Alyssa, I’m an editor and what was mentioned about the punctuation after dialogue tags is wrong! You always have the dialogue tag as lower case, and only if the dialogue is followed by an action tag is it in upper case. For example: “What that agent said is so wrong!” she said. “What that agent said is so wrong!” She hit her fist on the table.
Thank you for this! That was what I'd always thought. I might have misunderstood what the agent meant. The feedback was given in a bullet list, and one of the points was "He asked/she asked following dialogue is always lowercase" without any context. Because I always have it lowercase in my writing, the only thing I could reason was that it was supposed to be the opposite 🤔
You're totally right. I'm a copy editor, and you do not capitalize "he/she/they asked" after a question in the dialogue. The sentence isn't technically over, so there's no need to capitalize.
🕰🕰🕰Love the rawness! The best thing about writing is that you get to spend the rest of your life getting better, and the only way you can fail is by giving up. So keep going. You got this!
Wait, I've legit never seen a "he/she/they asked" as a dialogue tag with it capitalized?? It's always _"What are you talking about?" she asked._ right?!? Now I'm questioning everything. In any case, the rejection does suck. Especially for such a seemingly petty reason?? Ugh. One step closer to the right agent, though. You got this 💪 Also, I swear if we had self-cleaning kitchens we'd have 17 extra hours a week to do other stuff with. Stop making AI that can write crappy novels; start making AI that can clean for me.
🕰💝 LOVE the long vlog format! I can only imagine how amazing your querying vlog is going to be WHEN you get an agent (bc it WILL happen!!!). I definitely would have gone through the same rollercoaster of emotions if I got that kind of rejection, not to mention balancing writing with all of the other stuff on your plate - it's a lot! I hope things get a little easier on the self doubt front and just know you have strangers cheering you on from the sidelines. And triathlon training??? This couch potato could never. 😅
Okay I've finished the whole video now.⏰⏰ I'm so sorry about the rejection letter. I know that it's a part of the process but it doesn't mean that it makes it any easier to deal with and that it's not emotional. your feelings are valid and it is not petty to feel that that agent was just wrong because from all the editing I've done, self-editing and otherwise, I have never heard of that and that is also an issue that can be easily fixed if it were an issue. I can be petty for you, it sounds like she just didn't know what she was talking about. I think it will be her loss because your sounds amazing and I for one can't wait to read it one day. I think the agent that is meant for you to have just hasn't read it yet and that day is coming. I believe in you and next week will be better. Keep pushing forward because you are so motivating I don't think you'll have to wait long for that agent. Take care of yourself Alyssa and I love the longer videos (I mean I would watch pretty much anything you put out anyway lol). ❤
Alyssa! You have me crying in the club on this Monday morning! I am such and empath and I could see your heart breaking in real time and my heart broke for you! Apparently, I needed a good cathartic cry because I have been in suchhhh a funk. Your time is coming, and the fact that you chose to continue to work towards your dreams in the face of rejection is so admirable. I have all the faith in the world that you will get that full request that leads to becoming agented! You're amazing :)
Your long vlogs are my superbowl!(said the woman with zero interest in organized sports.) And yes, you were doing the dialogue tags correctly, I actually panicked for a moment and went through my ms, lol! I'm going to give you some embarrassing stats - I've had 15 full requests on the ms I'm currently querying. So far all have ended in rejection. Most forms, some complimentary but still not the right 'fit'' or 'voice'. A few with usable feedback, and only one that really, really got under my skin. The feedback on that one(and it was only a partial) was frankly mean-spirited, bordering on nasty. Two days later I got another full request praising the exact same thing this other agent hated. So unless an agent says something that you suspect is an issue, have heard before, or agree with - IGNORE. They all have wildly different taste and capacity/ability. Some are good editors, some good salespeople, and a few are both. I don't know about you but I want one who's both. So, once again we throw ourselves into the trenches and try to keep our heads above the water:)
Thanks Sherry! You always ground me so much with querying and publishing and I NEED that in my life - can't wait to celebrate you when you get that agent!
