News

The Good Furry Awards are open once again! Here it all is, straight from the big bear’s mouth: “Have you ever wanted to say, ‘Thank you!’ to someone who has done a lot for others in the furry fandom? Perhaps it is a furry (or team of furries) who has organized or helped to organize a fantastic furcon or furmeet. Maybe it is a furry who runs an informative YouTube broadcast that has taught you a lot about the fandom that you didn’t know. Or maybe it is just someone who has given you a personal paw up to help you along the way with words of encouragement or comfort. Well, now’s your chance to thank them!

Sponsored by Uncle Bear Publishing, the Good Furry Awards have been thanking people since 2019, and we’re doing it again this year! What are the Good Furry Awards? Essentially, they are a People’s Choice awards in which the furry community nominates good furries and then votes for them. Winners receive a handsome trophy of thanks and a nice little dollop of cash. Even if a nominee doesn’t win, they will all receive handsome certificates of appreciation to show we care.

There are three categories of Good Furry Awards: The Good Egg Award for volunteerism, the Image Award for media programs that promote and enlighten the fandom, and the Furtastic Award for general foofiness that doesn’t fit easily into the other two categories. There’s also the Lifetime Achievement Award, chosen by committee to recognize furries who have had a substantial impact on the fandom over the last twenty or more years. Previous winners have included Mark Merlino, Rod O’Riley, Steve Gallacci, Reed Waller, and Ken Fletcher.

The nominations are now in, so now’s the time where YOU get to vote! Just go to Vote for the Good Furry Awards – UNCLE BEAR PUBLISHING and complete the easy form. One vote per furry, please! Voting will be open from now through August 24, with winners announced at Anthro SoCal in September. If you have questions about the awards or with to arrange an interview with the chair, Grubbs Grizzly, write to: contact@unclebearpublishing.com. Good luck to all the nominees!”

What he said

image c. 2026 Uncle Bear Publishing

Written by Guild Markets Manager: Chase Anderson

Whether you’ve just finished your first book or your fiftieth, you have to make the same decision: how do you want to get it out into the world?

Self-publishing is pretty self-explanatory: you’re responsible for putting the book together and publishing it, and all the steps–and skills, and costs–that entails. It allows you to retain full control of the process, but takes significantly more time and resources. But what if you just want to write and not worry about any of that?

Traditional publishing, for hundreds of years, used to be the only option, and is still seen as the dream for many authors. But it can seem inscrutable to those unfamiliar with it, which can push underserved voices from submitting their books to agents and publishers.

The purpose of this post is to explain how this half of the publishing world works, to arm you with the knowledge on how to safely navigate traditional publishers both big and small.

### SO YOU WANT TO BE STEPHEN KING

If your dream is seeing your book on the shelves of Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, or Dymocks, you need to get your manuscript in front of an acquiring editor of a major publisher like Penguin Random House or HarperCollins. In the old days, they interred employees between stacks of mailed-in manuscripts to wade through the slush and pick out promising options to send upstairs.

But, once writers started using literary agents to negotiate deals on their behalf, publishers realized they could save themselves the trouble and move the slushing over to the agents. While some publishers might have limited windows for unagented/unsolicited submissions for underserved groups, the only way for most to get their foot into the door is through an agent.

Agents pick authors and projects they want to represent, which might entail feedback to strengthen the manuscript before showing it to editors. Once it’s ready, agents pitch your book to editors at publishers they believe will want it. They then ensure a contract from the publisher–or movie studio, or roller coaster manufacturer–is in your best interest, and they take a percentage of your earnings as compensation for their efforts.

This allows publishers to focus on what they do best: make your manuscript into the best product possible (so they can make as much money as possible selling it to readers). They offer you an “advance” on your future earnings (royalties) and you work with their editors to make your book stronger, along with the regular grammar, punctuation, and typesetting stages of editing.

One of their sales people will have a meeting with Barnes and Noble, where they pitch all their upcoming titles and argue that your book deserves space on their shelf instead of a Funko Pop. Their marketing team makes nice little graphics for social media and sends out review copies and press releases. As massive companies that put out dozens, if not hundreds, of books per year, they know this process in and out and have the connections to get your book in front of as many people as possible.

### BIGGER ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER

Publishing, in all its forms, is a business, and the book is the product. This means the corporate beancounters determine how many risks they can afford to take per year, as the guaranteed money makers like James Patterson, Colleen Hoover, and celebrity memoir bankroll everything else. It would be great for everyone if every debut turns into a runaway success like Xiran Jay Zhao, but they expect most books not to turn a profit. 

So books that are just outside the norm, whether it be in length, tone, subject matter, or the current political climate, will be harder to justify. Paying all those people to make a book a huge success isn’t cheap.

For furry writers, this is especially the case; we’ve all heard “Aren’t animal stories for kids? So why is this so long/mature? Who is this for?” We know there’s a market of readers for these books, but it’s not as big as major publishers want. They need to sell thousands of copies to make money, so what can you do when your readership is only in the hundreds?

### THE SMALL BUT MIGHTY

Small and indie presses do most of the same things that major presses do, but on a much smaller scale. They’ll put out maybe a dozen titles per year and have much smaller headcount; it isn’t uncommon for a press to be a single person who still has a day job.

The smaller headcount means that they need to sell much fewer copies to turn a profit, so they can publish titles that have smaller readerships. But it also leads to two major drawbacks:

1. They do not have the same cachet as a large press. It’s exceedingly unlikely that they’ll be able to get major reviewers or brick and mortar retailers to consider your book. Barnes and Noble is pretty confident they can sell that Star Wars LEGO set in Topeka, Kansas, but they don’t believe someone browsing the shelves will buy a book for a hyper-niche market.

2. Small or no advances. Without authors of instant New York Times bestsellers, their cashflow looks quite different. They cannot afford to give you $5,000 upfront if they expect to only make $10,000 in sales across all titles in a year.

But there’s also a number of benefits, too. You rarely need a literary agent to submit to them, so the barrier of entry is lower (and you don’t have to pay an agent’s fees, which means a higher royalty percentage for you). Your book won’t get lost among a bevy of new releases or a massive back catalog.

And, for furry publishing especially, you get the benefit of a deep understanding and integration into the community. Furry presses and distributors vend at all of the major conventions, where they hand sell your book and how awesome you are to people who otherwise would’ve never known furry writing exists. As furs themselves, they know what types of stories furries like and how to market to them. Despite having a corporate ‘sona, this isn’t something Penguin would ever be able to do.

### AND THEN THERE’S THE BAD GUYS

Malicious people–whether it be hackers, scammers, or shady businessfolx–succeed for two primary reasons: they manipulate emotions, and they take advantage of potential victims not knowing what is a “normal” interaction.

A real example I’ve encountered: I was at a local reading, and was talking to a fellow writer. She was telling me about her book and her efforts in getting published. “I found this great agent,” she told me. “And if I pay him up front, he’ll try harder to pitch my book!”

“Uhhhhhh, what?” I said. And I explained to her that agents get paid a percentage of your earnings, both the advance and royalties. They need to work hard to pitch your book in order to get paid. So, if you pay them up front…why would they try harder? They already made money off of you without having to do any work, so why risk putting in more effort for no return?

She didn’t want to believe she almost got scammed, of course. No one likes to admit they’ve been tricked. No one likes to feel ashamed. But it happens to all of us; I have absolutely clicked phishing links before my morning coffee has kicked in. But once I notice the website I land on is sus, I leave before I can do any more damage, like entering in passwords or personal info.

As a writer, you want people to like your book. You want people to tell you it’s amazing and that it deserves to be published. Bad guys know that you’ll become super excited when told these things, and, when you’re emotional, you’re less likely to stop and think things through. You’re less likely to question if these things are untrue. They may not ask immediately, but they will, at some point, ask you to do something against your best interest.

