“I’m afraid that self-publishing company is going to steal my manuscript!”

“I’m afraid that self-publishing company is going to steal my manuscript!”

Q –

Angela,

I don’t have any publishing experience, and frankly speaking, I need your advice.

One thing that has been worrying me is that, if I share my manuscript with a publishing / self-publishing company, I want to ensure I am keeping the rights of my text. As I said, this manuscript is extremely important to me and it’s basically the culmination of my own life-long research.

How do I know they won’t take my rights, or steal my manuscript from me altogether?

Should I worry about anything? (I am very inexperienced in this!)

Thank you.


A –

Most of the firms that are charging authors to publish their books are author meat markets, meaning they’ll publish pretty much anything and everything. (Our firm, BookLocker, is selective about what it publishes.)

Author meat markets are primarily in the business of sucking as many authors through their virtual doors as they can, and then draining as much money out of those authors’ pocketbooks through aggressive upselling on (what I consider primarily worthless) products and services (that aren’t likely to lead to many, if any, additional book sales for the author).

After researching and publishing WritersWeekly’s Whispers and Warnings for over a decade, and after publishing more than 8,000 books in 18 years, we’ve never heard stories of any of the well-known print on demand/publishing services firms making it a practice of stealing manuscripts to sell later, without the author’s knowledge. Those make far too much money selling services to authors than they would investing their own money in publishing they’ve stolen book from an unknown author.

To see a comparison of how much these firms are charging authors, click HERE.

RELATED:

BookLocker’s Package and Prices

SELF-PUBLISHING? – How Many Book Sales Needed to Recoup Your Investment?

But…What If Somebody Steals My Book?!

When You’ve Been Violated: What To Do When Someone Steals Your Ideas or Articles

Did That TV Show Steal My Idea? Probably Not…

 



The Do-It-Yourselfer's Guide to Self-Syndication


Practical resource outlining the self-syndication process, step-by-step. Packed with detailed information and useful tips for writers looking to gain readership, name recognition, publication and self-syndication for their column or articles.







https://writersweekly.com/books/4693.html



 



90+ DAYS OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK ONLINE: Your Book's Daily Marketing Plan by Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy

Promoting your book online should be considered at least a part-time job. Highly successful authors spend more time promoting a book than they do writing it - a lot more.

We know what you're thinking. You're an author, not a marketer. Not to worry! We have more than a decade of successful online book selling experience under our belts and we're going to teach you how to promote your book effectively online...and almost all of our techniques are FREE!

Online book promotion is not only simple but, if you have a step-by-step, day-to-day marketing plan (this book!), it can also be a very artistic endeavor, which makes it fun for creative folks like you!

Yes, online book promoting can be EASY and FUN! Let us show you how, from Day 1 through Day 90...and beyond!

 



BOOK PROPOSALS THAT WORKED! Real Book Proposals That Landed $10K - $100K Publishing Contracts - by Angela Hoy



Peek over the shoulders of highly successful, published authors to see how they landed publishing contracts worth $10,000 to $100,000! An enticing yet professional book proposal is the key!

BONUS! Successful ghostwriter, Anton Marco, shares his secret for landing ghostwriting clients. Don’t miss Anton’s real ghostwriting contract at the end of this book! It provides an example of what he charges and the payment terms he requires from each client.

One Response to "“I’m afraid that self-publishing company is going to steal my manuscript!”"

  1. Michael W. Perry  March 8, 2017 at 1:43 pm

    You might want to consult with a lawyer about this, but one form of protection is to copyright your manuscript before sending it off to any outsider:

    http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/questions-and-quandaries/legal-questions/how-do-i-copyright-my-manuscript

    That’ll protect your book-to-be from any thief who gets a copy and not just a dubious self-publisher who, as Angelia notes, is often more interested in your money than anything else.

    Since there are likely to be some differences, you’ll need to also copyright the published version when it comes out.

    –Michael W. Perry, Inkling Books