I’m so sorry about the rejection, that sounds so defeating :( I totally agree w the rest of these comments that the agent was just not the right fit. Her getting tripped up by line level stuff at this stage feels so odd. Sending you the best of vibes Alyssa !! I believe in u!! 🕺🏼🕺🏼
might sound weird but some agents' form is just a bullet list of things that might or might not apply to your manuscript. check QT comments to make sure this is personalized! unless the line level is truly atrocious, it's something fixable and, in my opinion, should come after sub because that's your editor's job. in my experience, most agents won't reject just based on that! good luck with querying! it's a hard process but worth it in the end :)
I haven't finished the video (loving the longer video!), but I'd seen the rejection mentioned on the livestream replay and it still hit home when you reacted live here. I had a similar situation while querying in May and it SUCKED. I really feel for you, and enjoy your livestreams so regularly I feel like I took this one on the chin with you--hopefully better news soon, and regardless, remember that an agent who would reject over (incorrect?) grammar issues is not the agent for you.
rooting for you, Alyssa!! ✨ I'm giving this agent major side eye, not gonna lie. It sounds like you dodged a bullet with them honestly! But I totally empathize and hope you have a better week 💖
My dad is in law enforcement. For his agency, SWAT is a team that anyone can be on. They have to apply and then they go through special training for it. So a patrol officer could be on the SWAT team or a detective could also be on SWAT, etc. I think it depends on the size of the agency.
🕰️ I’m sorry to hear about your rejection! Also this video was fantastic. I loved so much about it. You are quickly becoming my favorite authortube account. I love the style and the realness. Thank you ❤
As far as making changes go and not being sure which change to go with, a little story from my personal experience about it in my current story. I'd been working on some variation of this story since 2021. I wrote the 1st draft in January of 2021. It was about 40k words. Not very good but I was proud of myself. Then I re-wrote it, changing a couple of things at the end of the year? I believe? But I hadn't really touched it since then until January of this year when i took the premise and then added another very important detail to it that made the characters a bit more rounded and full. But I got 80k words and close to the end and something was still *off* about it. It wasn't quite right and I had 2 options and both came with its own pro's and cons. I could continue with the idea I had, I mean look how far along I was! Or I could go with the 2nd choice (which actually consisted of 2 MAJOR changes to the plot--1 being a setting change and the other being how a death goes down at the end) which would mean starting from scratch AGAIN. Same premise, but totally different outline and scenes. And I knew all my friends would tell me to keep going with what I had, but at the end of the day, I chose to go with option 2 & change things. Of course it meant more work, but the story is 10x better for it & I've reached 75k words into it in about a month once again. I'm so close to the finish line. About 25k words and I think if I hadn't settled on making that change that while, yes, did give me more work to do, i'd probably still be stuck at 80k in my last draft, no closer to the end despite being literally only 2 or 3 scenes away from completing it. Some times its just worth taking the risk if that's what your gut instinct is telling you to do. ⏰
ok but i love Hokas -- ok but I am actually confused as to why the main feedback was *line edits* for not accepting the full....??? Line edits are so fixable in the editing stage? Ugh, i am SO SO sorry - rejections truly always sting, but you are handling it with grace! Let the emotions flow through and there will be more agents out there ready for your work 💗
Omg commenting 3 minutes in just say that I absolutely love SWAT (because I mean Shemar Moore--need I say more) and I'm just really excited to find someone else in AuthorTube who also watches this show... or at the very least has seen an episode... Okay back to the video, I'll be back later lol. Also Flash Point, which is an older show, but it's really good if you want a show focused mainly on hostage negotiation
When agents get this nitpicky its often because they weren't engrossed in your story to begin with. Like you said yourself it's not the right fit. 😔❤️🩹
i wonder if she has a full form rejection for grammar stuff so even if it doesn’t apply she just sends for what generally made her reject cause “he said/she said is always lowercase” sounds like she **is** saying it is always lowercase, not that that lowercase is wrong? i think if she didn’t have any notes about the plot/characters of your book specifically then she didn’t get to find out how great your story is in full because she stopped for things that were fixable super quick. your story sounds amazing and i know you’ll find someone worthy to represent it!!!