Which, almost always, is sending them money. There has been maybe one scammer in all of history that had the intention of stealing someone’s manuscript to publish elsewhere, as publishing takes a lot of effort and doesn’t guarantee a big payout. It’s a lot easier for them to get you to send them money for services that will never happen, or that you shouldn’t need to pay for in the first place.

### WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR

Malicious people constantly change the names/emails/websites they use and the text of their messages, so listing known bad-actors will quickly age into uselessness. Instead I’ll list the techniques they use and some examples, as those are the most difficult for them to change. But the tl;dr is ”…and then they ask you for money.”

* Messages from a publisher, agent, or editor out of the blue saying they really liked your book (especially an unpublished book) and are interested in it.

* Needing to pay for services, such as representation, editing, cover design, marketing, appearance fees, etc.

* Needing to purchase X copies of your book in order to be published or to keep the publisher from going under.

* The terms of an agreement changing (e.g. My uncle works at Nintendo, I’ll pitch your book to him to be turned into a game. Oh, he said we need a treatment first, but my cousin will gladly do it for only $10,000.).

* Any sort of pressure to act now, or else you’ll lose your opportunity. (Publishing moves very slowly. You can absolutely take a week or two to think things over.)

* Any sort of pressure to keep the offer and/or threats secret.

* Any sort of hostility if you ask for more time/space to think it through or when asking questions.

If you’re familiar with banking, tech support, or investment scams, you’ll notice some similarities. Many unpublished mainstream writers are older and aren’t part of larger writing communities or organizations, so scammers see them as likely to fall for flattery and intimidation tactics. But anyone, of any age and at any point in their career, can be victimized by a scam. You need to be lucky every time spotting and dodging scammers. Scammers only need to get lucky once.

### BUT WHAT ABOUT…?

There are “vanity presses” and publishing services, where you pay for things like cover design and distribution. It’s common for self published authors to pay for someone else to edit their book or handle the marketing, for example.

However, the self published author knows up-front that they want to pay for a service and begin discussions with that in mind. They don’t get blindsided with, “Oh, actually I’m not gonna make you a cover for free. Gimme $5,000.”

Printing your book at FedEx is technically a vanity press; FedEx really doesn’t care what happens after it’s printed as long as you pay them first. If you see a press that says, upfront and clearly on their website, that they’ll publish your book if you pay $W,XYZ, then you have the right to enter that contract. But it’s important to keep in mind that what makes them money is the services, not making a book people want to buy.

Before you sign that check, do some research: Do their covers look nice? Do their titles have any reviews on Amazon? Do they focus more on selling books, or services? If you google them, what comes up? Have other authors had good experiences?

Just because a publisher doesn’t say upfront they won’t ever charge you fees doesn’t mean they aren’t a vanity press; many publishers assume this is an unspoken rule, like, “Please don’t set our store on fire or punch the staff.” If, after being accepted, you’re told you need to pay for services (either as a normal part of their business or that you or your book is an exception), that’s extremely not cool of them.

There are presses that only charge some of their would-be-authors, especially for editing. This is also extremely uncool, and it makes it harder for word to get out that they do this, because authors compare notes. If you were singled out for paying fees, it can increase the negative feelings that keep people from speaking out, which is the one thing they don’t want you to do.

### HELP! I THINK I’VE BEEN SCAMMED!

It’s awful that this happened to you. It doesn’t mean that you’re naive, or a bad writer, or deserved this. It means you’re human, with human emotions that a not very nice person took advantage of. They’re in the wrong here, not you.

You can try to initiate a chargeback with whatever service you used to transfer the money, but that might be impossible (services like Zelle and PayPal Friends and Family post warnings that they cannot undo transactions because they’re so commonly used for scams). The best thing you can do is share your story; while not furry-specific, SFWA’s [Writer Beware](https://writerbeware.blog/about/) has a tipline for potential scams and shady publishers.

I’ve submitted to them before, as I have been involved with publishers that ghosted authors without paying them, sending contributor copies, or reverting rights. And it always sucks when it happens! Unfortunately, if you work in publishing long enough, you’re going to encounter a bad actor, either one who set out to be a scammer or who meant well but got overwhelmed by the realities of publishing.

If something happened with a furry-specific publisher, you can privately message a Guild Officer and share your concerns.

Even if you just want a gut check or an extra set of eyes on a contract, one of the reasons why I’m here is to give you the tools you need to succeed, and that includes the knowledge and confidence to advocate for yourself. Your stories are important and deserve to be handled by someone who sees you as the artist you are, and not just a walking paycheck.

### GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Some words mean specific things with publishing, such as:

* Acquiring Editor: The person at a publisher who chooses what stories to buy to fulfill the company’s goals. For large publishers, final decisions are usually made by upper management. For small presses and literary journals, it’s often the same person who is the head of the organization and handles other editorial duties.

* Advance: A “loan” a publisher gives a writer for their manuscript. For each book sold, an author earns a certain percent of it as income, known as royalties, which are reported by the publisher and paid on a set schedule. An advance is an amount that is “borrowed” against future royalty earnings, any royalties accrued greater than the advance (and, therefore, sent to the author) means the book has earned out. Most books do not earn out, and this is part of the math that determines what advances an author might get. If a book does not earn out, the author doesn’t have to pay back the difference.

* Example: A publisher gives an author a $10,000 advance for a book that earns $5 in royalties per book sold. The first 2,000 books sold have their royalties “paying back” the “loan” that was the advance, so the author does not get issued royalty checks. If 2,001 or more books sell, then the book has earned out and the author receives additional income. If it sells 2,000 copies or less, the author only ever gets the initial $10,000.

* Agent: A person who represents a writer to sell and negotiate specific rights, such as English publishing, foreign language publishing, film adaption, roller coaster adaption… A person with an agent is agented, and an agent submitting a work on the writer’s behalf is an agented submission. A writer submitting directly to a publisher is an unagented submission. Agents get paid a percentage of author earnings, both advance and royalties, and is the only way they earn income; brand-new agents who have not sold any books do not make any income and often work another job.

* Publisher: A traditional publisher invests only their money into acquiring and publishing books; authors only receive money, not pay money. A vanity publisher will publish a book only if a writer pays all of the costs: some differentiate themselves by not accepting every customer, but they’re still vanity publishers. A hybrid publisher fronts some of the costs of book production, but they require the writer to “invest” some of their own money, too. Publishing services are offered by a company for authors to handle some parts of self-publishing for them.

* Note: Each has its own use case. If you want to print a couple dozen copies of a cookbook for the family reunion, then a vanity publisher is your best option. If you can’t be bothered to find a cover designer or figure out how to format eBooks, then publishing services can help you in self-publishing. Many vanity and hybrid publishers won’t call themselves that due to the negative connotations, so you have to determine what type of publisher they are by looking at their site. Regardless of what you choose, any ethical publisher that requires author payment must be up front about it. 

* Rights: The legal ability to do something with a book. If a publisher only sells books in the US and Canada, they need North American English language rights. If a publisher has worldwide distribution (such as through Gumroad or itch.io), then they need worldwide English language rights. The rights a publisher is buying from you, and how much they pay for it, is spelled out in the contract. Good contracts should include information on rights reversion, where you get your rights back (and can then sell them elsewhere, if you so choose).

* Example 1: A publisher wants to buy your English-language short story to sell in their physical and digital magazine for 8 cents per word. But their contract states you are also giving them merchandising rights, all forms of media/publishing, both current and future, and all foreign language rights. Signing the contract gives them the right to turn your story into a movie, translate it and publish it in High Valyrian, or make a Funko Pop of the characters, and you won’t see any additional income. It’s good practice to ask what plans a publisher has to exercise each right, in each form and language; if they have no plans, then they don’t need those rights. If they make plans in the future, they can issue a new contract then (and write you a new check).

* Example 2: A publisher wants to buy your book to sell both physically and digitally. They want the exclusive right to be the publisher of your book, but there is no rights reversion clause. If the press goes defunct (such as the owner dies, closes the press, or decides to ghost everyone), then, legally, you can’t sell your book elsewhere (either to another publisher or to self-publish it). Contracts exist to protect both parties in case the worst happens, so having, in writing, what should happen if a publisher stops functioning is good practice.

