I've made my living as a freelance writer for nearly 20 years. During that time, I've written pretty much anything anybody would pay me to write: magazine and newspaper articles, corporate communications, textbooks, and more. But one of my favorite kinds of writing has always been humor writing.

By the early '90s, I had had solid success selling humor pieces. I had written one of the few humor articles ever to appear in Ms. My humor had been published in several other high-profile publications in the U.S. and abroad, syndicated by King Features Syndicate, and included in an anthology of women's humor called Women's Glib. (Two more anthologies would follow.) To me, the next step was obvious: I was ready to write a book.

I even had a subject in mind. Over a period of a few months in 1991, I cranked out a 40,000-word manuscript called Kill Your Psychologist: The Last Self-Help Book. It poked fun at everything from overcharging therapists to dumb self-help books.

Well, as every aspiring author knows, it's one thing to write a book, and quite another to get it published. That was especially true in the early '90s, when the book publishing business was in a slump, and publishers were cutting back on the number of books they were buying.

In spite of my efforts and my credentials as a successful writer of humor articles, my book manuscript languished. When I ended a 15-year relationship, moved from Texas to California, and entered graduate school, the book fell by the wayside.

Then, this past spring, I finally got on the Internet. My clients all had e-mail, and expected me to have it, too. They also expected me to be able to do research on the Net. I updated my computer system and plunged in.

In exploring this strange (but surprisingly friendly) new world, I soon discovered Authorlink!, a website for authors, agents, and publishers. It works like this: An author sends her book manuscript to Authorlink!, along with a fee.

Editors there read and evaluate the book. If the editors judge the book to be well-written and publishable, the book is featured in Authorlink's Author Showcase section. Agents and publishers browse the section, looking for good books to represent or publish.

I thought of my six-year-old book manuscript. Here was an easy, relatively cheap way to find out if anyone else thought it had potential. I retrieved the manuscript off a dusty old floppy disk, gave it a fresh read, and concluded that it was worth resurrecting.

I spent a day doing a bit of updating, and sent it off to Authorlink! In about a month, I received an e-mail from the staff of Authorlink!, notifying me that my book had been accepted for the Author Showcase and, in fact, would be a featured selection.

And there was another bit of information, too. I was given a password and told that I was now eligible to access Authorlink's private listing of agents. This meant that I didn't have to sit back and hope an agent would find my book. I could contact some of them, and ask them to take a look.

I went through the list of agents, reading about kinds of books each was interested in representing, how many clients they had, etc. I found several whom I thought might be interested in my book.

Immediately, I e-mailed the four who sounded most promising. Within 24 hours, I received e-mail replies from two agents. One had already checked out my book's synopsis on Authorlink! (which is what my e-mail asked him to do) and asked me to mail him the complete manuscript. He said he had successfully represented a book that seemed somewhat similar to mine, and thought mine had potential, too.

Amazed at how quickly and easily this process was moving, I printed out a clean copy of the manuscript and mailed it to the agent. While waiting to hear from him, I did an Internet search to see what I could find out about him: Was he reputable and ethical? Had his name come up in any writers' chat groups?

I found a few references to the agent on various websites. All seemed to confirm that he was reputable and successful. I also found a website that listed questions an author should ask an agent before signing on.

True to his word, the agent responded to my manuscript in less than three weeks. He wanted to represent my book, although he said he takes on only about 2% of the projects he receives. After talking to him on the phone to ask a few questions, I signed an author-agent agreement with him.

My book had gone nowhere for six years, but three months after getting on the Internet, I had signed on with a professional agent who is now marketing my book both in the U.S. and abroad. If it weren't for Authorlink!, my book would probably still be in my desk drawer.

The Internet made it possible for me to get my book in front of scores of agents and publishers, immediately and for a fraction of what it would have cost me to reach them by mail. Plus, my manuscript got more attention than if it had landed in someone's slushpile, because the agents I contacted knew that the editors at Authorlink! had evaluated my book.

Breaking into book publishing isn't much easier these days than breaking into the movie business. But the Internet gives would-be authors a definite edge. Since not everyone is there yet (I know it's hard to believe), you're a bigger fish in a smaller pond. It's much easier, faster, and cheaper to get the attention of agents and publishers and to estabish a relationship.

If you've got an "orphaned" book of your own, or an idea for a book you've been wanting to write for years, get it written, get it polished, and get it on line!