Patricia and I get a lot of questions about how to prepare manuscripts to get the most bang for your buck with your editor. How many times should you rewrite your novel before you hand it over? Your mileage may vary, but here are our experiences and advice, including issues around timelines and major story elements, and nitty gritty details like when to use contractions and dialogue tags. We also discuss how to determine your next direction if you are thinking about branching out into another genre for your next series.