Several barriers stand between a writer and publication even if the novel has wonderful characters, great dialogue and an intriguing plot.  

Here are some key issues that may prevent your book from being read by agents and editors:

1) Grammar: 

Agents and editors will usually stop reading after the first or second grammatical error.  They believe if you are going to live by writing, you should become a master of writing, including knowing the most arcane grammatical rules.  You may disagree with the importance of strict grammatical use, but be warned: it is a formidable gatekeeper on your road to publication.

2) Punctuation:

Here again, agents and editors will usually stop reading after the second or third error.  However, punctuation is a bit trickier than grammar, for it is not completely standardized.  British and American punctuation rules differ on certain points.  So keep that in mind when you are searching for a good book on punctuation. 

3) Sloppy Proofreading:

To an agent or publisher, sloppy proofreading simply says 'you don't care about your book', so why should they?  The sad truth is that you do care about your book and have read it until you know the lines by memory.  Unfortunately, you become blind to the errors.  You know what you meant to say and that is precisely what you read on the page as you fly through your fascinating story.  Reading buddies can be invaluable in spotting errors, but try these techniques as well: 

• Change the width of the page, the font type and font size to get a new perspective.
• Start on your last chapter and read the chapters in reverse order.  (This prevents you from getting carried away with the riveting storyline and keeps you focused on your purpose.)
• Read what you've published on this site.  For some reason, once it's chiseled in stone, the errors are very obvious.  (There should probably be a writer's 'Murphy's Law' for this truism.)

4) Writing style:

Now this is a tricky one.  Advice and rules abound on the creation of a well developed sentence, paragraph, chapter and story.  Judicious use of these rules of writing can improve your writing style.  However, used with blind adherence, you can lose your unique voice, thus, removing the ingredient that made your book worth reading.  Strive to learn various writing styles and techniques of expressing your thoughts, but when it comes between your voice and a rule, hold to your voice.   That is my advice--others will no doubt disagree--but if your voice is not unique, how will you stand out from the millions of other new authors?