[gmw]

And because, sometimes, I can't seem to just shut up, some more on the subject of vital signs.

It is tempting to suggest that a work is ready when all you do with every new editing pass is twiddle a comma here and there. This is definitely a sign of something, but not always that it's ready ... or not for me anyway. I got to that point with my first published novel and sent it off to a paid manuscript assessment agency. The response was a rude shock that I've spoken of here in the past. In turns out that what I'd been doing for the last (far too many) editing passes was looking at the detail and not seeing the bigger things that were wrong with it. Large chunks that were just far too wordy and detailed (not trusting the reader enough). The words were okay, but some of the paragraphs and chapters were not. And my early beta-readers didn't correct me on this, some readers are far too forgiving to make good critics.

I am not suggesting that you suffer the same problem, but this is why I don't think there are specific vital signs you can rely on.