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  • How do I protect my unpublished book while seeking a publisher?

How do I protect my unpublished book while seeking a publisher?

July 24, 2007 / Dave Taylor / Writing and Publishing / 17 Comments

I am looking to write a book for the first time. i need a publisher, but need some direction as to how to select one. first, how do i protect my writings until they are published? do i pay a retainer or does the publisher issue me an advancement? should i retain an attorney before i go to a publisher? my book is a collection of personal anecdotes on life. thank you for your help.

This is a tough question to answer because at some level you just need to trust that publishers and agents are going to read and evaluate your work without ripping it off or otherwise stealing your intellectual property. Certainly you can and should copyright it.
The simple solution is to have an explicit copyright and “all rights reserved” on every page, like this:
      © 2007 by Dave Taylor. All Rights Reserved.
You can also use “(C)” or “(c)” as your copyright symbol, but don’t do anything goofy here, just a simple, plain straightforward copyright is best.
If you want to protect yourself more, you can apply to the US Copyright Office for a formal copyright, which will require that you submit a copy of the completed work to the copyright office, but does offer stronger protection in the eyes of the law.
Nonetheless, both of these are of limited value because precious few ideas are truly unique, and just because you sent in a collection of personal anecdotes and 18 months later the publisher came out with a different collection of personal anecdotes that seems to have a half-dozen stolen from you, doesn’t mean that’s what happened. For one thing, they probably saw fifty other proposals or manuscripts on the same topic, but more importantly, it’s quite unlikely that the other author even saw a page of your own submitted manuscript.
Generally, publishers want to work with authors through agents for this, and many other reasons, and your agent will be able to advise you on how to protect your own intellectual property and how to find the balance between that protection and actually getting it published. Typically an agent works for a percentage of the value of the book (15% is typical) and any agent that requires a fee to review your manuscript should be avoided.
If your book is accepted then the publisher will often pay you an advance against future book sales royalties, but that advance is almost always paid in stages as you meet specific schedule milestones for the work. For example, you might get a $5000 advance, paid 25% on signing the contract, 25% on delivering the first half of the work, 25% on delivering the last chapter, and 25% on completing the edits and changes suggested by your development and copy editors.
Oh, that reminds me that just because you have what you think is a completed manuscript, it doesn’t mean that a publisher would read it and say “let’s go to press!”. Much more likely is that they’ll like the concept, the idea, the voice, etc., but still require that you make changes, edits and updates, often substantial ones, before it’s ready for publication.
Anyway, hope that helps you figure this out. There are a number of books in the library and bookstores on how to publish your own book – it might be worth an hour to sit and read through one of those too. They’ll have lots of good information on how to pick an agent and so on.

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Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

17 comments on “How do I protect my unpublished book while seeking a publisher?”

  1. sandie says:
    April 9, 2020 at 8:29 am

    I understand that work may be protected but how are ideas for subject matter protected? Thanks.

    Reply
    • Dave Taylor says:
      April 9, 2020 at 8:34 am

      Well, I’m not a lawyer, but… your ideas aren’t really protected and that’s tough for creators. You see this all the time when someone sues a recording artist or movie studio, claiming that they had the idea for some blockbuster or other, but never got the credit. It’s tough to prove…

      Reply
  2. Mr. J says:
    October 14, 2016 at 4:11 pm

    Hi im writing a fantasy novel based on certain aspects of mythology but like some of these other people, i had i myself was worried about the dangers of being protected while trying to find a publisher. Also being based off mythology would there be any problems with legal ramifications of using names, people and/or places in my novel from mythology. In short, is that legally ok.

    Reply
  3. digimax says:
    September 23, 2015 at 7:04 am

    Weisgal, not true. For some stupid horrible reason, there’s no way to “prove” you wrote it without getting it registered and paying an absurd fee that I can’t even fucking afford, actually.
    The irony.

    Any way, thanks for nothing Dave. Your article has left me even more confused than when I started with that whole “no idea is truly unique” when all I really wanted to do was stop people from blatantly plagiarizing me.. because I’ve actually had someone threaten they would just because they think I’m somehow being arrogant or overly prideful.

    I don’t care if my idea is “original”, just tell me if I can actually protect it.
    Reasonably.
    Maybe not even in a purely leg-… err… law-based way.

    I just want to protect a few short essays and poems which are all pretty reliant on specific word choice and verse, so you would think that the overall work is fairly easy to protect.
    I don’t care if people “steal” tiny bits and pieces either.. like in the normal way writers apparently do that.
    One of my writing teachers said that. Wait now I don’t even know if I’m okay with that either.
    I’m so confused…

    Reply
  4. Dave Taylor says:
    April 16, 2013 at 5:22 pm

    Allison, try this:
    https://www.askdavetaylor.com/protect_unpublished_book_manuscript_during_review_process.html
    Hope that helps!

    Reply
    • Teri Orlando says:
      September 29, 2014 at 11:50 am

      Thank you for this article!!! I am in the process of finishing my first novel and wondered the same thing. Also, I would like to know your thoughts on self-publishing or go with an agent, etc…. Thanks for taking the time to help us!!

      Ciao!

