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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/28240
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I want to be harsh or burst your bubble but your worries don't conform with reality. Agencies receive thousands of manuscripts each week - most of which they don't actually read.

Acceptable stories fall within a very narrow window. The boy always gets the girl. Good always overcomes evil. The cowboys always kill the Indians. Publishers have no interest in new authors publishing stories outside the range specified by the bean counters.

Writers tend to significantly over-value their work. At the outset, they all (including me) believe they are writing a best-seller - two years later they're struggling to give the story away on Kindle.

It is also my opinion: in a comprehensive novel there is so much detail and nuance that only the author would name the source. A plagiarist would be discovered under interrogation.

e.g. Adele's pet name for her best friend, Claire, is 'digger' (which she hates) - It is never explained. But there is a scene where Claire is stopped for speeding. The officer radios in the vehicle's registration plate "JCB 888Y" (stylized as "JCB BABY"). He is embarrassed when he learns he's pulled over a high court judge. JCB = Judge Claire Bristol. JCB is also a UK term for Trackhoe - hence the nickname "Digger" . . . Who but the author would know that?

Nobody is going to steal your work.

Unfortunately (particularly in the USA), your manuscript is irrelevant. It's all about your CV. If you are George Clooney's 3rd cousin whose other claim to fame is that, when in college you popped Malia Obama's cherry - they'll publish your fantasy story. Don't worry if your story is a pile of crap, they've got a thousand ghost writers who'll whip something up.

Original score: 1