"Networking" is the key phrase in publishing today. Network with other writers to find a critique group, attend conferences, learn the market. Network with agents and editors at those conferences to get your manuscript read. Social networking on Facebook, via Twitter, blogs, and other avenues builds your fan base. If you're a hermit, you're going to have a tough time getting your book out there. Author Robin Mellom tells how networking landed her an agent for her first young adult novel, Ditched, a Love Story, published in January by Disney/Hyperion. Early contact with an agent came because of her blog, which just goes to show that if you put yourself out there in every way you can, something's bound to pay off.