When you are deciding whether or not your book is ready, you need to decide who you are sending your book to. Are you preparing your book for an editor or a publisher, because the preparations for each are very different. Sometimes the book is more than ready for a publisher, but you are not. This comes down to your self-belief system and this can be overcome by support from loved ones or some tough talking to yourself. No one is going to submit your work for you, and the longer you procrastinate, the more intense the anxiety and self-doubt will become. This may result in your brain talking yourself out of even becoming a writer, so you have to be a little brave and hit that send button sometimes. You will be surprised by the sense of relief you get. So, what would be the checklist to refer to when deciding if your book is ready? 

First, what do you need to do to prepare to send your book to an editor. So, you have completed the first draft of your novel and over a period of time have completed the necessary re-writes, leaving a resting period between each re-write. Your novel, in your opinion, is the best piece of fiction you could have possibly have written. That is the time to send it to an editor for their feedback. They will always pick up on areas that you were subconsciously blind to. So, you must always allow someone else to read your work before you send it off to an agent or publisher. If you are new to writing and you can afford it, then it is always a good idea to pay for in-depth feedback on areas of improvement.  

When is your book ready for self-publication? There are, without doubt, far fewer obstacles to publishing your book by the self-publication route than a traditional publisher. However, that doesn’t mean your end product should be less professional and polished. It is vital that you create an eye-catching cover for your novel. If you are a creative person then you can certainly complete this process yourself, especially if you are publishing your work on a website such as Amazon, as they make it very simple for you to design and format your cover. You can also outsource the design to places such as Upwork or Fiverr for very little cost. You should also ensure you have written a high quality and engaging copy for your blurb.  

When is your book ready for an agent? When you have reached the stage where you and your editor have ironed out all the areas of improvement is the time to send your manuscript to an agent. If you are really lucky, you will find a literary agent that will suggest certain edits and not just reject your novel completely, but I have to stress, these types of agents are very rare. There is a good chance that once you have rectified the errors, the agent will be happy to take you on. The same principle could be said of a publisher. Remember, a publisher's main focus is making money, so if they feel the novel should take a different route to appeal to a wider audience, then they may only accept you if those changes are made. If you want more control over your novel, then maybe self-publishing is the better option for you.  

To really figure out if your book is ready then you must try to remove yourself from it on an emotional and personal level. When you can read your book objectively, then you will be better informed to make a decision about when your book is ready for a publisher, agent or editor.