I did the writer's groups in college with print copies they had to return to me, marked with comments. The general rule we followed was, you can't just write 'it totally sucks' without saying WHY. They are supposed to give constructive criticism, meant to help the writer improve the next draft.
I will only email a draft to someone I trust implicitly to do test reading for me. I don't want to suffer Ms. Meyer's fate. My hearing family has been looking at it, asking me questions, and pointing out any flaws in logic or contradictions. (Spell check doesn't catch every error, neither does a grammar checker computer program.) Line by line reading is the only way, and I can't always "divorce myself" from my story to catch stuff I missed.
You can fictionalize your personal experiences, of course, if it's a memoir and you want it to be NON FICTION (100% TRUE), you wouldn't market to the fiction genres (Adventure, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Suspense, Mystery, Crime Fiction, or Romance publishers).
If it is in a genre, you need to know which one you're writing. Sometimes Fantasy and SF cross over into what is called a hybrid, or it has elements of both magic and science. I've read a few successfully done stories like this.
Identify what you want to do with it:
a) Is it 100% true, with names changed to protect the innocent or guilty? Then it is NON FICTION.
B) Or is it a story based on YOUR knowledge of a topic, but COMPLETELY fiction otherwise? It could be MAINSTREAM Fiction or a genre story.
If it is genre fiction, don't market it to a mainstream (non-genre) publisher. There are guide books out there for help--The Writer's Market books are the best. 
They update it yearly with a listing of publishers, but they don't list every single one out there. I believe they have a separate volume for SF and Fantasy publishers. (I'm not interested in buying more information that I need.)
For examples of some genre writers, try these:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes (Mysteries), Carolyn Keene, Nancy Drew mysteries
Isaac Asimov, I, Robot (SF), George Orwell, 1984, (SF), HG Wells, The Time Machine (SF), Ursula K. LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness (SF, also writes Fantasy), Octavia Butler (African American SF)
Mercedes Lackey, Arrows trilogy (her first set of 3 books, Fantasy), Kate Elliott, Crown of Stars series (7 books, excellent writer, master of complicated, detailed plot, Epic Fantasy)
Stephen King, Anne Rice, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, Horror genre
Danielle Steele, Romance (I don't read a lot of Adult Romance books, so I can't give you a lot of names here.)
You get the idea. Sometimes stories can have multiple genre elements, i.e., the teen Twilight series has a mainstream fiction book feel at first in the beginning of the story, but then it is Horror and part Romance. So mixing the two genres can be done.
Some old Classic Lit falls into the genres, like Bram Stoker (Dracula) is Horror. Mary Shelly, Frankenstein, also Horror. (But you won't get a load of crap from a Creative Writing teacher for reading those, where you may for reading Star Trek novels! Some college professors don't take genre fiction seriously and they see it as escapist. SO WHAT? SUE ME!! TELL THAT TO PROFESSOR TOLKIEN! See who has the LAST LAUGH! I will, when I go to the bank. (See my comments on Creative Writing classes below.)
Again, check The Writer's Market and see what kind of stories which publisher accepts, and find out their submission guidelines--finish and edit!--first! Otherwise unsolicited submissions go in what they call "THE SLUSH PILE." 
Talk to some PRO writers, learn all you can if you intend to do a pro sale. Try out a Creative Writing class at your community college, but be prepared that if you LIKE genre fiction, some professors DO NOT. (Mine was VERY prejudiced! He was a Literary SNOB.) :roll:
AND KEEP WRITING!! Keep in mind that if you get a sale, your editor and copy editor will go over your manuscript and want re-writes.
JM