Wait, are you saying the agent told you that 'he' or 'she' should be capitalized as in: "How are you?" He asked. Because I just pulled two books off my shelves and neither of them do this. In my non-professional opinion, I feel like that is false.
I’m behind on all my watch laters so excuse the late comment, but that agent sounds so… I don’t want to say unprofessional, but like?? Line edits? Unless you sent a draft that was full of typos and grammatical errors (which I know you didn’t) I feel like that’s no reason to reject it. Especially if she supposedly enjoyed it. And the dialogue tag thing for “he/she/they asked” feels very wrong. Like I said, this person seems wrong on a lot of fronts. And the fact that she didn’t even explain what she was saying, it’s like “thanks for nothing.” I don’t know! Very bothered on your behalf!
I indie publish (and very successfully too) and it completely boggles my mind how the publishing industry has grown to a point where agents completely gate keep access to publishing. It’s crazy that this group of people get to essentially dictate what can be sent through to publishers
Wow, it sounds like you really dodged a bullet with this agent. Literally no good agent (or even editor on sub) rejects over comma splices and quotation punctuation! Truly a red flag. Most authors suck at those things and it gets fixed in copy edits. You’re not being petty AT ALL. I would prob ignore everything they said because clearly their judgment is WAY off. Celebrate that they didn’t offer cuz no agent is better than a bad agent. And this is a bad agent!!!
⏰ honestly I think most of the lack of writing etc in the vlog was because you need to let yourself have at least one day to wallow, because sometimes the feelings have to feel. And also: triathlon training ! Energy levels are real. 🩵
Alyssa, I’m an editor and what was mentioned about the punctuation after dialogue tags is wrong! You always have the dialogue tag as lower case, and only if the dialogue is followed by an action tag is it in upper case. For example:
“What that agent said is so wrong!” she said.
“What that agent said is so wrong!” She hit her fist on the table.
Thank you for this! That was what I'd always thought. I might have misunderstood what the agent meant. The feedback was given in a bullet list, and one of the points was "He asked/she asked following dialogue is always lowercase" without any context.
Because I always have it lowercase in my writing, the only thing I could reason was that it was supposed to be the opposite 🤔
You're totally right. I'm a copy editor, and you do not capitalize "he/she/they asked" after a question in the dialogue. The sentence isn't technically over, so there's no need to capitalize.
🕰🕰🕰Love the rawness! The best thing about writing is that you get to spend the rest of your life getting better, and the only way you can fail is by giving up. So keep going. You got this!
Wait, I've legit never seen a "he/she/they asked" as a dialogue tag with it capitalized?? It's always _"What are you talking about?" she asked._ right?!? Now I'm questioning everything.
In any case, the rejection does suck. Especially for such a seemingly petty reason?? Ugh. One step closer to the right agent, though. You got this 💪
Also, I swear if we had self-cleaning kitchens we'd have 17 extra hours a week to do other stuff with. Stop making AI that can write crappy novels; start making AI that can clean for me.
