BETAs and NDAs
I've read through this thread with some interest, as I'm in need of a new Beta or two and I, like Maryn, am one of those people whose work has actually been swiped and published. I've made it an obsessive habit to use NDA's with anyone who reads my complete unpublished manuscripts, and that's included a few family members. Call me Fox Mulder, but I'm one paranoid bastard. I feel like I have to be; it was a good friend who abused my good graces and published work I wrote without so much as a thank you much less a credit.
I'm not sure why anyone would find a NDA insulting. We're all - supposedly - working, professional writers. We sign contracts to publish our work all the time. I happen to also be an editor, so I sign editing agreements and contracts as well. NDA's are just one more necessary contract in our business, documents that protect our intellectual properties prior to publication. Because let's be honest. A copyright is good, but that's an author's claim that the work is their own. A Non-disclosure agreement is somebody signing their name and saying, okay, I promise I won't steal your work or share it with anybody until it's available for purchase. There's definite benefits to having both in hand should trouble arise.
This is of course just my opinion, and it's based on my personal experience, which wasn't good. But as someone mentioned earlier in this thread, how much is your unpublished work worth? I don't know about you, but my unpublished works are priceless to me. They represent hours, days, weeks, & years of research, writing, revision, and editing. They are my dreams for the future. So they're certainly worth the $50 it cost me to have an attorney draw up a transferable NDA.
Just my two cents. Plus the attorney's fees.
~ Tux