* Note: Generally, you do not need a lawyer to review publishing contracts, as they tend to be simple (comparatively). Contracts that are more complex and involve larger amounts of money are usually handled by a literary agent and their legal counsel. The [SFWA Contract Committee](https://sfwa.org/sfwa-committees/contracts-committee/) is a free resource that includes annotated model contracts and other resources a writer can use to judge a contract.

* Solicitation: An editor or agent asking a writer specifically to submit to them. This might happen if you meet them at a convention or take part in a pitch event on social media. Most of the time, you’re sending unsolicited submissions. Major presses usually do not accept unsolicited, unagented submissions, but most small and indie presses take mostly unsolicited, unagented submissions.

The Summer sun beamed its wonderful light through June and straight into the next month! Welcome to July, everyfur! Pride month may be over, but our strong Pride shines along with the sun, showing its beautiful colors until the end of time! 

A big reminder that if you want to support the FWG more, then we not only have a Paypal… but we have a Patreon that you can subscribe to as well! Any support towards the guild really helps with future endeavors. So, thank you for donating if you do!

FWG Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=2ACUCFGMBZY4A

FWG Patreon: patreon.com/furrywritersguild

Now, this next topic has to do with Book Publishing and how to navigate it without having any trouble! The next Blog post after this one was created by our Guild Markets Manager: Chase Anderson! This is mainly to help out newer authors navigate through their publishing journey. Though of course it is free for anyone to view right here on the site! Thank you so much, Chase!

Lastly, I’d like to remind all of you lovely furs that you can do it. There will be hard times, times where everything seems to be falling, times where your goals seem impossible to reach… but I just want you to remember that you have the ability to fight and keep going. Never give up on yourself or your dreams! Write that story that you’ve been thinking about for ages. You are the voice for your stories— let your voice be heard! You can do this. There are many that believe in you, and that includes me!

Keep on writing!

-Flash Kitterson

Here are the open markets from your Guild Markets Manager: 

July open markets:

Still open from June:

### Short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry:

* #OHMURR Fall 2026 – 2,000 – 6,000 word for fiction/essays, 1 – 2 pages of poetry, unknown length for book reviews, 100-300 word hookup stories, pays $20 for fiction and essays, until Sept 20  https://ohmurrmag.carrd.co/#submissionguidelines

* Children of the Night – short stories of 5,000-20,0000  words, pays 0.5 cents/word, open until full  https://armouredfoxpress.wixsite.com/website/furry-call-for-submissions

* Dinner at Yiffany’s – short stories under 15,000 words, no close date announced  https://www.dinneratyiffanys.com/story-submission-guidelines/

* Rho Iota Phi – short stories of 3,000 – 12,000 words, pays 0.5 cents/word, closes Oct 31  https://armouredfoxpress.wixsite.com/website/furry-call-for-submissions

* This is Halloween – short stories of 3,000 – 12,000 words, pays 0.5 cents/word, open until full  https://armouredfoxpress.wixsite.com/website/furry-call-for-submissions

* The Voice of Dog – short stories under 10,000 words, currently no close date announced 
https://thevoice.dog/?page=rules

### Books and longer works:

* Bewere – 30,000 – 120,000 words for fiction and nonfiction, unknown length for games and others, no close date announced  https://bewere.net/submissions.php

* Doppelfoxx Publishing – unknown lengths/types, opens June 15, no close date announced  https://doppelfoxxpublishing.com 

* Fenris Publishing – 30,000 – 120,000 words for fiction and nonfiction, unknown length for games and others, no close date announced  https://www.fenrispublishing.com/submissions.php

* FurPlanet (comics/magazines only) – unknown lengths, currently no close date announced  https://furplanet.com/shop/custom.aspx?recid=8

* Transcendent Fiction Publishing – unknown lengths for comics, graphic novels, art books; 30,000 – 12,0000 words for novels, novellas, and single-author collections; currently no close date announced  https://www.tfpublishing.com.au/submission-guidelines

## Opens on July 1:

* Plott Hound – original flash fiction and short stories under 5,000 words, reprint fiction under 10,000 words, nonfiction essays 1,000 – 2,500 words, pays 8 cents/word for original fiction, $20 for reprint flash, $100 for reprint shorts, and $100 for essays, closes July 15 https://plotthoundmag.com/submission-guidelines/

Please check out the latest book releases from our members:
Tethers Torn [Book 2], by Utunu, Released March 2026.
Archon [Book 2], by Mark Smith, Released March 27th, 2026.
Disaster Queers: Night at the Museum, by Alison Cybe, Released April 1st, 2026.
Howling Dead, by Vincenzo Pasquarella, Released April 13th, 2026.
Space Dragons: Cosmic Survivors, by Veo Corva, Released April 20, 2026
Travels, by Erin Lee, Released April 26th.
A Rodent of Unusual Size, by Rebecca Cascane, Released April 26th.
The Morning After, by J.F.R. Coates, Released April 26th.
Weasel Under the Sun (A Stone & Cooke Mystery), by Kyell Gold, Released May 2026.
Game Of Life, by Rob MacWolf & Alex Vance, Released June 15th, 2026.
Lesser Gods: Retribution, by Alex Frey, Released June 16th, 2026.
UPCOMING!! The Moonhound, by K.C. Shaw, Releases October 2026.

FWG Members- remember to use the Promotion Tip Line!
https://forms.gle/keTnEt1UG59qMqZ29

Admission of wrongdoing from the top of a furry convention.

It’s rare to see consequences when leaders abuse power. Here’s a result of investigation by Dogpatch Press into networks for animal sex abuse, how zoophiles can use the furry community as a front, and how leaders corruptly hide them. This investigation has expanded across multiple furry conventions, including Mephit Furmeet in Memphis, TN, and overlapping staff at the newly founded Anthroverse in Ohio.

• (October 2025) Mephit Furmeet put one of the world’s most infamous zoophiles on stage to represent the fandom.
• (June 2026) COVER UP: Why is Tanta of Mephit Furmeet and Anthroverse hiding zoophile corruption?

The reporting exposes a decades-long pattern that hasn’t been addressed until recently. The pattern began to emerge in 2025 with community protest about a notorious zoophile spokesperson. (Charles Alexander Berry, AKA “Toggle Rat”). While Mephit Furmeet management looked the other way, Toggle attended for at least 13 years while interacting face-to-face with management, on their stage and in official con promotion.

Further digging led to evidence that zoophiles WERE management, according to staff lists from the convention’s own website.

When the evidence couldn’t be refuted, they tried to smear the reporter to bury it. Mephit Furmeet management spread false rumors to staff in common with other cons. It leaked out when the Vice Chair of Anthroverse openly lied to 120 followers. The attempt to manipulate public trust wasn’t credible, and then Dogpatch Press was vindicated for reporting what they don’t want you to know.

Before we get to the Vice Chair of Anthroverse’s resignation message, let’s review the core cause of it.

False claims about Dogpatch Press weren’t a mistake, they were a deliberate smear narrative.

On June 11, Tanta, the Vice Chair of Anthroverse, posted a statement with 8 lies that was made to push this core narrative:

On June 16, the lies were refuted by Dogpatch Press. This reporter…

• Was an unpaid interview subject in The Furry Detectives docuseries, who doesn’t work for the producers AMC.
• Didn’t approach any convention for the docuseries, and Mephit Furmeet can’t back up that claim.
• Didn’t purchase footage from Mephit Furmeet, and doesn’t purchase footage from anybody at all.
• Didn’t face any financial effect for doing unpaid interviews or independent reporting.
• Didn’t have any contact with Mephit Furmeet until being asked to report by the community.
• Didn’t doxx anyone by reporting official info from the convention’s own website.

This reporting is to serve community interest and animal victims, after being asked to investigate when leaders failed the community and lied for self-service. Smearing this reporter with a “libel” claim was libel itself. They didn’t mix up words or make a mistake while deliberately inventing a smear to cover up.

