Ah , the resume mill gambit ! For your own benefit , find out the name of the publishing house that bought her manuscript . Then , do a little research on them . Are they a really small press ? Do they publish in a particular niche could be a good sign or do they have a smattering of every kind of book could be a bad sign . One key indicator what support do they provide their authors ? Are they a vanity press ? The credential of published author can be purchased . It doesn ' t really mean much in that case . See if her book is listed on Amazon . com . If so , read the first few pages online for free , if she enabled that feature . That will tell you a little bit of the story of her seeming success . I rarely strike at someone who teaches writing it ' s a hard job and there isn ' t much for anyone to gain . But your teacher ' s advice makes me very suspect . The grammar and syntax errors in your post make me think perhaps you misunderstood her intent . Give her the benefit of the doubt and ask for a more thorough explanation . She may have been joking . Bottom line if your writing isn ' t top notch for the genre you ' re submitting to , it will never be picked up by either agent or publishing house , not should it . Life is too short to read bad books , other than as an exercise in what not to write .