Take a break from writing for a week / month. and then start editing. get out of the writers headspace and into the editors headspace. Then you start to edit; Which parts need highlighting, which ones less. how are the threads woven, do jokes still land? you have to think about words and sentences. Where writing itself is like a drive through a city, this editing is more like a DAKAR offroad thing. don't expect it to be easy.

You’re asking the right questions, you’re just asking them too early. The only real next step right now is finishing the rewrite.

Once you have a revised draft, then you decide the path:
traditional publishing, self-publishing, or just getting feedback first. Beta readers usually come after a rewrite, not before, otherwise you’re asking people to comment on something you already know isn’t finished.

“ready” isn’t a feeling, it’s a process. Rewrite, let it sit, revise again, then get outside eyes. Don’t rush to decide the endgame yet. You’ve already done the hard part by finishing the draft, now it’s about making it solid before worrying about where it goes.

No one measures in chapters or pages.

How many words is it?

A lot of good advice so far, but many are missing some key steps along the way.

Step one: celebrate. You've done something incredibly difficult that many aspire to and few achieve. Treat yourself in a way that works best for you.

Step two: rest. At least let the document rest. You can be productive without touching your manuscript. Right now you are too close to the drafting process and you're far too likely to see what you meant to write instead of what you actually wrote. Give it a few weeks. Months if you have them. In the meantime, read comp titles, research potential agents if the dream is trad publishing, poke into marketing strategies if you're more inclined to self-pub. Heck, it's not a bad idea to do both regardless of your intent at this point. Things change and information is always useful.

Step three: begin editing. Begin, because this is a process that will take multiple rounds and for most is more work than drafting ever is. This is what separates hobbyists from pros and we all can do better at refining our process.

Step x: stop editing and submit. This can come too fast for some and not soon enough for others. At some point you're just shuffling words around and not making any real progress toward a better product for your readers. Moving on has to happen.

Huge congrats on actually finishing, that’s a big deal. One small, concrete next step: set it aside for 2, 3 weeks, then reread with a notebook and only write down big-picture issues (pacing, characters, confusion), nothing sentence-level yet.

Personally, I find it useful to set a novel aside for two or three months. That helps me come back to it with fresh eyes when revising. I go through at least two rounds of rewriting: first to deal with major structural issues, then to polish the writing on a sentence-by-sentence level.

The next step would be to find beta readers. Then you'll have the decision to look into self-publishing or trade publishing.

This may seem like faint praise, but at least your book is a very reasonable length for a debut fantasy novel. There are a lot of first-time authors for whom that isn't the case.

I also recommend reading a book about the beats of a novel. Take your list of scenes and see if they align with for example save the cat beat sheets. It will help tremendously with your pacing issues and also ensure you avoid the sagging middle which we all struggle with. For a beginner like you it will save you days of grief wondering what to do with your sprawling story.

If you want to learn about traditional publishing, r/PubTips has a helpful Wiki linked on the sidebar. Spend some time in the sub while you are rewriting, and begin learning about the market as well. Sign up to publisher newsletters, bookshop newsletters, and hunt out bloggers/tiktokers etc who are big in your genre so when you come to write your query letter, you will know where you sit in the market.

Here's the unlovely truth for someone in your position: there is no single way forward, becasue everyone is different.

You could be an excellent writer, a terrible one, or any stage in between. Your book could need a light edit, or a complete, ground up rewrite.

The fact of the matter is, all you can do is produce the most polished, cohesive, well structured novel you can, and put it out there. It's not really up to you whether it becomes a success or not. It's up to those that read it.

Finish the book first, Make it shine as much as you are able. Then decide on your next step - but only then. Forget about it until the book is finished.

I recommend seeking out a local writers group and meet with them and discuss your questions

Good advice here.

Editing tips. Make a new dated copy of your manuscript every day before you edit. Back it up every day.

Reverse engineer an outline. You’ll need it if you need to make big changes.

Round 1: the hatchet edits. Focus on plot. If it lags. Cut it. Ideally, you want to be under 100k words. How are the character arcs?

Round 2: scene level edits. If nothing is moving and no one is talking, does the story need it?

Round 3: sentence level edits.