Now do you see the word “libel”, or any correction of that narrative, in the below excuses about mistakes?

Retraction and resignation by Tanta, Vice Chair of Anthroverse.

Tanta’s retraction discredits their narrative. When she didn’t check sources, and said a docuseries was pulled, but it wasn’t, and they can’t back up false claims about footage that had nothing to do with Dogpatch Press — then the accusation of revenge or “libel” falls apart. The problem is, leaving out that part lets them off with an ignorance excuse for deliberate lying. That’s the main problem here, but there are many more.

Here’s 10 reasons why they’re not being fully and honestly accountable.

Ten failures by Tanta to fully correct the coverup statement.

(1) “There are some things that I would like to address. I need to apologize to everyone. I made some statements recently that I need to correct.”

That’s a good start, except there was NOT an apology to their main smear target. Not here, or in private messages. Dogpatch Press messaged Tanta with many opportunities to respond, and she refuses to reply. Full retraction will be pursued until the libel smear is corrected.

(2) “I apologize for the delay in dealing with this as I was dealing with finals and had a trip out of town.”

The time to deal with this is still counting since June 11, after WEEKS of persistent prompts by Dogpatch Press in private messages, updates on social media, outreach to hotels… and finally, a news update was messaged to Tanta, who posted the excuses 9 MINUTES later to the Anthroverse group she misled. Here’s a leader who told harmful lies, dodged fixing them, and gives excuses about a trip and finals, while STILL not fixing them, or replying to the main target…

(3) “When I made the statements, I was under the impression that the information I had been given was correct. I would like to take the time to –hopefully- correct what I said. My biggest mistake is that I didn’t think to double check my sources.”

Here’s shifting blame to the top, without accountability for lying by Mephit Furmeet management. It plays ignorant about creating a narrative to deliberately smear a reporter. Smearing AND ignoring direct messages AND failing to apologize to the target isn’t just a mistake — and how can you say you failed to check sources after you attacked sources?

(4) “Yes. Dog Patch Press has posted stories regarding Mephit Fur Meet and things that happened long before I was ever a part of it.”

Since at least 2021, the zoophile spokesperson Toggle was identified by public protest towards Mephit Furmeet. Tanta was con staff since 2021, under management that had over 20 years of zoophiles on staff and looking the other way. It started before her, but it also continued while she represented the con.

(5) “Some of this was hard to verify because when an internet search is done, there is one singular source.”

The prior excuse was failing to check sources (plural). Let’s not leave out false claims about The Furry Detectives docuseries that Tanta failed to watch, a fact-checked production with many people interviewed. It wasn’t just internet information, and attacking the sources in the docuseries was meant to attack the docuseries too.

(6) “The information that I had concerning a particular individual was 2/3rds wrong. I fully admit that. I stated that participating in a panel does not make a person a representative of MFM. I admit that I mixed up MFM with “fandom”. However, any attendee can submit a request to host a panel and participate in a panel.”

“2/3rds wrong” isn’t fully admitting. That’s “I’m 100% correct 1/3 of the time.” Tanta wants to minimize this to a wrong word, but keep defending ignorance about the zoophile spokesperson that the public has protested for years. Toggle was not just participating in a panel, he was a 13-year attendee, an officially promoted performer, and in face-to-face contact with the management. They knew, she’s still hiding it, and won’t even name the problem.

(7) “In regard to the docudrama: Again, I should have double checked my information. However, I had checked shortly after the release of the series, and it was not streaming.”

Tanta just didn’t watch the show, and after making false claims that it was about events over 10 years old, is now switching excuses.

(8) MFM footage used in the series was not approved by the directors for use.

Tanta is excusing a dead narrative here. This has nothing to do with Dogpatch Press, who doesn’t work for show producers AMC and has no financial interest in their business. It doesn’t address how Tanta lied that Dogpatch Press purchased footage. This is a non-apology for lying.

(9) It was never my intention to mislead or misinform anyone. I was attempting to clarify some things, and it is 100% on me alone for not doing my due diligence and verifying my information at least one more time.

Is it 100% on Tanta alone? Except she already said “I was under the impression that the information I had been given was correct.” Sources were not overlooked, a deliberate smear was coordinated, which is getting zero accountability for who else did it and why.

(10) I feel as though I have done a disservice to Anthroverse and the community at large. I have chosen to step down as vice chair because you deserve a convention without drama or harassment.

Is animal sex abuse drama, and is it harassment to protest that a zoophile spokesperson they knew was welcome for 13 years? Is it harassment when the public turns to outside reporting because leaders can’t be trusted? If this was honest, the public deserves conventions without corruption or coverup.

CONCLUSION

This reporting isn’t just to pursue retraction. It’s about a climate at the top, of knee-jerk protection for abusers, an expectation to keep problems in the family, the weaponizing of PR to cover up and manipulate trust, and complicity by people who don’t ask questions or check sources. It’s about how problems don’t go away by ignoring them, when corruption goes back to the 1990’s and stayed behind closed doors until now.

Tanta is on the receiving end of a lot of attention that needs to go higher, because of being the one to leak what was happening behind closed doors. She didn’t create the coverup, but while excusing problems before and above her as if they weren’t hers, she was representing the community. When leaders lie this way, how much more reporting will it take to uproot these problems?

It doesn’t end with one person stepping down from one con. Keep your furry ears perked for more reporting.

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, follow on Bluesky or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Try these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for news or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here. (Content Policy.)

Got this bit of news from Animation World Network: “Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Michael J. Fox will voice Dougie, the scrappy, big-hearted lead character in ICON Creative Studio’s upcoming CG animated family feature, Dragoons. The film follows Dougie, an overlooked, ordinary worker at WizCorp, until a freak accident awakens something extraordinary within his new apprentice, Dart. Transformed into mighty dragons, Dougie and Dart uncover an impossible truth: Their kind were once legendary rulers of the skies, until the ruthless wizard-CEO Hex shrank them, erased their memories, and stole their power to build his empire. With the truth in front of their eyes and in their hearts, Dougie and Dart must find the courage to rise, awaken their kind, and prove that even the smallest spark can light up the sky.” No word on a release date yet, but the film is directed by Shea Wageman. ICON Creative Studio are the folks who recently gave us this year’s Charlie the Wonderdog.

image c. 2026 ICON Creative Studio

The folks at Furry Puppet Studio got in touch with us — and they were kind enough to send us the following: “Located in SoHo, New York, the studio designs and builds custom puppets and creatures, the soulful, hand-made kind you want to reach out and talk to. Founder and Creative Director Zack Buchman is entirely self-taught, and the work runs the full anthropomorphic spectrum: Shaggy monsters, animals of every temperament, oddball mascots, and one very memorable talking refrigerator. Clients have included Apple, Nike, Casper, and Nintendo, plus a parade of famous faces and likenesses from Jon Hamm to Missy Elliott  to Andy Cohen. Every character begins as a block of foam, carved by hand, then dressed in fabric the team sometimes produces themselves. Buchman grew up on Sesame Street, The Moomins, and old LucasArts adventure games, and you can feel that love of character in how alive these things turn out. Take a look at the menagerie at furrypuppet.com.” You heard ’em, people!

image c. 2026 Furry Puppet Studio

Witchspire is many things, but I believe it’s best summed up as a creature collecting survival adventure game, at its core. You’ll scavenge materials, craft and find equipable weapons and equipment to upgrade your character (and familiars), and level up everything along the way as you expand your exploration opportunities to nearby lands, fighting enemies and “bondable” creatures that you can recruit to your team (if you’re lucky!) Additionally, though I didn’t explore this side of the game as much, you’re able to design, construct, and decorate nearly wherever you want within the game through its building system. Through “Hearths” that you find and place within the lands, you’re able to move quickly around your chosen homes with fast travel, allowing for an impressive amount of customization when it comes to coming up with and creating your own witchy world in a functional or fantastic way. There’s also a story you discover through magical books dotted around the landscape that give you some history on what has befallen this land you magically find yourself in. The “end goal” of the campaign currently is to gather enough keys to try and enter the towering Witchspire that rises triumphantly into the sky and discover what dangers befell your friends and this universe.

