Who can you trust/how can you protect your brilliant novel/synopsis/screenplay?

I moved this thread from Novels to BWQ.

Quadrillion said:

I realize that most agents are reputable, but suppose you've run into one who thinks your writing is good, but not quite, in his opinion, good enough. What is to keep an agent from working a six figure deal with a known screenwriter? I mean, people get killed all the time for a few thousand dollars. Should you just plain trust someone that you've never talked to, and risk your life's work?

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I don't know what other option you have if you want to see your work in print, short of submitting directly to a publisher. But again, this means you have to trust someone. So the only option left would be self-publishing, which is a whole 'nother ball game, requiring a lot of money, time, knowledge and energy above and beyond writing the book.

And on that note, many of us think we've written masterpieces and dream of seeing our work on the silver screen. That doesn't mean agents will think our manuscripts are worth losing their reputations and risking lawsuits over. If your (generic your) manuscript is the stuff that Oscars are made of, why shouldn't the agent keep you in her stable and have you churning out more gold instead?

Quadrillion said:

Keeping in mind that Joe Esterhaus received several million dollars for three pages of notes, how do you, the writer, ensure that your synopsis doesn't end up in the wrong hands, or that, about the time your novel is hitting the stores, a movie with a similar storyline (and maybe different dialogue) isn't hitting the big screen?

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This may well happen, because there are a limited number of ideas and plots in existence. There just are. It's not really about the idea, but about what we, as writers, do with it. However, if there is a movie with a similar storyline hitting the screen at the same time as your book is hitting the shelves, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Your book can then be tied to the movie in order to generate more marking.

I mean, people get killed all the time for a few thousand dollars. Should you just plain trust someone that you've never talked to, and risk your life's work?

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Do you, or have you ever, dated? What's to prevent the person that you don't know that well, but who you are willing to go out alone with, from being a complete and total sociopath? In such cases, you may be risking more than your life's work. You may be risking your life. Yet, people still date, even in this day and age.

What they do, in order to minimize the risk, is research. They get referrals for dating partners from trusted sources. They learn, both from their own and other people's experiences, what the warning signs are. They minimize or cut-off contact if their spidey-sense starts tingling. As a result, the majority of people aren't killed by sociopaths when they go out for dinner and a movie with a virtual stranger.

Quadrillion said:

What is to keep an agent from working a six figure deal with a known screenwriter?

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Your having a good lawyer.

And an agent isn't going to get enough money out of one fraudulent deal to make up for his or her having to leave their relatively well-paying profession forever.

I mean, seriously, I'm sure your idea is wonderful and all, but it's not $100,000 a year for the next 20 to 30 years' worth of wonderful.

Quadrillion said:

. Does anyone have any experience contacting the publisher's directly with a kick-ass query letter?

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I sold my novel directly to a publisher. After some bad luck with an agent it was the best way to go for my first novel. The publisher has done a good job for me and I'm happy with the results.
Linnea

Quadrillion said:

NOt sure what you're trying to say on your third point, but ever heard of The Great GAtsby? Still sells 200,000 to 300,000 books a year (more than it sold, I believe, when Fitzgerald was still alive.) How about Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Lord of the Rings?

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Do you think these books were stolen?

Do you really believe that you've written a book that's going to be an instant classic?

Look, if there were any question about a book's ownership, a publisher wouldn't publish it. They definitely wouldn't keep it in print. That type of controversy just isn't good for business. What you are suggesting is that agents are somehow more inherently dishonest than writers or editors. That's not the case. It's just not. Yes, there are unscrupulous agents out there, the same as there are unscrupulous editors and writers, because, at the end of the day, writers, editors, and agents are all people, with all the failings and shortcomings that such a condition entails. That does not mean all editors, writers, and agents are unscrupulous, because most people aren't unscrupulous.

However, unscrupulous agents and editors/publishers -- we call them 'scammers' -- don't make their money by stealing unsuspecting writers' work. They make it by telling them that the work is great, it's wonderful, it's fabulous, that it's the best thing they've seen since The Great Gatsby, since Tolkien, and that they are going to "give them the chance they deserve." All the writer has to do is believe in their work enough to invest $xxxx.xx to help offset the "risk of publishing" and that they (the agent or publisher) will help them get their book into stores across the country.... This is what you have to look for. This is how unscrupulous agents and editors, who are looking to steal from writers, do it. They do not steal the manuscript.

I wouldn't trust anybody at all, Quad. I suggest you play safe and lock your brilliant masterpiece away in a box, padlock it, put it under the bed and throw the key away.

Then in X years when you pass away it will be discovered - -------- and pinched by whoever finds it. But you won't be in a position to worry about it -so problem solved.

Of course, he will be making all the money and not you. But you can't have it both ways. Hmmm.

What Lori Said...

Birol said:

However, unscrupulous agents and editors/publishers -- we call them 'scammers' -- don't make their money by stealing unsuspecting writers' work.

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It is much easier and more profitable to steal from the author's bank account than from their manuscript files.

