Furry Writers' Guild Forum

What do you want to see from the guild in 2014?

Announcements
#1

(Cross-posted from FA)

A new year is approaching, a time for resolutions and change. What I’m looking for is help from you, the members, future members, and supporters of the Furry Writers’ Guild. What kinds of things do you want to see from the guild this upcoming year? Ideas can pertain to, but are not limited to:

  • Community projects
  • Structuring ideas
  • Further utilizing the guild name
  • Anything else you can think of

There are some things that will not change at this time, such as membership requirements, but if you have an idea that you think might feasibly benefit the guild or the furry writing community as a whole, please share it here. Ideas that you don’t want publicized feel free to email to me at furwritersguild@anthroaquatic.com.

Thanks in advance, and have a happy Christmas/Other Holiday/New Year!

#2

Getting a formalized election-based structure in place should be a major priority IMO, to make sure everything’s in place for the guild to continue long-term.

I’d also like to see the Coyótls return in some fashion, as I think they helped publicize the guild and, more importantly, filled a much-needed niche in the fandom generally.

I’m not personally involved with the mentor program or the anthology judging, so it’s hard for me, from the outside, to know how things have been going with those projects, but without a lot more member activity/initiative, it seems like it’d be hard to take on too many more community projects until the things we already have going on have been seen through or more fully developed. (Or, maybe a lot of members are just waiting for the right project to come along before they get involved; I don’t know.)

#3

We can work on the election structure soon. I would love to have a small group of people in charge, personally. Maybe 2 or 3 people. One to head the guild, and one to help with community projects and marketing, perhaps. Something that can be looked into.

The Coyotls are something I know very little about so I’d probably need to do a bit more research before I could get those started again. Definitely something that should be looked into.

The mentor program is going, but very slowly. Friday is heading that project right now; I’m going to recommend he check in with some of these pairings to see how things are going. There are still several mentees without a mentor, unfortunately, though I kind of figured that would happen.
The anthology could definitely use some more submissions. At the rate we’re going the first installment of the anthology will be novella-length.

The member activity problem is probably the biggest problem; one that I don’t have a clue how to fix. I’m not sure if it was a problem before I took over or one that has just been an issue since I have, but it’s one I’d like fixed.

#4

Has there been any interest as far as securing a publisher? It might be easier to get other writers interested in submitting if there are more concrete plans for exactly how it’s going to be published and whether there’s going to be payment or not. When the plans aren’t there, the whole endeavor can start to look shaky, and that might scare potential contributors away – I know I’ve passed on various non-furry anthologies and magazines when it seemed like they might not get off the ground, especially for original fiction instead of reprints. shrug It’s kind of a catch-22, of course, since publishers may not be interested if they think the submissions aren’t going to be there, or that it wouldn’t sell. But I was just wondering if anything had been firmed up since the anthology first opened for submissions.

#5

Still working on the publisher item. Unfortunately they’re all so busy at the moment that talking with the pope might be easier.

#6

That has always been an issue. I would say mainly it is because people have their own writing and projects going on.