Well for a start, there are not a whole great deal of stories that haven't been told, so for yours to not be like, or similar in parts, to another persons work already out there is a long shot.
Publishers, the big named ones anyway, are not in the business of taking your work, re-working it somehow and then publishing without your name. However there is still that risk and you do want to make sure that you cover yourself from a legal standpoint should anything untoward should happen.
There are a couple of things that you can do to protect yourself:
1) lock your stuff in a secure box in your dark basement of your house while you watch over them. Occasionally you may go over, grab the box they are in and hold them tight, rubbing the top whilst saying, 'My precious!'
2) Got to the Copyright office and pay out the nose to get your (as yet) unpublished manuscript listed in your name, for a hefty fee.
or, the one I did a few days ago.
3) Put your stuff into an envelope and mail it to yourself! When the package arrives keep it safe and unopened. The United States Post Office have put their own time stamp on the envelope, which can be used (if needed) in a court of law to show the judge the date YOU created the product.
All you have to remember is to keep the envelope sealed AND in a safe place. With myself I had a number of poems, drawings and other stuff that I sent through the mail and so, to keep track, I put the title of the piece in the senders address part of the envelope.
Hopefully you will never need to reach for it but if you do need to show proof that you thought of it first, this is a great way to do it. You've covered yourself somewhat with just the price of a stamp!
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