“How do I keep someone from stealing my idea?”
This is a question I get from time to time—generally from a new writer who is hesitant to publish because he doesn’t want to show his work to anyone. I often tell these fearful writers that this is something we sometimes worry about when we are new to writing—it is the concern of an inexperienced writer. I recommend that they spend more time perfecting their work and studying the publishing industry than worrying about something as unlikely as plagiarism.
But newby authors want to know how to protect their writing. They want to have more assurance that their work is not going to be stolen. And I’ve found an excellent source for these hopeful authors.
Of course, no one can guarantee that you won’t meet up with a scammer who loves your idea and wants to claim it as his own or an editor who assigns your topic to another writer. It can happen. But it is rare. It has never happened to me, that I know of. But I do see my articles posted all over the Internet without my permission. Does that upset me? Not really. As long as they attribute the work to me, I’m not going to complain.
Having said that, let me introduce you to Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s latest edition of her book, The Frugal Book Promoter. She is one author who has the courage and finesse to discuss the concept of plagiarism and she also offers suggestions for protecting your work. She says, for example, “The most important part of writing, after the process itself, is to be read, to share. Worry about plagiarism keeps inexperienced writers from doing that and produces anxieties that interfere with their creativity.” She says that the kind of plagiarism that authors worry about is quite rare. It’s hard to steal an idea. She also says, what I tell authors all the time, “There are truly no new ideas in the world.” (or There is nothing new under the sun.)
She offers some great ideas for protecting your work—from help understanding copyright to some practical ways to afford yourself peace of mind. She strongly suggests, as I do, that you do NOT ask an agent or publisher (even your editor) to sign a nondisclosure agreement. It would seem to me that if you don’t trust these people with your work, you shouldn’t be working with them.
A bigger concern might be you plagiarizing the works of others. As Carolyn says, “Sometimes our memories don’t serve us, our minds absorb something so completely we don’t remember where we first saw something or our researchers don’t take accurate notes. To protect yourself, research carefully, keep accurate records and assiduously credit others.”
I’m pretty impressed with Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s book, The Frugal Book Promoter (second edition). I’ll be reviewing it for SPAWNews—probably the December issue. Subscribe for this FREE enewsletter at http://www.spawn.org and receive a FREE ebooklet on how to promote your art or your writing.
To learn more about plagiarism and frugal book promotion, order Carolyn’s 413-page book at http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com
I also did an Internet search using keywords, “plagiarism,” “will someone steal my writing?” “can someone steal my idea?” etc. and came up with other interesting articles and resources on the topic. If this is something that concerns you, you might do your own research.
Visit Patricia Fry’s website: http://www.patriciafry.com and download my FREE ebooklet, “50 Reasons Why You SHOULD Write That Book.”