Submit to the Underline
What is the Underline?
The Underline is a guest post in which authors discuss the line in their upcoming book they can’t wait to underline. They’ll be posted on Tuesdays, unless the author requests a different date!
What does participating in The Underline require?
- A short (600 to 1,000 word) essay on your favorite line of your new work (why its your favorite, any significance to the book, etc.). You can choose a single sentence or a few lines clustered together, but no more than a paragraph. It just needs to be your absolute favorite part of your book and the thing you can’t wait to squeal to readers about (I will suggest no spoilers though).
- A cover jpg of your novel.
- A short bio, maximum 200 words.
- Links you’d like to include such as your website & socials (max 4).
- One link to read more or order! I prefer a page where readers can choose their preferred retailer, but a single retailer link works.
How do I submit a piece for The Underline?
There are quite a few blogs that run similar series, so I’m going to stick with the standard (I got this from John Scalzi’s The Big Idea):
- No earlier than two months from the book’s official publication date and no later than one month from that date, send me an e-mail at underline@taylormunsell.com, with an e-mail header formatted like so: “THE UNDERLINE: [Author] [Book Title] [Release Date]“. In the body of the e-mail please briefly describe the book and include an eARC or first chapter.
- Response time is about a week, but if it’s been two weeks, go ahead and nudge.
- Send an electronic ARC in PDF format to underline@taylormunsell.com.
- If there’s an open slot, I’ll send you the scheduled date. The piece is due one week before the run date to underline@taylormunsell.com with the following subject: “ACCEPTED PIECE”: [Author][Book Title][Scheduled Run Date].”
What if two people want the same date?
I assign dates using this criteria:
- BIPOC & marginalized authors (for real)
- SFF, horror, & romance authors, YA or Adult (and New Adult, obvs)
- Authors who have not written a piece before
- Authors whose books are coming out in the week a slot is open
- Authors who actually follow the directions
Other than that, I’m flexible! I look forward to seeing your favorite lines!