If you remember Uncle Jim's famous words, "Money flows to the author," you will be fine.

Finish the book;send it out. You are as safe as anyone else.

It's highly unlikely for anyone in the publishing industry to steal an unpublished author's work. Quite frankly, until it's published, it's barely worth the paper it's printed on.

Besides, if someone steals your work and you can prove it, you might make more on the lawsuit than you would have on selling the book in the first place!

But if you do decide it's not worth the risk to send it out to agents and publishers, I guess that's one fewer query competing with mine.

allenparker said:

It is much easier and more profitable to steal from the author's bank account than from their manuscript files.

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Exactly. If I were a scammer, why would I want to steal someone's manuscript when stealing money directly from the author's bank account is quicker, easier, and much less risky? Taking money from naive, self-important authors is a simple matter. Turning a manuscript, ANY manuscript, into money is MUCH harder.

Quadrillion said:

your life's work?

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Is it just me, or is that phrase wrong?

I'm not that old and I've written more than 20 novels. True, I haven't sold any yet, but I've written them. I seriously do not think of a single novel as "my life's work". If you want any kind of career in the writing gig, a single novel, screenplay, whatever better not be the sum total of your life's output.

That's not to say that the novel isn't valuable, but let's put things in perspective here. If one of my novels were snatched by the (unlikely) unscrupulous agent, I'd fight for my rights and my share of the money and take them down without a doubt.

But, that's one product in a lifetime of many. It's not everything I'll ever write. One particular novel isn't even guaranteed to be the best I'll ever do because I'm not done writing yet--there's always odds that what I'll write next will be better.

Or is it just hyperbole that I missed in my new "must cold turkey off caffeine" state of mind?

Theft is a very common fear among budding writers. It's invariably twinned with a fairly bad case of Golden Word Syndrome.

The good news is, most everyone outgrows it within a few years of weathering rejections.

If you want to protect your work, there is a thread somewere that you can check, I forgot the name but I think it's "Beware"

Do you know a copyright company that can protect your work for free?

CaroGirl said:

Besides, if someone steals your work and you can prove it, you might make more on the lawsuit than you would have on selling the book in the first place!

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Okay, then how would you know if your work is stolen? I ask out of curiosity.

Copyrighting a work at this stage is a bad idea because when/if you get a publisher it makes making changes to the MS very difficult. Don't bother.

Look here's the thing, there is always a risk, and I would venture to add "especially in Hollywood with screenplays" because you do hear horror stories of stolen screenplays, but again, these are the exceptions rather than the rule.

There was a thread in the agenting forum about agents and money, and what it came down to was an issue of trust. Of course you have to be careful and smart, and read anything you sign etc, but the fact is no reputable agent/publisher will steal your work. They just won't. So I guess the solution to your problem is not to submit to bad agents/publishers.

I don't know much about screenplays. I would say your best bet would be to get an agent for that as well. I don't know who all writes screenplays here, but Little Jane, who hasn't been here recently, has an agent for screenplays so maybe you should send her a PM. Until you acquire an agent, I would advise against going into any meetings with producers etc on your own. Take legal representation with you.

But the novel thing? The chances are so slim that someone will steal your work that it is just not worth worrying about it. Work on finishing your novel instead.

Folks, I just want to dispel the myth that a lawsuit is a lottery ticket, okay? There's a reason why lawyers have such nice stuff. Where do you think that money comes from?

Quadrillion said:

I don't reaally look on it as a life's work. But year's of work - Absolutely. I've read alot of stuff, and I have a pretty good feeling about this. It is quite something.

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In my rather limited and sheltered experience, an author is often a poor judge of his own work. Only the reader (which includes agents and editors) can really assess one's work.

I often hear authors say that the piece they loved the most is the one that didn't sell, yet the story they had the least confidence in is the one beloved by millions.

BlueLucario said:

Okay, then how would you know if your work is stolen? I ask out of curiosity.

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Dunno. I suppose you'd have to see out there in print, with your own beady little eyes.

MeowGirl said:

Folks, I just want to dispel the myth that a lawsuit is a lottery ticket, okay? There's a reason why lawyers have such nice stuff. Where do you think that money comes from?

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My comment about the lawsuit thing was made tongue-in-cheek. I don't actually think launching a lawsuit against someone who's stolen your work would be a fun and adventurous way to make some cash.

What?

Blue, you have copyright on your work automatically the moment you put it onto paper, disc, hard drive, slate or whatever.

It costs nothing.

Bewares and Background Checks Forum doesn't protect your work - it simply gives information on Agents and Publishers in case you wish to check them out.

Never heard of a copyright company.

The copyright is usually registered by your publisher but you have copyright from the moment you create the 'writings'. It's yours as of then -the registration is a business matter and doesn't create your copyright -it simply registers it.

You don't need to register it at all.

BlueLucario said:

If you want to protect your work, there is a thread somewere that you can check, I forgot the name but I think it's "Beware"

Do you know a copyright company that can protect your work for free?

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