Round 4: dialogue check. Beware of on the nose exposition

Round 5: emotional check. Can’t you push characters to more extremes?

Round 6-one million: polish, polish, polish

Have you studied writing techniques in school or on your own? There's a few yt channels that give advice on how to write, not sure whether it's allowed to share them here but if you search for stuff like "# mistakes new writer's make" and take it from there, it can help to refine before sharing it to your beta readers.

Generally those 115k words should reduce to about 90k in a rewrite - sounds brutal but it's necessary.

Consider joining critiquecircle. It’s been an invaluable tool to get feedback on what works/doesn’t from other experienced writers

Look for a “how to publish a book” class offered by your local community college. Probably 4 hours, about 50 bucks, on a weekend. I went to one of these on a Saturday about 10 years ago and it helped immensely. Basically a series of 20-30 minute mini lectures about all aspects of publishing, like the different types of editing, self-publish versus trad-publish, steps in each process, what an agent does or doesn’t, and more. Often these lectures are given by either pros who do that thing or other authors who have been where you are and worked through the process. Probably the single best thing you can do to invest in your book and your future writing.

I am a huge advocate for taking an iterative approach to writing/editing/marketing, no matter where you are in the process.

Rule one, the absolute most important rule is: If you are producing happily, you're in the flow, the words are coming... just work. Do not torpedo yourself with second guessing or side quests. Don't stop the train if it is moving along.

Rule One rarely applies to everyone, or to the same writer all the time. The moment Rule One stops being true is when I pivot to rule number two: stop the bus and fix what is wrong.

In your case, you didn't say anything is wrong. But you are in a spot where you are not actively in the flow of writing. My advice is, seek input on your work early and often.

The best way I know to do that is to post your first 300 words for critique on a writing forum. Not the whole chapter. Just a few hundred words. That will give you clear areas of improvement. If you don't want public critique watch a YouTube video with writing advice like "Ten ways to make your villain interesting" and then pick one to apply. Or read a book like Steering the Craft and do one of the suggestions. Put yourself in the right mindset to write or edit.

I think you could let it rest for a few weeks and focus on other things, and then start editing as someone reading it for the first time. After you've edited and are satisfied, then you can seek beta readers. After the beta readers give you their feedback, you edit again, and only then will you be finished and ready to think about publication.

And also congratulations!

Hiya! Professional editor here :) the best thing to do is out it down for a bit so you can come back with fresh eyes. If you have thoughts about it during this time away (you will) write em down then forget about them! Then do a read through and assess if everything in your head was on the page. 115k isn’t a bad margin for a fantasy, but it’s probably got room to cut down if it’s a first draft. After you do a full pass edit (fixing plot holes, checking your characters make choices that make sense and have personalities and clear motivations, ensure your worldbuilding is sound and not info dump-y) then you should go to a few trusted early readers. They’ll give you notes. Usually what they have a problem with is something you suspected you could get away with (in which case, you didn’t) or it’s something new. Not every solutions is right, but every problem is probably likely. The do another pass. THEN maybe get a professional editor to do it, otherwise back for more beta readers. Then query! Yay!

As someone already mentioned, make sure you back it up. Make copies you edit.

Then get a developmental edit.

Excellent advice rolling through here.

I would add that since you’re unemployed, take this on as an entrepreneur would. Your product is your book. It must connect with a large addressable audience. That’s what traditional publishers will be looking for. Eventually, your trad publisher and their editor will be your business partners. (Self publishing, like on Amazon KDP, is whole different track, which you can look into.)

If you haven’t explored your genre, do that. Find your role model authors and books, but they must be highly successful in book sales. Compare your novel to those, see what pops out at you as relevant and useful “critique.” Use what makes sense, understanding that they are selling successfully. Their success is probably not a fluke or an accident. If you think their readers are your readers, stand on their shoulders. Learn what you can from them.

You’ve gone this far, taking advantage of your down time. Take a serious shot at getting published. See if you can actually make some money on this. Writing the book is just the beginning. Selling it is the business side.

I had been working on my book for almost 4 years. Every few weeks I would make more improvements. That process feels like it would go on forever.

I finally decided to release it. It comes out in 10 days and I already got few preorders!