Welcome to the tri-annual Steam Next Fest list of ALL furry & animal games we could find this time around! Play as a sheep hunting, or hunt sheep! Fish to your heart's content! Run bars, be jumpscared, or try every conceivable way to jump as a frog (again!) Our staff goes through the entire list of games published in the Fest to find and list each and every one that features anthropomorphic character(s), or features animals as a focus. This time, we scoured through all 4350+ games to get to this list of 370+ games. We could've missed a couple, but we hope this is an all-encompasing list for this season's available games! Almost every one has a demo, so go have fun and wishlist the ones that pique your interest!

We have also an actively updated Furry & Animal Games List over at @GamingFurever on Twitter and  another List on @GamingFurever on Bluesky that you can follow and get constant updates for lots of indie titles with TONS of lovely furry characters! If you're a developer of any of these games, feel free to hit us up on email over on our Contact Us page! We'd love to talk to you about your development!

Previous Steam Next Fest Articles: February 2026 | October 2025 | June 2025 | February 2025 | October 2024 | June 2024 

Here's your June 2026 Steam Next Fest list (in alphabetical order):

UPDATE: followup article about Tanta’s resignation.

This is a correction to statements by Tanta, volunteer handler at Mephit Furmeet and Vice Chair of forthcoming convention Anthroverse. This report presents evidence to help the community beware of leaders who abuse their positions to lie for PR.

A source for raising animal charity for PR, while looking the other way for animal abusers. (Image updated due to inaccurate tag in linked photo.)

Background of problems at Mephit Furmeet.

Furries close to Mephit Furmeet, the Tennessee convention founded in 1997, were fed up with animal sex abusers being welcome while management ignored complaints. Requests for help led to Dogpatch Press contacting the con, then reporting in October 2025 on behalf of the community and those who were ignored:

Mephit Furmeet put one of the world’s most infamous zoophiles on stage to represent the fandom.

The 2025 report features evidence of 13 years of attendance at Mephit Furmeet by animal sex abuser Charles Alexander Berry — who goes by Buck, Clunk, or Toggle for hosting a podcast called Zooier Than Thou. Toggle attended the con over 4 years after his real identity was tied to his aliases in 2021, despite an organized effort to remove his influence. Local groups took action, but Mephit Furmeet stonewalled this effort, according to sources close to the con.

Toggle was not just a random attendee. This zoophile spokesperson was a long-featured musician in official Mephit Furmeet promotion with his band Exit Mouse. He interacted face-to-face with management at many panels they ran; panels with as few as 5 attendees. His 13-year attendance was under one director with 25 years of tenure, Tyger Cowboy, who started as con chair in 2001.

Here’s where pulling threads starts to unravel a wider network across the history of the con.

September 2025 questions about Toggle sent to the con. Do you trust their answer?

Newly uncovered corruption, where open zoophiles like Toggle didn’t just attend — they were staff and directors of the con.

Investigation found a pattern under Tyger Cowboy going back to at least 2003, when public complaints emerged about his Co-Assistant Con Chair/ Programming Director, Delphinios, who openly displayed a Zeta symbol on his Livejournal profile. (Since the 1990’s zoophiles have signaled each other with the Zeta symbol.) A defense shown below now claims that this was just one old problem that was solved as soon as “proof surfaced”.

In fact, archives of the Mephit Furmeet staff page show that after Delphinios, the con kept other open zoophiles on staff for years.

This pattern has been protested since at least 2003.

Tyger Cowboy is named as a zoophile himself on a 2017 list that zoophile forum members told each other with fond familiarity.

Read the archived list to see their appreciation for Tyger Cowboy, who they said is still active and hiding it — right next to repeat child sex offender Tuskyn, the outed necro-zoosadist Gatorvent, and one named Raczoon.

Raczoon hasn’t been named until now. He was welcome on Mephit Furmeet staff for years after Delphinios, and he’s one of the reasons that this pattern can not be plausibly denied. More on this below.

DAMAGE CONTROL

Before we go deeper, let’s look at the incident that caused this new digging in June 2026.

The 2025 report about Toggle got no public response for 8 months, until criticism about Mephit Furmeet spread to a new convention, Anthroverse (whose launch date in Ohio is yet to be announced at this time.) Anthroverse shares many of the same staff, and Tanta is one of them with influence across multiple cons.

Tanta handled volunteers for Mephit Furmeet since 2021, during the years when Toggle was protested while con management ignored his face-to-face presence at their panels. Now in June 2026, Tanta is spreading a damage control defense as Vice Chair of Anthroverse.

Tanta abused her influence with 8 lies to 120 members of an Anthroverse chat.

Remember that Dogpatch Press contacted Mephit Furmeet before reporting. They had their chance to explain instead of lie:

1. Dogpatch Press didn’t publish “multiple stories” about Mephit Furmeet before now. The single prior story was part of widely investigating zoophile corruption in many places, in a 5-part series that can not be called targeted at one con.
2. After a supposed ban by Mephit Furmeet in “the early 2000’s”, they kept open zoophiles on staff like Raczoon.
3. Tanta misled about which zoophiles were supposedly banned (Toggle wasn’t there in the early 2000’s), and what they represented — Tanta failed to even read information before denying it.
4. Dogpatch Press never approached Mephit Furmeet to appear in a docuseries, and had zero interaction with Mephit Furmeet before the 2025 story.
5. A 2024 docuseries that Dogpatch Press was interviewed for, The Furry Detectives, was by AMC, not Dogpatch Press, who had no part in paying for background footage and doesn’t work for AMC. The show is not based on “an incident that was well over 10 years old”, and features international zoophile activity up to 2024 that impacts the community today.
6. Tanta lied that AMC pulled The Furry Detectives docuseries; you can go watch it now.
7. Dogpatch Press does not purchase footage or report in video form, and neither paid or received pay for agreeing to be interviewed by others (which is good journalist practice). There are zero “financial repercussions”, and the benefit of reporting goes to the community.
8. Reporting did not doxx any con directors, they put their own faces on official con media. Leaders and public figures are fair game to report.

Of all of these lies, Tanta’s creation of a supposed vendetta may be the most disturbing. That’s a DARVO tactic. Tanta is abusing public trust in her position to cover up corrupt friends and animal victims generated by zoophile networks, and point the finger back to mislead you. Tanta’s backlash is similar to the Catholic church trying to smear reporters to hide molester priests, and throw victims under the bus.

How Tanta weaponized PR

Let’s be clear about the influence and interests involved.

Tanta has zero prior personal interaction with Dogpatch Press. She doesn’t know what this news site does, where the hard work of reporting for public interest doesn’t pay or make profit for news. While Tanta accuses a personal vendetta, remember that she isn’t featured as an individual, but someone who chose a position to represent your trust in community. Tanta’s abuse of that position isn’t to protect you, it’s to protect corrupt management who don’t want accountability. This update is with love for everyone who felt injustice from the top. Your concerns won’t go unheard.

Correcting Tanta’s lies one by one — Longer version of the above.

“Dog Patch Press has been posting multiple stories about Mephit Fur Meet (MFM) and the people who run it. The information in those stories is a combination of completely incorrect, libel, partial information, and information over a decade old. To say the least, it is not credible. “

If the ONE story about activity under the SAME director from 2001-2026 is “not credible”, why lie to defend from it?

Old Information:
In the early 2000s, MFM had a staff member that was found to be visiting heinous acts upon animals. That individual was banned as soon as proof surfaced.

Mephit Furmeet’s own page shows there was no ban against zoophile staff in the early 2000’s. Delphinios, who was second-in-command to Tyger Cowboy, appears on the con staff page in 2003 and 2004. If you buy what Tanta is selling, the lack of his name on a 2005 staff list could have been some kind of ban (that they haven’t shown proof of)…

Now look at the same staff list in 2004 and 2005, during and right after the alleged removal of Delphinios (assuming he didn’t just feel like leaving.) From then to years later, they kept the open zoophile Raczoon.

