Comment by snayan

People have already given you practical reasons why you're better off keeping it public. To answer your question as to how to get over your fear, you need to ask yourself what you're afraid of. You've mentioned you're worried about someone ripping off your hard work and claiming it as their own. If you can understand the root of why the idea of that pisses you off, you will probably find it's an artificial construct of ego. Understand the root and the fear will loosen it's grip.