Forget all that business about checking a publisher’s submission guidelines before you send your manuscript in. The most important consideration when you’re preparing to take a project to the next level is whether your work itself is ready, fully conceptualized and mature. Who cares about typeface and font size if the content is half-baked? There’s no setting for “masterpiece” on my egg timer, but these guidelines will help you know when to call it done.

1. First of all, how long is it? If your manuscript is ninety-seven pages double-spaced, you’re not done yet. If it’s a thousand pages single-spaced, you likewise have some work before you. Most trade books have between 160 and 400 pages, but the right number of page depends on the genre you’re trying to enter and the purpose of your book. Do a little “market research” at the bookstore and figure out where you stand—you don’t have to match the other guys, but they are your competition. If your book is too fat or too thin, it will suffer.

2. Have you covered everything relevant? Here’s a test: When you tell people what you’re writing about and explain the concept to them, do they ask questions you don’t cover in the book? If so, you will probably want to add treatment of these common points before sending your manuscript out into the world. There’s no excuse for neglecting aspects of your topic readers want to hear about.

3. Of course, asking what readers want to hear about raises another question: who are your readers? Who is the target audience for your book? If you don’t know, you need to. Make sure that your focus isn’t too narrow or too wide. For instance, for a business book, “everyone with a job” is too broad an audience; “CEOs of Fortune 500 companies” is too narrow. Once you know who your audience is, list out what they want—and read through the manuscript to make sure you’re giving it to them.

4. Is your book really about something—something you can explain? This is the time to make sure you can describe in thirty seconds why your book is different from all the rest, practically helpful, and, of course, a must-read literary tour de force. Seriously, if you can’t say what it’s about and what it can do for the reader in thirty seconds or in the first page of the introduction, you probably need to refine your focus.

5. Have you gotten a second opinion? Don’t ask your mother. Instead, make your most tactless friend read through it, then nag her incessantly until she tells you she quit reading on page 34. Go to page 32 and figure out how to keep her reading. Repeat this process until you have no friends or someone finishes the book and likes it. If you already have no friends, a real live member of your target audience would be even better. You don’t have to take any advice you get, but you do have to listen and seriously consider it.

6. Is it neatly typed and formatted with minimal errors? I know I told you to forget the technicalities, but if you’ve made it this far, you’re ready to send it in. Congratulations!