Raczoon was so open since the 1990’s, that he ran a zoophile website that he frequently posted to usenet groups like alt.sex zoophilia, while his trolling raised protest across groups like alt.animals.racoons.

Raczoon ran gaming at multiple cons in the 2000’s. Furry fandom was a fraction of the size it is now. There were less than 10 American cons at the time. The staff connected closely. It was far less credible than even now to pretend he wasn’t a known zoophile.

Look again at the Mephit Furmeet staff list where Raczoon’s bio says he “founded Clan ZETA” (an online game group with records lost to time, but with similar examples existing). A Zeta reference from this source means one thing. 1+1=2: it was a group for fellow zoophiles.

The Mephit Furmeet staff list shows other members of Raczoon’s Clan ZETA as co-staff, like “Chestnut Stallion”.

Organized zoophiles infiltrated Mephit Furmeet beyond what was previously reported. This is just the first thread-pull after looking at Tyger Cowboy and Delphinios. How many more did?

Raczoon and his Clan ZETA members were on staff through 2008 until Mephit Furmeet stopped listing staff for some reason. A few years later Toggle shows up…

Risk of being open can make zoophiles go quiet, but signal each other. Remember the 2017 forum list where they named Tyger Cowboy and Raczoon?

This didn’t get old, because Raczoon posted about bestiality to Furaffinity until they took action to ban him in the 2020’s, and this all happened under Tyger Cowboy, who directs Mephit Furmeet in 2026.

Now judge the credibility of Tanta’s claim that the only problem was old, and taken care of by a ban “in the early 2000’s”.

The excuses continue:

Partially correct:

1) Due to a legal name change, that person slipped past the ban list sensor.
2) They did perform in the masquerade
3) As soon as their presence was brought to the directors, they were escorted off site and re-banned.

Tanta conflates a link to Delphinios in 2003, with separate attendance by Toggle in 2013-2025. Failing to know these were separate people undermines credibility of claiming any historical ban, AND that Toggle was banned and just slipped past. This is what it looks like when someone is making it up as she goes.

Don’t judge from denial alone. Tanta ran 8 panels at MFM 2025, and had Toggle at 4 of them face to face! Do you believe she didn’t know one who attended HALF of her panels, with 13 years of attendance and protest across the community?

Incorrect Information:
This person was not in any way a “representative” of MFM for participating in a panel event that is open to all attendees.

Tanta’s reading comprehension failed again. The 2025 Dogpatch Press headline says represented the fandom. Like Tanta is doing while abusing her position to excuse corruption. Do you think someone put on stage after featuring as a guest draw in official con media is not representing anything?

Now for the libel part:
The directors of MFM were approached by Dog Patch Press to participate in a docu-series film.

Ask Tanta to show records of any such approach by Dogpatch Press for a docuseries made in 2024. Dogpatch Press didn’t approach any convention to participate in AMC’s The Furry Detectives — and didn’t contact Mephit Furmeet for any reason until the 2025 report was caused by protest about Toggle being ignored.

Dogpatch Press was an interview subject, not a show producer. Mephit Furmeet may have been approached by independent people in 2024, but remember that TV producers don’t share inside production choices with people they interview, like journalists don’t give out sources.

Tanta has posted claims about a person named Ash who was also interviewed by AMC. Dogpatch Press has no personal affiliation to Ash, no part in Ash’s interview, no part of interaction between Ash and others, and wasn’t even informed that Ash was interviewed for The Furry Detectives until 2025. Anyone who thinks they can show otherwise is in for disappointment.

The request was denied for two reasons.
1) MFM protects the rights and identities of its attendees. Many people do not wish their families or employers to know they are furries.
2) The docu-series was based on an incident that was well over 10 years old. (See incident above)

People “do not wish their families or employers to know they are furries” when corrupt management welcomes zoophiles to represent the fandom.

The AMC docuseries doesn’t mention Toggle, Delphinios, or any incident from Mephit Furmeet reported here. It does feature a zoosadist sentenced in 2024, not 10 years ago. Tanta doesn’t even know what the show is about, and is committing rumor-mongering.

Prior to the debut of the film, MFM was notified of illegally purchased footage from MFM. Lawyers were contacted and AMC pulled the series.

AMC hasn’t pulled the series, and you can go watch it right now. Dogpatch Press had zero interaction about purchasing footage, or even knowing what footage was used until it was released.

This created a snowball effect that now has Dog Patch/Dog Patch Press seeking to cause MFM significant harm due to the financial repercussions that Dog Patch has had to face over the illegally purchased footage.

Again, Dogpatch Press had NO contact with Mephit Furmeet in 2024, NO involvement in purchasing any footage, was simply an unpaid interview subject not associated to anyone Tanta names, and has zero “financial repercussions” in the way of reporting for the community.

Dog Patch has also doxxed all 5 directors of MFM.

If anyone has questions, they may DM me or email me tanta@anthroverse.org

The 2025 Dogpatch Press report shares an image that the directors posted on the Mephit Furmeet official website. They doxxed themselves?

When Tanta accuses doxxing or libel, that’s unlawful activity. Since everything Dogpatch Press posted is backed by evidence, with first amendment journalist privilege, Tanta’s claim is itself a false and libelous accusation. A valid claim of libel could have this reporting taken down, but Tanta and those reported will not be doing that for any reason.

Anyone making libel claims is warned to beware of trying to defend them in court. The last time someone tried to sue Dogpatch Press for libel/defamation, they were sued back for lying, and lost their case and entire career with vindication for the reporting.

People who cover up should beware when there’s much more to find. Wait for it.

Update – Anthroverse Vice Chair Tanta has deleted her damage control statement after being sent the corrections. It was a dirty-delete without comment or retraction, after misleading a large amount of people waiting for the Anthroverse launch announcement.

— Dogpatch Press (@dogpatch.press) June 16, 2026 at 9:45 AM

Follow the #MephitZooGate thread on Bluesky, above. This is just scratching the surface of what isn’t public yet.

For completion, here’s an example of why the community asked for independent eyes on this.

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/epiqk

UPDATE: Abuse of Furry PR is a major problem in the community.

This story exists because when they can’t refute the allegations, they attack the messenger instead. Normally that kind of attack is on someone like you, a small member of the public, who has a sense of right and wrong and dares to express it, so they bully or freeze you out of the community to silence it.

The messenger isn’t usually a dedicated reporter like Dogpatch Press, who can back it up all the way to proving it in court if necessary. That doesn’t fit assumptions by leaders that community loyalty can deflect criticism about bad leadership. This type of deflection has happened over and over while investigating community corruption, with increasing reporting of it that gets results you see here.

Attacking the messenger isn’t just to manipulate loyalty. It’s also part of a long-trained reaction to bad media from decades ago, with a cultivated sense of Us Against Them. Furry fans are used to blaming “the media” before reading the facts. Even if those facts all came from inside. Remember that PR-abusers inside the community are not old, outside problems, and beware of inside leaders who you trust, who can exploit you more than media who they teach you to distrust.

Notice something different on the Anthroverse Board page?

So far reporting about #mephitzoogate resulted in deletion of false statements, but no retraction to repair the harm of the @anthroverse.org Vice Chair misleading 120+ people. The Vice Chair is removed from their Board page, but still helps run the group she misled. dogpatch.press/2026/06/16/t…

[image or embed]

— Dogpatch Press (@dogpatch.press) June 25, 2026 at 9:32 AM

Watch out for “musical chairs” games, where only titles change around to let problems blow over. When bad management is liable to abuse PR to get their way, while only giving an image of changing, it makes a minefield for trusting anyone at all, even when others do sincere action.

This could be an opportunity for unaware people at Anthroverse to dissociate from others at Mephit Furmeet, but there’s one more important point.

