The Scoop #5 - Be careful what you say

No matter where you say it, or why, you need to be careful of your words. We're not talking about slinging insults or "your mama's so fat..." jokes, we're talking about discussing your stories.

Not everyone out there is your friend. Even a "friend" may not be a true friend. So always be very careful about what you reveal about a book/story you are writing before you have it submitted to your publisher. We've been lucky and never had this happen to us but we're more than sure there are authors out there who have had a story idea/premise stolen through a conversation with a "friend".

We're not saying don't talk about your newest project, just don't reveal too much. What is too much? Good question, for example please see the below dramatic re-enactment provided to you by the people at FOX. Okay, we're kidding!

• Too much - I'm writing a new story about a man who wakes up with amnesia in a foreign land and yet knows the language. He has all these crazy ass skills, like hand to hand combat and weapons training, that just come to him when he needs them. People are out to kill him and he's trying to figure out who this mysterious government group is that apparently he belongs to, or did because they think he's dead. He races around the world trying to figure out who he is while taking out their agents and other officials trying to stop him. He kidnaps this French girl who assists him and they do this crazy drive through the city taking out vehicles and driving down stair cases. (In case you're wondering and didn't get the reference - we hijacked The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum for this demonstration)
• Enough - I'm writing a new story, it will be action packed and you'll never know where the danger is coming from. Which will be on several fronts, both supposed friends and foes will be after my character, it will be quite a ride.

As you will see in the "Too much" example, you've basically handed a plot line to someone out there. And if you do not have a copyright on it at that moment, you do not own it. Now, yes you thought it up (in this case we borrowed Robert Ludlum's premise) but can you prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone else didn't think of it sooner? Someone who then wrote it before you and submitted it before you did thereby getting copyright on it before you did. Likely not. Yes, the technological age has many amazing and great benefits. But for every benefit there is an asshole out there that has figured a way around it all and will screw you over.

So, better to taunt and tease a little by giving your readers, fans and potential "friend" just enough to whet the appetite but not enough to let them grab it and run. So, be careful what you say and to whom. You never know who might be a wolf in sheep's clothing. Sad to say, yes, but better mildly paranoid then out your next book.

The Moderator