You’ve spent hours crafting a brilliant story, novel, or poem—now what? Can you share your work with the world?
The internet makes it easy to publish content and get feedback, but it also exposes your work to potential attacks. Hackers, pranksters, and nefarious individuals may seek to expose your work, steal your ideas, or otherwise harm you for the intellectual property you embody in your writing. The following are 6 places you can keep your writing safe and hidden from the prying eyes of others.
Your Bank Account
The first and most obvious place to keep your writing safe is your bank account. As a rule of thumb, never put your creative work—whether it be fiction or nonfiction—in your checking account. This account offers you nothing more than the ability to withdraw funds, so there’s no reason to expose it to the risk of theft. If you utilize a debit card on this account, make sure it’s not being monitored by the IRS or any other third party. Also, avoid using online banking for your checking account. Although this is a convenient feature, it leaves your information open to hackers and identity thieves.
Saves & Deposits
Saves and deposits are another common type of account used for storing money. These types of accounts are fairly safe places for your writing to sit comfortably because they’re not physically located in one place. For example, if you have a bank account in the UK and another in the US, there’s always the option of keeping part of your funds in the UK account and using the other part in the US. When utilizing this method, make sure your accounts are not linked. In other words, make sure your UK and US accounts remain discrete.
When it comes to storing money online, none of the above methods are perfect. For example, if you decide to utilize a different bank account for each of your Saves and Deposits, you’re potentially leaving yourself open to identity theft. While it’s unlikely, it’s still a possibility, so be careful!
A Proxy Server
Like the above methods, a proxy server is a location you can host your writing in potentially safer conditions. A proxy server is essentially a VPN (Virtual Private Network) that sits between your computer and the internet. When you connect to a proxy server, your computer connects to a server that’s located somewhere else. As a result, your computer appears to be somewhere else when accessing the internet. This is an excellent option for writing as it prevents your IP (identity) being exposed. Although there are free VPN services available, it’s always best to subscribe to a premium version that offers more features and a reputable company backing it up.
A Private Room On Blogs
If you’re a blogger, you can set up a private room on your website where you can safely upload and post your work. Just make sure you use a strong password and change it frequently. Never use the same password on multiple accounts. Additionally, keep your blog’s email correspondence between you and your followers separate from your creative work. This ensures you maintain your brand identity and protect your intellectual property.
Blogs are a fantastic place for aspiring writers to publish their work and connect with potential readers. If you run a popular blog, you can probably guess how many people would love to steal your content. Ensure you’re aware of this and do everything in your power to keep your writings safe. You can also use tools like Google Analytics to track the location of your readers and see how many people are visiting from different countries. This way you can better understand the demographics you’re reaching. Additionally, you might consider employing a copywriter or proofreader to look over your work before you publish it. They can catch errors and inconsistencies that you might otherwise miss.
A Ghostwriter
If you can’t write, write a ghostwriter! Hiring an independent writer to help you churn out some material for your blog or publication is one way of ensuring your work is safe. Having a second pair of eyes look over your work can help find inconsistencies and errors that a layperson might miss. If you’re not comfortable entrusting your work to someone else, you can always keep part of your publishing budget and pay a writer yourself.
A Self-Hosted Blog
If you don’t want to leave the comforts of your home, you can always self-host your blog on a secure connection. Just make sure you have a backup plan in case something happens to your blog. For example, if your internet connection goes down for some reason, what will happen to your blog? You’ll lose all your content and have to start all over again. So, it’s always best to choose a hosting service that provides both webmail and a dedicated IP address.
This way, even if your internet connection shuts down, you’ll still be able to access your webmail and keep your blog active. If you’d like some help setting up a blog, consider contacting a reputable company.
Using the above methods and services, you can ensure your writing is safe and hidden from the prying eyes of others. Now, you might be thinking, “But what if I want to share my work with my family and friends?” You can use services like Dropbox or Proconnect to securely store and share files with those you trust. Additionally, you might want to consider avoider if you’re not comfortable sharing your work publicly. It’s a free tool that helps you create login names and passwords that are hard to guess, thus increasing your security on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
These are just some of the places your writing might be exposed. It’s important to understand that there’s no one-stop-shop for keeping your writing safe. Instead, it’s up to you to take some responsibility for your own security and privacy. One thing is for sure—the more you know, the better you’ll be able to keep your work safe!