What are friends for?

I read on another site - I don't remember which one - that you shouldn't let your friends read your unpublished work because they will always give you the wrong advice.

Soooooo....If you don't let your friends read your work, are you just supposed to send it off totally unread to agents and publishers?

I don't think you are going to be able to hang around outside, say, a McDonald's and find total strangers who are willing to read what you have written.

"Hey, buddy, can you spare a few days to read this novel I've written?"

Few of us have the money to pay a professional editor to read what we have written. I only wish I did. If you haven't checked the prices on that lately, don't bother unless you have a lot of coins in the bank.

A better idea - this coming from someone who hasn't made it past first base in the publishing world, understand - is to let friends read the book, but only believe the criticism they offer and none of the praise. Most of us aren't looking for praise, anyway.

I'll post soon about my experience using online writing conferences.

Yours in rejection,

Phil