How do you know when it's done?

That's a question I hear a lot when teaching people to bake for the first time. Lately I've been asking myself that question.  Every time I think I have the absolute last recipe for my cookbook, I get stressed out by yet one more thing and end up coming up with some new recipe that I just "have" to included.

My alpha tester all along has been my husband. He's honest when something isn't working and doesn't oversell a recipe that is tasty but not truly outstanding. My beta testers are the crew at a local diner (Red Geranium) and they've been awesome as well.

I've got beta testers to proof out the recipes all lined up and I'm planning on getting them the recipes before the end of the month. I've refined my oldest  recipes, making sure I have the steps and methods outlined correctly. Section titles have been determine, a book title has been selected, and formatting has begun.


So, how do you know when your book is really done? I'm not sure. I'm still new to this self-publishing business. My best guess is to set an absolute, drop dead date for getting the book formatted and ready to be proofed by an editor. Or perhaps it's the fact that I just had another cover shoot for the book - which involves a flurry of baking for models. Either way, I need to wrap up this book soon. Which means I need to quite baking for awhile and find another form of stress relief.

Typing Dyslexia

I have no idea if this is a "formal" term, but I seem to have a lot of it these days...especially with acronyms that I'm very familiar with. I know what it's supposed to say, so I don't catch the typo until someone else points it out. Which is why I'm such a terrible editor/proof reader of my own work.

Editing is a special skill set that I simply don't seem to have in my genes. My mom is much better at this than I am, but she won't read my writing because of the swearing. I'm in desperate need of an editor but I'm not sure how to go about getting one. How do others go about doing this? I guess that is a question for my mentor. But she is, quite happily, planning for her upcoming nuptials, so I hate to bother her.

Do critique groups have suggestions as to how to find an editor? Are all editors paid? How does this work? I've yet to figure it out, but I'll keep learning.