Furry Writers' Guild Forum

The Symbol of a Nation

Publishing and Marketing
#21

Huskyteer, you or anyone can write me at any time at fredpatten@earthlink.net. Notify me if it looks like you can’t finish your story, and I’ll declare that animal & country available again.

Munchkin, yes you can use the animals of other countries in supporting roles as long as your focus is on a specified animal and its country. I’d prefer that authors don’t try to “use up” more than one animal and country per story, though it’s pretty irresistible to try featuring all the U.K. animals in one story.

A bulldog, a unicorn, a Barbary lion, and a Mute swan? How did you miss a red dragon from Wales?

#22

Okay, good to know! And XD Shame on me for missing that! It’s not what my own story will be focused on or set in, but just the most obvious example/comparison that came to mind. Though now I think I’d be a little disappointed if someone didn’t jump on that idea XD Could be a lot of fun!

#23

I know he’s not actually an animal, but it would amuse me greatly if there was a bull called John in there too :slight_smile:

#24

Just a reminder: If you’re looking to apply for an associate editor position for this project, you have until the 8th of August. For a reminder on details, see the bottom of the original post on this thread!

#25

I have the set-up for a story in my head… now to just make it a story rather than an interesting thing.

#26

Make sure to check in with Fred to verify the animal/country you’re looking at is still available :slight_smile:

#27

Only ten animals/countries or states have been spoken for so far. There are still plenty to claim.

#28

Oops! The person who claimed the coyote of South Dakota has just notified me that he has decided to not write that story, after all. So the coyote and South Dakota are available, once again.

#29

Edit: Applications for the associate editor position are closed. I have sent out emails to all who applied, and am updating the submission calls both here and on the Goal Publications website.

#30

Warners Animation Group’s movie Storks will be released on September 23.

The white stork is the national animal of Lithuania. It is also the “community” animal of the province of Extremadura in Spain. Will WAG’s movie give anyone any stork ideas?

#31

The first submission for The Symbol of a Nation has just been received: “Quick Fingers, Warm Arms” by BanWynn OakShadow; 15,000 words. BanWynn has featured the lynx of Romania.

The deadline for The Symbol of a Nation is December 1st, for publication at Fur the More in Baltimore next April. There is still time to write a story. Remember, Goal Publications is paying 1¢ per word; double the rate of most other furry specialty publishers. There are over 200 countries and most have an official animal. Nobody has claimed the bald eagle of the U.S. yet. (Roz Gibson has dibs on Mauritius and the dodo; the only country with an extinct animal/bird as its national emblem. I have no idea how Roz will anthropomorphize an extinct bird.)

Due to popular demand, we will take the official animals and birds of national subdivisions like provinces and states, as well. For instance, Spain’s national animal is the bull (that’s been claimed), but there are still Spain’s provinces: Asturias (goat), the Basque country (pottok, a Pyrenees semi-feral pony), Catalonia (donkey), Extremadura (white stork), Navarre (boar), Valencia (bat), and others. Want to write a story about an anthropomorphized snow leopard? (Afghanistan.) A fennec? (Algeria.) A tiger? (India.) A coyote? (South Dakota.) Let me know at fredpatten@earthlink.net.

#32

Amy Fontaine is studying wild animals in Kenya. She says:

“We stopped the car, and the hyena came right up to us. He looked intently in the open window, gazing at us with curiosity and interest. I looked back at him as he looked into my eyes. I didn’t realize at the time that Meeko was simply a popcorn fiend; sometimes we have to give hyenas lures like popcorn and powdered milk for the sake of our research, and popcorn was what Meeko was after when he was gazing so intently into the car.”

Hyenas like popcorn? Who knew!? The hyena is the national animal of Gambia (or “the Gambia”). That hasn’t been claimed yet for The Symbol of a Nation. Maybe someone could write a story featuring an anthropomorphic popcorn-loving hyena from Gambia.

#33

Macedonia’s first animation studio, Lynx Animation Studios in the capital of Skopje, is one year old today. And guess what – it’s named after Macedonia’s national animal, the lynx. The Symbol of a Nation already has a story about Romanian lynxes, but nobody has spoken up for Macedonia yet. Hint, hint.

Lynx Animation Studios is hiring background artists, inbetweeners, and 2D animators, if anyone wants to move to Skopje. Its first theatrical feature, a space-opera comedy now in preproduction, is scheduled for completion in late 2019. Get in on the ground floor.

Seriously, this shows that we want only one story per nation, but many animals are the national animal of more than one country. Speak up for what animal or bird you want to write about.

#34

I’ve just been asked whether I’ll/Goal Publications will accept stories for The Symbol of a Nation that mix the national animals of different countries together – for example, an animal United Nations with each country represented by its animal: the U.S.'s bald eagle, Russia’s brown bear, Bolivia’s llama, China’s giant panda, Croatia’s pine marten, France’s fighting rooster, and so on; or the animals of the countries in Interpol.

We hadn’t considered this, but yes, we’ll accept such a story as long as it features a plot and it’s not too mired in current international politics – like the animals of the European Union debating Kosovo’s (tiger’s) application for membership. I was about to use the Republic of Cyprus and the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as an example, but while Cyprus has a national animal, the mouflon (a local sheep), as far as I can tell North Cyprus doesn’t. Neither Georgia nor its provinces that have declared their independence, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, do. Well. this is up to the writer. Yes, it’s possible.

#35

Thanks for mentioning this, Fred! :smiley: And they really, really love powdered milk, even more than popcorn! People who might want to write about hyenas can check out our research blog for fun hyena facts: www.msuhyenas.blogspot.com I’d write such a story myself, but I’m too busy getting my soul sucked out by science. n_n;

#36

My original idea for this kind of fell apart in the details >.< I don’t want to give up yet, though, so I’m going to try toying around with different ideas but same country/animal.

#37

LOL, same here. I started out writing a heroic adventure tale and it turned into a murder mystery.

#38

Just over two weeks left to get your stories in for this anthology!

#39

Sean said it: there are just a little over two weeks to write a story for The Symbol of a Nation.

To my surprise, nobody has chosen either the beaver of Canada or the bald eagle of the U.S. Or my own state’s (California’s) grizzly bear. We have a good menagerie of other animals and birds, though. This is assuming that all of the stories are acceptable, and considering the caliber of some of the writers who’ve promised a story, I’m not worried.

I’ve already rejected one story, though, that I think should become a model of what not to do when submitting to an anthology; it ignored practically every requirement. It was a finished story, despite the instructions saying to submit a proposal for approval first or to find out if that country/province/state had already been assigned. It was sent to me, instead of to the assistant editors first. It was less than 1,300 words, despite our 2,000 word minimum. And it wasn’t about anthropomorphic animal(s). The characters were all human, except for the appearance of the animal (one, unanthropomorphized) in the distance at the end. What Were They Thinking? The submitter was not a FWG member.

#40

With only two weeks to go, this BBC News report today about Canada’s new national bird, the grey jay, and the difference between “national” and “official” animals and birds, is pertinent.