🕰💝 LOVE the long vlog format! I can only imagine how amazing your querying vlog is going to be WHEN you get an agent (bc it WILL happen!!!). I definitely would have gone through the same rollercoaster of emotions if I got that kind of rejection, not to mention balancing writing with all of the other stuff on your plate - it's a lot! I hope things get a little easier on the self doubt front and just know you have strangers cheering you on from the sidelines. And triathlon training??? This couch potato could never. 😅
Okay I've finished the whole video now.⏰⏰ I'm so sorry about the rejection letter. I know that it's a part of the process but it doesn't mean that it makes it any easier to deal with and that it's not emotional. your feelings are valid and it is not petty to feel that that agent was just wrong because from all the editing I've done, self-editing and otherwise, I have never heard of that and that is also an issue that can be easily fixed if it were an issue. I can be petty for you, it sounds like she just didn't know what she was talking about. I think it will be her loss because your sounds amazing and I for one can't wait to read it one day. I think the agent that is meant for you to have just hasn't read it yet and that day is coming. I believe in you and next week will be better. Keep pushing forward because you are so motivating I don't think you'll have to wait long for that agent. Take care of yourself Alyssa and I love the longer videos (I mean I would watch pretty much anything you put out anyway lol). ❤
Alyssa! You have me crying in the club on this Monday morning! I am such and empath and I could see your heart breaking in real time and my heart broke for you! Apparently, I needed a good cathartic cry because I have been in suchhhh a funk. Your time is coming, and the fact that you chose to continue to work towards your dreams in the face of rejection is so admirable. I have all the faith in the world that you will get that full request that leads to becoming agented! You're amazing :)
Your long vlogs are my superbowl!(said the woman with zero interest in organized sports.) And yes, you were doing the dialogue tags correctly, I actually panicked for a moment and went through my ms, lol! I'm going to give you some embarrassing stats - I've had 15 full requests on the ms I'm currently querying. So far all have ended in rejection. Most forms, some complimentary but still not the right 'fit'' or 'voice'. A few with usable feedback, and only one that really, really got under my skin. The feedback on that one(and it was only a partial) was frankly mean-spirited, bordering on nasty. Two days later I got another full request praising the exact same thing this other agent hated. So unless an agent says something that you suspect is an issue, have heard before, or agree with - IGNORE. They all have wildly different taste and capacity/ability. Some are good editors, some good salespeople, and a few are both. I don't know about you but I want one who's both. So, once again we throw ourselves into the trenches and try to keep our heads above the water:)
Thanks Sherry! You always ground me so much with querying and publishing and I NEED that in my life - can't wait to celebrate you when you get that agent!
I’m so sorry about the rejection, that sounds so defeating :( I totally agree w the rest of these comments that the agent was just not the right fit. Her getting tripped up by line level stuff at this stage feels so odd. Sending you the best of vibes Alyssa !! I believe in u!! 🕺🏼🕺🏼
might sound weird but some agents' form is just a bullet list of things that might or might not apply to your manuscript. check QT comments to make sure this is personalized! unless the line level is truly atrocious, it's something fixable and, in my opinion, should come after sub because that's your editor's job. in my experience, most agents won't reject just based on that! good luck with querying! it's a hard process but worth it in the end :)
I haven't finished the video (loving the longer video!), but I'd seen the rejection mentioned on the livestream replay and it still hit home when you reacted live here. I had a similar situation while querying in May and it SUCKED. I really feel for you, and enjoy your livestreams so regularly I feel like I took this one on the chin with you--hopefully better news soon, and regardless, remember that an agent who would reject over (incorrect?) grammar issues is not the agent for you.
rooting for you, Alyssa!! ✨ I'm giving this agent major side eye, not gonna lie. It sounds like you dodged a bullet with them honestly! But I totally empathize and hope you have a better week 💖
My dad is in law enforcement. For his agency, SWAT is a team that anyone can be on. They have to apply and then they go through special training for it. So a patrol officer could be on the SWAT team or a detective could also be on SWAT, etc. I think it depends on the size of the agency.
That’s such a petty thing to be rejected for lol I’d order cookies too 😂
🕰️ I’m sorry to hear about your rejection! Also this video was fantastic. I loved so much about it. You are quickly becoming my favorite authortube account. I love the style and the realness. Thank you ❤
As far as making changes go and not being sure which change to go with, a little story from my personal experience about it in my current story. I'd been working on some variation of this story since 2021. I wrote the 1st draft in January of 2021. It was about 40k words. Not very good but I was proud of myself. Then I re-wrote it, changing a couple of things at the end of the year? I believe? But I hadn't really touched it since then until January of this year when i took the premise and then added another very important detail to it that made the characters a bit more rounded and full. But I got 80k words and close to the end and something was still *off* about it. It wasn't quite right and I had 2 options and both came with its own pro's and cons. I could continue with the idea I had, I mean look how far along I was! Or I could go with the 2nd choice (which actually consisted of 2 MAJOR changes to the plot--1 being a setting change and the other being how a death goes down at the end) which would mean starting from scratch AGAIN. Same premise, but totally different outline and scenes.
