"I will never forget sending my story about William Hoy, one of the first famous Deaf baseball players, to RYS in July of 2013. In March of 2016, The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game rolled off the presses from Albert Whitman & Company. Many books later, the support and encouragement I receive from Rate Your Story continues to strengthen me on my writing journey." - Nancy Churnin, www.nancychurnin.com

"I sent Sweet Dreams, Sarah (it was called Sarah's Disappearing Bed back then) the month after I wrote it...Sept 2014. It got an '8'. And that's what it deserved. So I took the feedback (and feedback from other critique partners) and revised. And revised. And revised. And resubmitted it to Rate Your Story at the end of October 2014 (I work fast) and got a '3'. And then revised and revised some more and entered it into the March 2015 RYS contest and won 2nd place...so I'm thinking that if I had sent it for a rating, it would have gotten a '1'. And then I sent it to Essie and she fell in love with it, as did 3 other agents. And then I signed with Essie in October 2015, she subbed it and by Christmas 2015, I had a contract! Yes, definitely a RYS success!" - Vivian Kirkfield, www.viviankirkfield.com

"I just signed with an agent and although it wasn't a result of a RYS submission, it was a direct result of my RYS contest wins. I sent the agent both my MG and PB which won 1st and 2nd place in this year’s contest. The agent congratulated me on the wins, said she loved them both, too, and wanted to represent me! I absolutely score that as a BIG RYS success story!" - Kenda Henthorn, www.kendahenthorn.net

The idea of getting my story evaluated by published authors was unbeatable. I jumped right in and learned quickly that I needed to work on my craft. RYS pushed me to become a better, more precise writer. Thank you, RYS! Hope Lim, author of MY TREE (Neal Porter Books)

"I am so grateful to the hard-working reviewers at Rate Your Story. They had an important part in the publication of my first nonfiction trade book, The Hole Story of the Doughnut!" - Pat Miller, www.patmillerbooks.com