Thanks to everyone for those good words of advice. I'm so pleased to hear from you. Well, here's my update: I decided to take my chances. I did everything I knew to do -- write tight, watch punctuation and sentence length, check for clarity, on and on and on. Then I submitted my manuscript, with prayers, to iUniverse for their editorial evaluation by a pro. This was not an edit, but an editorial evaluation. I was shocked at his/her reply--glowing remarks. They recommended that I work on a couple of places that I hadn't inserted a comma, and I had to re-work my use of ellipses (I just went back and deleted some, above!)and they recommended I change a couple of my chapter titles. The biggest surprise was that the manuscript could be designated "Editor's Choice" if I made the changes satisfactorily. "Editor's Choice" indicates that a manuscript has "the essential qualities of a professionally published book and meets higher quality standards than other self-published titles in the marketplace." There are other advantages,too, but I won't go into that. Anyway, they offered to make the changes for me for over $2,000, but once again (being on a strict budget) I decided to make the changes myself. I paid for a second professional editorial evaluation (at $249) but that would be my last opportunity to qualify for "Editor's Choice." I was pretty nervous about it when I hit the "send" button, and I prayed a lot during the 10 days or so that I waited for the answer. The consultant assigned to me had told me that she'd never had any of her "clients" qualify by himself/herself, so I wasn't sure what to expect. However, a couple of days ago I received their notice that I have indeed qualified for "Editor's Choice," and I'm pleased. "Grandma's Letters from Africa: Quaint I Ain't" will be released in January. Now I'm aiming at their next rung on the ladder, "Rising Star." That has to do with an energetic marketing plan. Again, ladies, many thanks for your help and advice. I look forward to chatting with you more in the future.