Tanta didn’t do PR-abuse by herself, no matter how much anyone asks you to believe it was one person’s mistake.

Tanta’s now-deleted statement alleged an attempt to purchase footage from Mephit Furmeet. That wouldn’t have been a matter for a volunteer coordinator. That claim would come from higher up. Tanta lied out of loyalty to management while relaying what she was told. This was a planned strategy to hide corruption, and it doesn’t go away by superficially removing one person’s name from a website.

Deletion of false statements and a name can be taken as a tactit admission of wrongdoing, but there has still been no full retraction to repair the damage done by collusion to mislead followers. Dogpatch Press will pursue correction until false statements are fully retracted.

There have been contacts to multiple hotels so they are informed about ongoing investigation of convention management corruption. Keep in mind there are private sources for information that goes beyond what anyone has seen yet, that can back up everything reported here and more. Those with more information are invited to get in confidential contact.

For everyone in the community who can see the evidence of PR-abuse by leaders, please demand better until it never happens again.

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, follow on Bluesky or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Try these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for news or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here. (Content Policy.)

When you first see the visuals and scenes from NEARstudios’ upcoming cooperative sandbox RPG sim Hawthorn, it’s immediately apparent how much care has been taken to instill the experience with the feeling of being nestled into the wondrous, cozy nature sanctuary the game takes place in. In it, you’ll take on the role of a woodland creature (an owl, mouse, or otter) who is an integral part of this little community of anthropomorphic animals and fairy creatures. You can play the game solo or cooperatively, with everyone able to work together on recipes, building plans, and more to provide for your hearths. 

Following the success of Cassette Beasts in 2023, fans have been eagerly waiting to see if Bytten Studio had planned to follow up and sure enough, Cassette Beasts 2002 has been announced! Taking place in London in 2002, Cassette Beasts 2002 sees the player get dragged down a rabbit hole into the mysterious world of Nodnol. Who is the cultist Westerly and what are they planning? The mystery beckons as players can make a new avatar or import the one from the first game and team up with 12 new companions including new character Nell. Record and transform into a variety of beasts and fuse with your allies into powerful creatures!

The trailer showcases impressive 3D backgrounds with the 2D pixel art we all love. A number of new and never before seen monsters could be found roaming Nodnol. Don’t miss this chance to continue your creature collecting adventures when Cassette Beasts 2002 releases on all major platforms in the future.

Be sure to check out the trailer and let us know your thoughts on our socials! You can also check out our review of the original Cassette Beasts. Happy collecting and keep Gaming Furever!

Keeping with the wolves, we have Muscles & Monsters, a new fantasy novel by Ashley Bennett. “After a wedding cake catastrophe on the street, local baker Tegan lands in the most unexpected place — a solid wall of fur and fangs named Atlas. She’s never met anyone like him and finds herself enamored by his wolfish charm. After their sweet encounter, Atlas invites her to his gym anytime she needs his cake-lifting services… However, Tegan is through with being a damsel in distress. She signs up for a membership with Leviathan Fitness, determined to build her strength…and if she sees the handsome wolven again, it’s a win-win scenario… Atlas can’t believe his eyes when Tegan walks through the doors of his gym, and nearly goes snout-over-paw to offer her personal training. Shared glances over the barbell and accidental touches at the water fountain set Atlas’s heart racing in a way he swore it couldn’t again… Primal desires emerge as Atlas and Tegan test just how much their new love can lift. Could Tegan be the unexpected mate of Atlas’s dreams?” Cozy romance with werewolves. What’s not to love? Take a look over at Penguin Random House.

image c. 2026 Berkley

Welcome to "Fresh Fur!" Our weekly installment going over the newest game releases, and which ones you can expect to find anthros/furries in!

Check the list below for all the games we could find with animal/anthro influences and characters.

Major New Releases for the Weeks of May 4-June 12, 2026:

• MotorSlice (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – May 5
• Mixtape (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PC) – May 7
• Perchang World (Apple Arcade) – May 7
• Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes (PC) – May 11
• Outbound (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC) – May 11
• Better Than Dead (PC) – May 12
• Call of the Elder Gods (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PC) – May 12
• Nitro Gen Omega (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC) – May 12
• Feline Forensics and the Meowseum Mystery (PC) – May 13
• Hotel Architect (PC) – May 14
• Subnautica 2 early access (Xbox Series X|S, PC) – May 14
• The Caribou Trail (PS5, PC) – May 14
• Gold Gold Adventure Gold (PC) – May 15
• Myst (PS5, PS VR2) – May 16
• Riven (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS VR2) – May 16
• Corsairs – Battle of the Caribbean (PC) – May 18
• Forza Horizon 6 (Xbox Series X|S, PC) – May 19
• Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core (PC early access) – May 20
• Phonopolis (PC) – May 20
• Thick As Thieves (PC) – May 20
• Burden Street Station (PC) – May 21
• Luna Abyss (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – May 21
• Schrodinger’s Cat Burglar (PC) – May 21
• Starbites (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Switch, PC) – May 21
• Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (Switch 2) – May 21
• Bubsy 4D (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch 2, Switch, PC) – May 22
• Don’t Fall (PC) – May 22
  
• HoverGrease 2 (PC) – May 22
  
• Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PC) – May 22
• Enter The Chronosphere (PC) – May 25
  
• Slot or Not (PC) – May 25
  
• Birushana: Winds of Fate (Switch) – May 26
• LumenTale: Memories of Trey (Switch, PC) – May 26
  
• Stonemachia (PC) – May 26
• 007 First Light (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PC) – May 27
• Crashout Crew (Xbox Series X|S, PC) – May 28
• Hamster Talk (PC) – May 28
  
• Kioku: Last Summer (PC) – May 28
• Moonsigil Atlas (PC) – May 28
• Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis: Next (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC) – May 28
  
• Pictonico (iOS, Android) – May 28
• Shift At Midnight (PC) – May 28
• Mina the Hollower (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Switch, PC) – May 29
• Underchoice (PC) – June 1
• Snacktorio (PC) – June 4
• Swan Song (PC) – June 4
• The 7th Guest Remake (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC) – June 4
• Tour de France 2026 (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – June 4
• Gothic 1 Remake (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – June 5
• Masters of the Universe: Legends Unite (Luna) – June 5
• Terrinoth: Heroes of Descent (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – June 7
  
• Solarpunk (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PC) – June 8
• NBA The Run (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – June 9
• Voidling Bound (PC) – June 9
• 33 Immortals (Xbox Series X|S, PC) – June 10
• Crushed in Time (PC) – June 10
• Stellar Interface (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – June 10
• Beastro (PC) – June 11
• Lost Castle 2 (PC) – June 11
• Tabletop Tavern (PC) – June 11
• Goblin Company (PC) – June 12

*Bolded games have furry/animal influences/characters

Furry & Animal Steam Game Finds:

These games were found in the New Releases section of Steam this week and will be updated as more come out throughout the week!

The creature taming genre can never have enough entries, in my very humble opinion. Combining that experience of collecting new critters with fast-paced, varied combat is a new entry into the field; Voidling Bound by indie developer Hatchery Games. It’s the first game coming out of the Canada-based studio, which was awarded a grant by Epic Games back in 2022 to help bring their game to life, as it highlighted the best of the Unreal Engine. If Voidling Bound is anything to go off of, the future in their offices is bright, as the experience is one familiar yet new, and with some surprisingly unique customization options for your voidlings that bring the genre to unexplored peaks.

Spyro fans, rejoice! After years of rumors and speculation, a new Spyro has finally been announced and it looks amazing. Those who have been following Spyro know that the purple dragon has had quite a history. Spyro reached prominence in the late 90’s/early 2000s with his original game and then hit a few bumps in the intervening years with an edgy reboot and the toy based Skylanders games. Spyro then blazed his way back with the Reignited trilogy developed by Toys for Bob and released in 2018. 

