8. Are facts, figures, locales, believable and/or correct? Are language, actions, and attire of characters appropriate for time period and setting of story?

9. Is writing fresh, free of clichés? Does it show author’s own unique style? Are viewpoint changes clear and well handled?

10. Is grammar correct? Is spelling accurate? Is manuscript professionally prepared?

11. Reveal your characters primarily through their actions, not by telling your reader about them. Keep in mind that good fiction reveals rather than explains. Your goal in each piece of fiction is to provide your reader with actual experience, not merely with concepts and outlines of events.

12. Read each of your drafts carefully, aloud. If you can’t experience a scene as if you were living through it yourself, work on it some more.

13. Your ending must leave your readers satisfied—even if it is unhappy, unexpected, or inconclusive. Above all, your readers must feel piece was worth their time and attention. Pay special attention to your final sentence, image and/or line of dialogue, because your readers certainly will.

14. Remember that stories over 4,000 words are very difficult to place.

Building a list of publication credits in your cover letter will open new doors for your writing. In addition to your stories being well crafted, they must be submitted regularly and extensively. Beat odds with strong writing COMBINED with a powerful and tenacious submission strategy.

If you need help building a personal submission strategy, contact Writer’s Relief, Inc. Their author’s submission service has been around for more than ten years.

There are a few ways to do this. I never buy books that have "My Diary," "My Journal" or "My So-Called Life Since You Ruined It" imprinted on cover. I think they're too tempting for snoopers.

Once I bought a journal that looked like an encyclopedia on outside. No one in my family paid any attention to it as it sat on my bookshelf, and I used it as a cathartic journal (a type of journal used to express emotion).

Another way to protect your journal from snoops is to buy a book at a garage sale that wouldn't interest anyone in your family, (like, "How to Prepare your 1981 Federal Income Tax Return"). Pick out a book so dry that garage salers will whisper, "see, people will buy anything at a garage sale," as you walk away. Hollow out cover and put your journal in it.

If that's not secure enough for you, hide it in unsweetened, generic cereal box at back of pantry. If your family is like mine, they will skip breakfast if unsweetened, generic cereal is all you have left. Trust me, I've done this. I wrote about it for Chicken Soup for Soul Bible. It works.

If you still have doubts about privacy in your household, keep your journal in a locked file drawer, desk drawer or a small safe.

It is very important that you feel your writing is just for you. Otherwise, you are not going to write about how you really feel. You can be insecure and fearful in world, but writing part of you, part that you share with your journal, cannot. Write about your fears and how they affect you . . . and tell truth.