Will People Steal My Ideas if I Put Them “Out There”?

by Diane Eble

 One of the questions I asked on my recent teleseminar on “Choosing Your Best-Selling Book Title” came from Gitie.

“Should one keep the title a secret from others while still lokking for a publisher?”

The question is a good one because it gets at an underlying anxiety many people have:  “If I tell the world about my idea, will someone steal it before it gets in print?” (I don’t know if this is what Gitie meant, but this is how I read it.)

My answer is no, no one will steal your idea. While you cannot copyright a book title (though you may also trademark it), it’s unlikely someone would go ahead and steal your idea.

Even if they did, they would not write the exact same book as you. Your idea is bound to your unique way of saying something, your unique take on a topic. No two people would write the exact same book, so even if the topic were similar and the title the same, there is arguably room enough in the world for both books.

What this fearful mindset does is cut an author off from getting very important information: whether anyone would actually be interested enough in the idea to buy a book. If you can’t talk about your book to people to test if anyone is interested in your idea, how on earth will you promote it once it’s published?

And if you won’t test the idea now, how will you have the confidence to pitch it to a publisher? Make no mistake, your potential publisher is the first person you have to “sell” your book idea to.

So my answer is, NO–you should not keep your title a secret! In fact, you should do everything you can to test your title on those who would be your potential market. (Which, by the way, are not those who are likely to steal your idea anyway. They’re the people who would be interested in your topic, who would look to your expertise, and not consider ripping off your idea.)

If your idea is something other than a book, you still need to market test it. Your “baby” may not be perfect yet. That’s okay. Let your market have a crack at perfecting it. They will be all the more interested in the final product!

Diane Eble is a book publshing coach who helps writers, speakers, and business people write,  publish, and especially, market, promote and sell their books and other information products.  If you’re interested in learning  how to come up with the best title possible for your product, check out her latest article, “Magic Words that Sell Books” and her upcoming “Publishing Insider’s Guide” course on “Choosing Your Best-Selling Title.”