Instead, I'll let Curtis Brown agent Nathan Bransford do it for me: http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2009/06/stepping-up-your-game.html

I'm pointing everyone I can to this blog post because a)he's hilarious, and b)everything he says here is completely true. I try to balance out my "omg but it's sooooo hard" posts (this one) with the occasional "glimmer of hope" posts (yesterday's rundown of some recent debut deals) and I think Nathan's post is a good middle-ground.

It's all of the reasons he cites here - shrinking readership, crappy economy, more competition, fewer acquisitions,  less risk taking - that make it more important than ever to have your materials as polished as possible before you ever send them out to a single agent or publisher. Use all of the resources that are available to you. Use your friends. Workshop it in writing groups. There are immensely talented editors out there (a few of them happen to work here at The Editorial Department, imagine that!) - take advantage of them! Investing NOW in your manuscript can help position you for a better chance at success when you send that manuscript out into the cruel, cold world.

And when your manuscript is ready, don't forget to polish that query & synopsis. I even know someone who can help you with that ;-)