At what point do you call it good?

[Ira]

Im currently in the editing stage of draft #376 of my MS. Its been through a few rounds of beta reading and I'm wondering at what point do you call it good and move to querying (or whatever is the next stage for you)?
I feel like I could be tweaking forever but also pretty happy with where the story is after I finish this round of edits (also been with this MS for 3 years and lowkey ready to move on). Ive followed all the general recommendations of leaving it alone for a while and then coming back to edit, of editing a printed copy, etc.
I almost feel like I've taken it as far as I could and I know theres no magic answer and a MS can always be improved but I wonder what is your take on it?

[Kay]

If you're confident with your book, move on. You truly can edit and edit and edit forever; no manuscript will please every reader. Have you looked into professional editors?

[Bob]

Ira wrote: "Im currently in the editing stage of draft #376 of my MS. Its been through a few rounds of beta reading and I'm wondering at what point do you call it good and move to querying (or whatever is the ..."

Ecclesiastes 12:12

"My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh."

Perfectionists die childless. Your question should be 'At what point do you call it good ENOUGH?'

[Gifford]

When you realize the "corrections" you're making aren't going to affect the quality of the book. If you're at the nit-picking stage, you're there.

There's a great course in self-editing by Joan Dempsey. I took the beta version several years ago & learned soooo much. I created a 7-step editing program for myself based on it -- and I still follow it.

Sometimes "improvements" can make a manuscript worse. I've been at a place where I managed to take all the "feels" out of a book just to hit the "right" word count. My critique partners put me straight again.

Could you ask any of your CPs/betas to take a second pass now? Knowing the book already, they might be the best set of eyes on it.

[Ira]

That's helpful advice, Gifford! The beta readers brought up a couple of things that I need to address but for the most part I find that I'm mostly obsessing over line edits...is this the nit picking stage?