Seth Godin makes a great point here about florists and photos. I think it also applies to the writer’s fear of stolen ideas. The bigger threats to new writers are not finishing and anonymity after publishing. Most writers never finish and there are many that finish but never get discovered by readers. Very few (relatively speaking) are hurt by ideas stolen before they publish. Not saying it doesn’t happen, just saying that if you are a first time author, there are much more important things to worry about than someone stealing your idea.