I’ve often had clients express the following concern: “What if your editor/ghostwriter steals my story?” They say they’ve heard horror stories of writers being ripped off. Well, I’m here to tell you, this is mostly a myth. I can also tell you that when I ask them to give me an example, they can’t.
 
In a recent meeting with a couple of ghostwriters from Reedsy, they said the same thing—they’ve never heard of an editor or ghostwriter stealing a story, let alone getting it published and making a pretty penny from it.
 
Although, there is one exception I read about. Perhaps it’s the most well-known case of plagiarism in literature, that of Alex Haley. According to scanmyessay.com:
 
. . . what allegedly took place in Alex Haley’s 1976 book ‘Roots: The Saga of an American Family’, . . . contained plagiarism. Some sections of the book being compared to the 1965 novel ‘The African’, written by Harold Courlander.
 
Haley claimed that this had been done accidentally. He agreed that the passages had been subconsciously taken from ‘The African’, and this led to a settlement of $650,000 [$3.3 million today] for the plagiarism, which despite Haley’s success, must have made a significant impact on his profits from the 1976 book and literary sensation.
 
Yes, plagiarism happens. Someone steals your article and claims it as their own. Or an author takes content from an existing book and puts it under their name.
 
However, this is far and few in between and is more likely to occur in the music and movie industries.
 
There is a saying that goes something like this: Plagiarism is stealing someone else’s words, however, taking the words of many others is research.
 
When it comes down to it, whatever your story is about, there are bound to be a few books already published with a very similar plot, setting, and even characters. For example, I just did a Google search for “a book about a boy and a dragon.” There are over 65+ book titles on the first page of search results.
 
So, how do you protect your writing?
 
One way is to copyright your work. Keep in mind, your words are copyrighted the moment you write them, but if you want to go the extra step, visit copyright.gov. The cost at this writing is $55. That said, the copyright is only good for that version of your story. If you’re at a stage where your book is going through a critique or a developmental edit, that copyright will not protect your revised version. You’ll need to register the new draft of your story in order to copyright it.
 
Here’s what not to do. Don’t print out a copy, then mail it (snail-mail) to yourself and store it in your file cabinet. Some people believe that having a U.S. government posted envelope, or a signed, registered piece of mail will stand up in court. It doesn’t. I’ve heard this straight from copyright attorneys who’ve said it is just a waste of paper and postage.
 
What it boils down to is this: you’re excited about your story. You spent countless hours (days, weeks, months) at the keyboard, creating characters. You’re ready to move on to the next step–editing.
 
However, you have this fear gnawing away at you:
 
“What if the editor steals my story?”
“What if they get it published under their name?”
And then, “What if it becomes a best-seller and made into a movie?”
 
Here’s the truth: no one is more excited about your story than you. There is no such thing as a book for everyone or a book everyone will love. Ever have a friend tell you that you need to read a certain title, and halfway through chapter one you’re questioning why your friend thought this was so good?
 
My suggestion is to take all the energy you’re putting into that fear and turn it into positive energy toward producing the best book you can. Send it to the editor and let them polish your words. Then, land a contract with a literary agent or self-publish, and knock it out of the park.
 
I know you can!