Is your book cooked when:

• You’ve put it aside for a while, and when you return to it you’re satisfied
• The story works well, including the ending
• You’ve found an agent or publisher
• You know you’ve done your absolute best
• You don’t care anymore, you just want to get it out there
• You’ve rewritten it 12 times and that’s enough
• Your beta readers, editor or writing group tell you so
• You’ve reached the standard required for your genre
• You’ve simply got nothing left
• Another book beckons
• You just know this is it
• The world can’t wait to hear your story any longer
• Never?

I’m coming to the end of my final edit for my MS, unless a publisher tells me otherwise. The problem is, every time I look back I see new ways to improve my book. I believe this is because with every edit, my skills improve. But if I begin yet again, there’s a real risk of getting caught in an endless rewriting loop.

Set your work aside if you can, or seek an outside (objective) opinion to help you determine if your work is sufficiently cooked. If you’re a perfectionist, remember there’s no such thing as perfect because EVERYTHING is subjective.

With my manuscript, it’s definitely near ready to eat, which my writing group has confirmed. I hear the call of another story.