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[pmera]

Hi Everyone,

I am planning a series of books and I was thinking of posting on writers network for writing and edititng feed back but i am afraid of my book being stolen and printed by someone else. Is there a way to keep my work secure until it is published?

and next is, where do I get information on getting a  how to guide with religious themes published? I'm a little lost I have no experience in this at all.

thanks for any advice

Maria (pmera)

[Chaosmancer]

I've already posted many chapters to my books on this site, and they have never been stolen as far as I know. Besides since I have the original paper documents, saved files, and am the only one who can access my account on this site I could easily prove that the writing is mine. Beyond all that though I don't think anyone on this would steal someone else's work. Though I do occasionally worry about how I'll convince someone to print my stuff if it is posted on the web 

[Dom1n1ck]

Copyright is established the moment that a digitally reproducable original work is posted. In this case it is fairly easy to establish as the date stamp on your work here gives you the documentation for when the work was posted in a public forum.

I would not worry about anyone stealing your work. This is a common concern amongst people new to online writing communities but it simply does not happen.  First writers are egomaniacs and all think that we can write something better than anyone else, we are also as a rule quite arrogant about our own ideas and certain that ours are the greatest ever imagined, so taking someone elses is almost unimaginable.

If you had a publishing contract in place and were in a contractual situation then of course you would want to protect that material as it would have a monetary value. Until that however it is of little concern to protect your ideas or even your early drafts as the statistics are strongly stacked against most works ever being published. I don't say that to be cruel it is simply a fact in the writing world. Less than one tenth of one percent of all submitted manuscripts ever get published. Yours may indeed be the exception and if it is that will be great but there is still a very long way to go in terms of getting it written, getting a literary agent, rewrites, more rewrites, more rewrites again and then publishing, so it is very safe to post an early draft as it is unlikely to look anything at all like the finished piece that a publisher would print.

Hope this helps. D

[Chaosmancer]

Thanks Dom  :grin:

[pmera]

That was tremedous help thank you. now I feel way better and comfortable about getting feedback on my planned future works.

Thanks!

[britpol]

I have written 3 children's books that are on hold in the US due to publishing budgets etc and who knows how many poems I've written. Am I afraid of having them stolen, yes I am. Copyright using an electronic date-stamp is not enough in my view. They can and are tampered with if someone really wants your work and because of the possibility of this, you can and often do lose in court. Personally I print my work and place it in a plain A4 envelope and post it to myself. A post office date-stamp is always accepted as proof. When it arrives, DO NOT open it. Put it away somewhere safe and if you discover your work has been stolen, present the unopened envelope in court and you should win. And as for the safety of this type of site, you are taking a risk I can assure you. Someone on this site offered me 500 dollars for one of my poems on here. The catch- they wanted me to remove my name and let them have sole rights. I refused. But they did ask me and not just stole it. Remember... they don't steal your writing, they steal the ideas and concepts.

Take care,

Britpol

[dandelion]

One last thing to add to britpol's comment on the post office time and date stamp;
This has to be sent to you as a certified mailed envelope in order for it to be legal bidding for "Poor Man's Copyright", need to bare that in mind.
Certified Mail, the post office places a glued card on it that has to be signed for and then once you sign it, they file in on microfilm in the federal post office. This holds big time weight because its federal now.
Still do not open the envelope. If worse comes to worse, there is a paper trail.
I also, agree with Dom1n1ck, no fear about anyone stealing your work here. If you type it on your computor, it is encrypted and perminated on your hard drive. Back up your work on disc so that if that computor shuts down, you have your work recorded.

[WhisperedDreams]

Please note that poor man copyrights, and documentation do not qualify as enforceable in the US. In order to enforce a copyright, one must be able to sue. In order to sue in the United States, one must have a formal copyright. http://www.copyright.gov/

As for other countries, I don't know. Please, look it up. Don't assume you're protected.

[dandelion]

Please note that poor man copyrights, and documentation do not qualify as enforceable in the US. In order to enforce a copyright, one must be able to sue. In order to sue in the United States, one must have a formal copyright. http://www.copyright.gov/

As for other countries, I don't know. Please, look it up. Don't assume you're protected.

Hate to be a barer of saying this, but yes, the poor man's copyright still counts in this country. Not eveybody needs to file for a copyright and it will hold in court. Please research court records and you will see cases everyday about this same thing. As a matter of fact 95% of all law suits you hear about on the news is done by simple quote. Meaning a person said it, sung it or wrote it first without sending anything through the mail and the case is won. As long as there is a paper trail. The poor man's copyright is still legal documentation wether filed or not.