Writing is not simultaneous to being read. Many manuscripts never get to be pulished, hidden under lock and key in an editor's desk. James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway and other great names all faced some sort of troouble in getting their manuscript published. Mary Wesley had her firt manuscript published when she was seventy!

Of course, the key to getting published is determination and hard work, but here are a few points that could help you get you're work in print:

1. Proofread

You have to convince yourself that your manuscript is good enough to be published before you can convince somebody else. Before submitting your work to a publisher, read it critically first, making sure it as good as it can be. Examine your plot with an editor's eye, looking for flaws and continuity blunders.

On the other hand, try not to be too heavy-handed on yourself. Try not to examine your manuscript for flaws when you are tired or feeling low. Your brain may just bring out everything as a load of crap and you may decide your manuscript has to be burnt.
If you know some people you would be comfortable in giving your manuscript to browse through, by all means do so. Just try not give people who will use four-letter words on your work and advise you to see a therapist.

2. How To Proofread

When proofreading your manuscript, see if you have tied up all loose ends, answered all questions and brought the whole thing to a logical conclusion. Has your character acheived what it set out to do in the beginning? If not, why not?

Make sure the whole contraption holds together, that it makes as much sense to your reader as it does to you. Have you explained your charater to its fullest, shown why exactly he or she needs to do whatever he or she is doing(or why not)?

Are thing happening in chronological order? Does one event lead into the next? Are the characters keeping true to form? Is narrow-minded, foul-mouthed Hank suddenly philophosizing about the essense of the Christ? Are all the clues brought to light in your whodunit?

It's a long list of questions, and all the answers must be found on your manuscript before you should send it to the publisher. When publishing traditionally, you might want to check out The Novel and Short Story Writer's Market. However, the best way to get a publisher would be to get into a local bookstore and see what your target-publishers are offering. For example, a horror-thriller would look odd coming from Harlequin.

3. Submitting Your Manuscript

No need for fancy type-faces and silly little clip arts on your completed manuscript. Just make sure it's legible and neat.
Always enclose a brief letter to the publisher.
These days, editors don't need the whole manuscript to decide whether they're going to publish or not; a synopsis and a few sample chapters will usually suffice.
I recommend that you send your manuscript to different publishers at the same time, but always let them know they are a=not the only people being approached.

And if they won't take your manuscript, remember cyberspace! You can always build a website and publish your story yourself.