Now Toys for Bob is ready to make new games, starting with a brand new Spyro game for the first time in a long while. The new teaser shows a slightly redesigned Spyro taking to the skies and preparing to confront an unknown evil. That’s right, the new Spyro is actually going to feature real flying instead of gliding although there will be plenty to do on the ground too. With Tom Kenny returning to voice Spyro, this new entry promises to continue the trend that the Reignited Trilogy started. We at GF are huge Spyro fans and we are all very excited! Spyro is soaring his way on to major platforms in Spring 2027! Check out the trailer and let us know your thoughts on our socials! Keep Gaming Furever!

It’s that time of year again where we all eagerly look forward to the coziest, most wholesome games on the horizon. Wholesome Direct 2026 did NOT disappoint, with a number of comfy games that furries and non-furries alike will appreciate. Once again, the entire Direct is up on YouTube, so give it a watch as I’m not going to cover everything and there was a lot this year. Huge shoutout to Wholesome Games and the wonderful people who curate and co-host the Direct as it is a joy to watch every year. Now without further ado, let’s get into the highlights for us here at GF.

Word is out that Cartoon Saloon is readying Mebh and the Pups, a spin-off TV series based on their multiple-award-winning animated fantasy Wolfwalkers. (Winner of the Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture of 2021, among many others.) “Mebh is a wild, adventurous young girl, a Wolfwalker! Her pack is made up of four regular wolf pups, each with its own distinct personality. This gang of friends explore the forest, make new friends, and help the other animals they share a home with – friendly mice and squirrels, a grumpy badger and more. Full of mischief, Mebh and the Wolf Pups often cause mayhem with their boisterous fun but, when Mebh transforms into a wolf, she connects with nature and her environment allowing her and her pals to solve any problem!” Directed by Jeremy Purcell, the series is set for animation festivals starting in September.

image c. 2026 Cartoon Saloon

Before we begin this review, let’s hop into the Wayback Machine I’m borrowing from Mr. Peabody for a bit and journey back to the year 2019. See, before I joined Gaming Furever, I used to work for a now-defunct online radio station called The Cove Radio. Alongside the show I hosted called ‘The Realm Of The Metal Wolf’ - in which I played, well, heavy metal music alongside the occasional classic 80’s rock - I did video game reviews for them and I aired them live (OK, they were pre-recorded) on my show before posting them on the site. I mention this as one of the games I reviewed was a little title called Void Bastards; a game that, outside of its eye-catching title, I said was fun but very mediocre with boring gameplay and just felt unfulling. Now, here we are in 2026 and we got the official follow-up with Wild Bastards: A game that I feel is much better than Void with more enjoyable gameplay and is a much better FPS Roguelike, but still has many of the faults that plagued Void Bastards.

The spring showers have bloomed flowers, and behind those clouds is the warming sun and beautiful rainbows! Welcome to June, everyfur! And happy Pride Month! Don’t forget that we have many places to submit LGBT+ stories, like Transcendent Fiction Publishing! Though there are many markets below that you can submit to, gathered up by our new Markets Manager, Chase Anderson! We want to thank Scribbles Cheetah for all the hard work they’ve done during their time as the Markets Manager. They have been a big help, and continue to be one as they help out Chase! I’ve left a link below to their blog so you can all check out their works!

Transcendent Fiction Publishing: https://www.tfpublishing.com.au/
Scribbles Cheetah: https://scribblesofachee.blog/

We’ve made it through another month, and now we’re in a new one with exciting news! The 2025 Cóyotl Awards video is up on the Furry Film Burrow Youtube channel! In the link that is below, you can watch as Rugger and I host the awards! I couldn’t be there in person, so, I have been transformed into a well-dressed cow for that video! Enjoy the video, and congratulations once again to the winners!

As for me, I’ve been working hard both with my day job and my books! Hammering away at editing and rewriting. It’s tough, but I’m getting through it! Next week, I’ll be heading to Tennessee and using that as my writing retreat! Hoping to keep my focus on my WIP and my WIP alone! Hoping! Unless the arcade machine distracts me… Mappy is a fun game! (And he’s a cute mouse!)

Thanks for reading! Don’t stop writing— you can do this! Yes, I’m talking to the beautiful writer behind that screen! Write and show the world your creativity! Make sure to celebrate the successes of others as well! 

-Flash Kitterson

Here are the open markets from your Guild Markets Manager:

June open markets

## Still open from May:

### Short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry:
* #OHMURR Fall 2026 – 2,000 – 6,000 word for fiction/essays, 1 – 2 pages of poetry, unknown length for book reviews, 100-300 word hookup stories, until Sept 20  https://ohmurrmag.carrd.co/#submissionguidelines

* Children of the Night – short stories of 5,000-20,0000  words, closes December 31st https://armouredfoxpress.wixsite.com/website/furry-call-for-submissions

* Dinner at Yiffany’s – short stories under 15,000 words, no close date announced  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdYBcmFno00Cg0EbtnaesaSKO0pD1RZtotOpsOnBHqiF2amCw/viewform

* Eurofrence Conbook – short stories under approx. 3,142 words, closes June 19  https://www.eurofurence.org/EF30/conbook

* Furry Historical Fiction Society volume 5 – see Discord/Telegram channel for updates/info

* Mertails – short stories of 2,000 – 10,000 words, closes June 30  https://www.tfpublishing.com.au/anthology-calls

* Rho Iota Phi – short stories of 3,000 – 12,000 words, closes Oct 31  https://armouredfoxpress.wixsite.com/website/furry-call-for-submissions

* The Voice of Dog – short stories under 10,000 words, currently no close date announced  https://thevoice.dog/?page=rules

* This is Halloween – short stories of 3,000 – 12,000 words, closes  December 31st https://armouredfoxpress.wixsite.com/website/furry-call-for-submissions

* Transform Fiction issue 1 – short stories under 15,0000 words, “brief” poetry, closes June 30  https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/11363016

### Books and longer works:
* Bewere – 30,000 – 120,000 words for fiction and nonfiction, unknown length for games and others, no close date announced  https://bewere.net/submissions.php

* Fenris Publishing – 30,000 – 120,000 words for fiction and nonfiction, unknown length for games and others, no close date announced  https://www.fenrispublishing.com/submissions.php

* FurPlanet (comics/magazines only) – unknown lengths, currently no close date announced  https://furplanet.com/shop/custom.aspx?recid=8

* Transcendent Fiction Publishing – unknown lengths for comics, graphic novels, art books; 30,000 – 12,0000 words for novels, novellas, and single-author collections; currently no close date announced https://www.tfpublishing.com.au/submission-guidelines

## Opens later this month:
* Doppelfoxx Publishing – unknown lengths/types, opens June 15, no close date announced  https://doppelfoxxpublishing.com

Please check out the latest book releases from our members:
Tethers Torn [Book 2], by Utunu, Released March 2026.
Archon [Book 2], by Mark Smith, Released March 27th, 2026.
Disaster Queers: Night at the Museum, by Alison Cybe, Released April 1st, 2026.
Space Dragons: Cosmic Survivors, by Veo Corva, Released April 20, 2026
Travels, by Erin Lee, Released April 26th.
A Rodent of Unusual Size, by Rebecca Cascane, Released April 26th.
The Morning After, by J.F.R. Coates, Released April 26th.
UPCOMING!! Lesser Gods: Retribution, by Alex Frey Releases June 16th, 2026.

FWG Members- remember to use the Promotion Tip Line!
https://forms.gle/keTnEt1UG59qMqZ29

Misfit Island is a full-color comic we found at WonderCon this year — written by Nicholas Doan and Sara Silver, and illustrated by Bobby Timony. “There is an unknown island called Dissidentia. It is peacefully inhabited by Cryptids, monsters and creatures of Myth that have remained hidden for years. But what mysteries will Brody the jackalope and his friends learn about the island’s history? What will happen when Isla, the Harpy, flies to the mainland? And what about Henry, the son of a Frankenstein monster? All he wants to do is play guitar. How is he connected to this mysterious island?” Visit this link to find out more.

image c. 2026 Broken Oar Productions