And I knew all my friends would tell me to keep going with what I had, but at the end of the day, I chose to go with option 2 & change things. Of course it meant more work, but the story is 10x better for it & I've reached 75k words into it in about a month once again. I'm so close to the finish line. About 25k words and I think if I hadn't settled on making that change that while, yes, did give me more work to do, i'd probably still be stuck at 80k in my last draft, no closer to the end despite being literally only 2 or 3 scenes away from completing it. Some times its just worth taking the risk if that's what your gut instinct is telling you to do. ⏰
ok but i love Hokas -- ok but I am actually confused as to why the main feedback was *line edits* for not accepting the full....??? Line edits are so fixable in the editing stage? Ugh, i am SO SO sorry - rejections truly always sting, but you are handling it with grace! Let the emotions flow through and there will be more agents out there ready for your work 💗
Omg commenting 3 minutes in just say that I absolutely love SWAT (because I mean Shemar Moore--need I say more) and I'm just really excited to find someone else in AuthorTube who also watches this show... or at the very least has seen an episode... Okay back to the video, I'll be back later lol.
Also Flash Point, which is an older show, but it's really good if you want a show focused mainly on hostage negotiation
🕰️
When agents get this nitpicky its often because they weren't engrossed in your story to begin with.
Like you said yourself it's not the right fit. 😔❤️🩹
So true! We live to fight another day 🙄
Um, it sounds very weird to me that this agent would say they only want submission-ready manuscripts. Every agent I've had has been editorial.
i wonder if she has a full form rejection for grammar stuff so even if it doesn’t apply she just sends for what generally made her reject cause “he said/she said is always lowercase” sounds like she **is** saying it is always lowercase, not that that lowercase is wrong? i think if she didn’t have any notes about the plot/characters of your book specifically then she didn’t get to find out how great your story is in full because she stopped for things that were fixable super quick. your story sounds amazing and i know you’ll find someone worthy to represent it!!!
Question- would you consider your book romantic suspense? That’s what I think of as a genre when it’s like thriller+romance.
Maybe, but a tradmark of a lot of romantic suspense that I've seen is having very high spice, but I'm definitely looking into it
SPORT ALYSSA! SPORT ALYSSA!
50 minute video??? I’m sat.
Wait, are you saying the agent told you that 'he' or 'she' should be capitalized as in: "How are you?" He asked. Because I just pulled two books off my shelves and neither of them do this. In my non-professional opinion, I feel like that is false.
THIS IS WHAT I THOUGHT - idk it might be a stylistic thing?????
I’m behind on all my watch laters so excuse the late comment, but that agent sounds so… I don’t want to say unprofessional, but like?? Line edits? Unless you sent a draft that was full of typos and grammatical errors (which I know you didn’t) I feel like that’s no reason to reject it. Especially if she supposedly enjoyed it. And the dialogue tag thing for “he/she/they asked” feels very wrong. Like I said, this person seems wrong on a lot of fronts. And the fact that she didn’t even explain what she was saying, it’s like “thanks for nothing.” I don’t know! Very bothered on your behalf!
I indie publish (and very successfully too) and it completely boggles my mind how the publishing industry has grown to a point where agents completely gate keep access to publishing. It’s crazy that this group of people get to essentially dictate what can be sent through to publishers
Wow, it sounds like you really dodged a bullet with this agent. Literally no good agent (or even editor on sub) rejects over comma splices and quotation punctuation! Truly a red flag. Most authors suck at those things and it gets fixed in copy edits. You’re not being petty AT ALL. I would prob ignore everything they said because clearly their judgment is WAY off. Celebrate that they didn’t offer cuz no agent is better than a bad agent. And this is a bad agent!!!
⏰ honestly I think most of the lack of writing etc in the vlog was because you need to let yourself have at least one day to wallow, because sometimes the feelings have to feel. And also: triathlon training ! Energy levels are real. 🩵
⏰⏲️⌚You are more than enough!