Not Sure Where This Goes: Manuscript lost in the mail. What to do?

heptarahep · May 14, 2008

Hi everybody.
I'm a little nervous and need some advice because my 110,000 word story was lost in the mail! I saved it to a USB and sent it to a friend for edits. When he got the letter it was gone. What precautions I can I take to protect my story?

blacbird · May 14, 2008

I very much doubt you have anything to worry about. You possess copyright to the work the instant it is produced in a tangible form (paper, computer file, whatever). The likelihood of anyone stealing it and publishing it is vanishingly remote. Whoever took the thumb drive took it because they wanted the thumb drive, not what was on it. You can, if you wish, register the copyright with the government for a few bucks, but it's generally not considered worth the money or effort; publishers take care of copyright registration once you've got it accepted somewhere.

Just make sure you have the thing well backed up, always always always. Next time, send a CD, or email the thing.

caw

Phaeal · May 14, 2008

Yup, email attachment is the way I send stuff to betas.

Stormhawk · May 14, 2008

Did you/can you report it to the post office?

Not Sure Where This Goes: Manuscript lost in the mail. What to do?

heptarahep

blacbird

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

Stormhawk

Angry Bunny Girl