How to Make Your Book Idea Unstealable

Have you heard that “publishers will steal your ideas”?

Or “you need to get your book out NOW before someone else steals the idea”?

Then . . . you’ve probably heard some pretty effective (and in my opinion, manipulative) marketing from the world of self-publishing. 

And though most of this is bullshit — as I’ve said before, publishers won’t steal your ideas — there is a chance that someone else will publish the book you’ve been dreaming of. 

But it’s not for the reasons you might think. 

Most of the time, would-be authors don’t steal their friends’ ideas or violate NDAs. 

Instead — they simply act first. This scenario is way less sexy — and way more common.

Here’s an example. Let’s say Amy and Beth are both experts in Stuff (and are both totally made up). Amy has a brilliant new idea about Stuff that would be perfect for a how-to book. And so does Beth. They both read these emails every week too!

Beth dreams of the day she’ll hit the bestseller list. She writes a Table of Contents, but feels a little stuck because she needs to spend most of her time focused on client work that pays. She starts an email list, but only sends a few emails before letting it wind down. After all, there’s only a handful of followers, and she’s got a life outside work and is so busy and . . . 

Meanwhile Amy has taken the time to research her options. She decides that she wants to hit the bestseller list and learn everything she can. That’s why she reads this email every week, and starts taking small steps to build her audience. She starts an email list, and updates her social media regularly. She begins to tell clients and colleagues about growing her business and presence online, and many support her. She signs up for conferences about growing her business where she can hopefully tell more people about Stuff. Based on what she hears back — she invests Stuff 2.0 which resonates with clients and becomes even more unique in the space.

So — who do you think will succeed at becoming a bestselling author — Amy or Beth?

My money would be on Amy, mostly because I agree with Elizabeth Gilbert (a bestselling author herself) about how creativity works.

In Big Magic, Gilbert shares that the muses of inspiration and creativity will go to many people until it finds someone that will take action. In the made-up case of Beth and Amy, both received the same inspiration. 

But only Amy really took action — and by doing so, crafted an even more unique idea. 

Those two steps are how you make your idea unstealable. You obey your inspiration, and by doing so, make it so that you are the only person who can deliver that content. 

How you do that is up to you, but we can help. 

Follow your inspiration and learn how to become a bestselling author right now.