it all out, but first I need to figure out how to make it fun again.

While I agree that Coyotl's seem to take more steps to avoid the blind "popular vs good" vote that seems to have become a mainstay of so many awards lately no contest is immune to popularity. They all really on the voter's option of the subject their voting on, so someone might still get an automatic green light based simply on clout or connections though it looks like steps are at least taken to limit that.

Between the two I like the Coyotl's more because they promote more work that isn't pornographic in nature and shines a lime light on writers that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. The Ursula's do seem to focus more on whats popular rather then whats good and unfortunately porn is very popular, it might be well written porn sure but in my option that subject already gets enough attention as it is and it often seems like very talented writers can go ignored simply because they keep their work clean.

I suppose that's true, and I agree. I prefer the Coyotls for the same reasons.

In my humble opinion I prefer clean writing. Not that adult writing can't be good, but I think it's unnecessary for a good story.