      Teri Orlando

      Reply
  5. Allison says:
    April 5, 2013 at 11:47 am

    I am currently proofreading a book for an author and he is pondering the thought of having a couple people read his work to gain opinions prior to sending his work to a publisher. One of his concerns is how to protect his work from being shared or copied prior to copyright or Digital Rights Management. Should he send a letter of confidentiality or what do you recomend?

    Reply
  6. Dave Taylor says:
    September 7, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    Lorraine, your title can’t be copyrighted. You can trademark a title or phrase (like “Dummies Guide to”) but that’s a lot more $$. Generally people try to avoid duplicating titles, though, because it causes confusion in the marketplace.
    Joseph, if you don’t have permission to use it, you can’t included it. If you get permission, that won’t include your then claiming copyright to that particular content. I’d check with a lawyer to make sure you’re safe.

    Reply
  7. Joseph rice says:
    September 7, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    Can I have an published manuscript that incorporates material I do not have permission to use,copyrighted, and publish it with the copyright notice once I recieved permission to use
    the material?

    Reply
  8. Marcia says:
    May 20, 2012 at 1:42 pm

    I’m writing a book that I would like to offer for sale on my website, as a digital copy.
    How can I protect it so that the words can not be copied or printed out?

    Reply
  9. Lorraine says:
    February 11, 2012 at 12:48 pm

    Hi,
    I am currently writing a memoir and I would like to know how a person protects themselves from having their title ripped off? Not necessarily the content of the book, but the title. That’s all I’m concerned about for the moment.

    Reply
  10. Rod Judy says:
    November 22, 2010 at 11:16 am

    Hi again. I am writing an original story about well known characters from a tv show. As an example (not my story), it would be something like the life of young James T. Kirk. Do I need copyright permission to use these characters in my story? Someone told me that if a publisher was interested in my book that they would handle the copyright questions. Is this true?
    Thanks,
    RJ

    Reply
  11. Rod Judy says:
    August 12, 2010 at 9:48 am

    Hi. In one segment you recommended that a person put a (c) on each page of a manuscript but in another place you say that is a bad idea. Which is correct? Also, I am writing a book now. How do I protect my unfinished work? Thanks

    Reply
  12. Michelle L Devon (Michy) says:
    August 4, 2010 at 10:28 pm

    This is really, really bad advice. Not only that, but it’s wrong too.
    First, a copyright is owned by the writer the moment any creative work is put into a tangible form (ie: writing it down). There is no reason for you to say that you ‘can and should copyright it’, because the copyright is natural and happens the moment it is written. Adding a copyright notice to a document doesn’t change or increase the value of the copyright at all.
    The registration of the copyright is a completely different matter. Copyright registration is only necessary if there is to be monetization of the manuscript, that is, if it’s going to be published. The publisher pays for the registration AFTER it is edited and is in its final draft form, so the best possible copy of the work is copyrighted. Registering a copyright prior to this point can really screw up the standard paperwork and contract that publishers have with authors.
    The bad advice: Putting a copyright notice on every page of a manuscript while shopping it around to agents and/or editors is one sure-fired way of getting rejected. It’s insulting to a real professional in the industry and it’s annoying and irritating to see while trying to review a manuscript.
    My advice, do your research and ensure the agent is legitimate and an AAR member. Follow the submission guidelines. It is extremely unlikely if an author does their due diligence in researching an agent or editor to ensure they are legit that they will get ripped off by anyone.

    Reply
  13. Tatiana says:
    September 27, 2009 at 6:30 pm

    Hello Mr. Taylor,
    I have an idea for a book, but feel it would be helpful to cooperate with a colleague when writing it. In presenting the idea to this person, how can I protect it just in case?
    Thank you,
    Tatiana

    Reply
  14. Nancy M. Sain says:
    March 3, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    I HAVE WORKED FOR TEN YEARS ON RESEARCH AND I LIKE TO HAVE MY WORK PUBLISH. NOW VANTAGE PUBLISHER ASKED FOR A COPY AND A COPY WAS SENT AND THEREAFTER, I RECEIVED A OFFER BY MAIL. NONETHELESS, I LIKE TO SHOP FURTHER SINCE THEY WANT ME TO PAY 40% OF COST…. I RATHER INCREASE THE PUBLISHER’S SHARE OF ROYALTIES INSTEAD…. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY FOR ME TO SUBMIT MY WORK WITHOUT THE THREAT OF THEFT….
    SUBJECTS: THE FIRST LIVING TRADEMARK: NANCY GREEN
    GLOBAL COMMUNICATION, THE HISTORY OF THE PI, MARGARET SANGER, FLINSTONE VITAMINS WITH VITAMIN C… BUT DO WE NEED MORE?……..
    IN ADDITION I AM CEPO & FOUNDER FOR PRECISION AGENCY…. MY COLLEGE MAJOR: MASS COMMUNICATION

    Reply
  15. Tristan Weisgal Wermus says:
    August 5, 2007 at 10:54 am

    In copyright law, as soon as you have written something down (and you can proove the date) on any material (a napkin would qualify), it is copyrighted and you are protected against intellectual theft.

    Reply

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