Time to nominate the 2016 Ursa Major Awards!

From January 12 to February 28, 2017, it's time to nominate your favorite furry creations for the 2016 Ursa Major Awards!

Is there a furry comic, story, movie, video, podcast, or anything else with furry content that brightened your day last year? Nominate it – don't put it off until the last minute!

You can nominate up to five things in each of twelve categories. If you're unsure what to nominate, check out the 2016 Recommendations… and you can nominate titles that aren't on that list! It's there to give ideas, to help you find furry stuff that you might not have heard of.

Sometimes, a Nomination or a Recommendation feels like it fits into more than one category. You can browse previous years (like the 2015 Recommendations) to see where something should go. As of 2016 there's a new category: Best Anthropomorphic Non-Fiction Work.

Here's a quick list of this year's categories. (If I'm mistaken in my interpretation of any of the categories, please correct me.)

• Website. This can include YouTube channels.
• Magazine. Venues where the content has been created, edited and collected together. This includes print zines, online news sources (like this one) and podcasts. If it's more of a collection of links, chances are it fits better under the Website category.
• Motion Picture. Usually, but not always, animated.
• Dramatic Short Work or Series. Fictional television and YouTube series. Advertisements. Short entertainment videos of any sort.
• Novel. Works of 40,000 words or more. (Kyell Gold withdrew himself from this category because lots of people kept voting for him, and he wanted to give other authors a chance.)
• Short Fiction. Works of less than 40,000 words, including poetry.
• Other Literary Work. This is for story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, and convention program books.
• Non-Fiction Work. This is the new category! It includes news articles, essays, documentaries, informational videos, and non-fiction art books.
• Comic Strip. Short newspaper-style strips, online or otherwise. Lots of these can be found through The Belfry WebComics Index.
• Graphic Story. Comics presented in longer formats, including comic books. Although I think (?) that if a comic series gets bound together and published in book form, that bounces it into the Other Literary Work category.
• Published Illustration. Furry art that's appeared in a published venue. Cover or interior illustrations in books and magazines, convention programs, etc.
• Game. Computer or tabletop!

By the way, if you really like furry fiction, I recommend The Cóyotl Awards. It's not an open vote like the Ursas, but it's a great way to find out about things coming from the fandom's literary side.

Also, if you're in the mood to send in 2016 Nominations... why not also start making a list of your personal 2017 Recommendations? Okay, so it's only January, but what webcomics are you reading? If the 2016 list makes you go, "Pffft, what a joke, they didn't even bother to mention (insert cool thing here)" – well, it's because no one bothered to send it in. Or left it until the last minute (like me…) and missed the deadline.

I realize we're all pretty busy, but still, if at any time over the course of 2017 you find something furry that you like, send in a Recommendation. That way, it'll get better coverage, and people will have more time to discover it. Plus, the admins won't get deluged by last-minute requests.

Don't be shy - Nominate and recommend your favorite furry stuff! What are some of the works that didn't get mentioned in the 2016 Recommendations? Post in the comments below!