What if someone steals my stuff?

Please don't worry about this. With PDFs, there is always the chance of some piracy, but if you are worried about someone publishing your writing as their own it is incredibly rare.

Automatic Copyright

In the United States, you are granted a copyright as soon as you write something. There are date and time stamps on the files and it is easily provable that you wrote the material.

I'm not a lawyer, but your work is protected, so do not worry about this. If you would like to do more research, you can start here.

The key here is to not let the thought of someone stealing work to prevent you from publishing it. Or to let copyright filing fees stop you from publishing. 

Down the road when your work is making money you can consider filing for a copyright. 

Finding Artwork and Images

Artwork is important for RPGs and it can be expensive. If you do not have connections with an artist or cannot afford one, start simply.

First, there are websites like unsplash.com, where all the images can be used for any purpose. I use this site all the time for images.

Second, you can buy stock art from DriveThruRPG or sites like iStock. I paid $12 for the cover of Dungeons for the Master from iStockand only $5 the interior art fromDriveThruRPG.

Third, use public domain pictures. Pictures and artwork from the 19th century and earlier are all fair game since the copyrights of the creators have expired.

You can find incredible public domain images at WikiCommons and Public Domain Review.

If you start to think creatively it is amazing what you can do.

Keep Gaming!
Matt
www.dicegeeks.com