I have a idea for a book and I want to copyright my ideas before submitting a proposal to a publisher so they dont steal my ideas. where do i go to copyright my idea? cost?

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Ideas can't technically be copyrighted. As the nice folks at the US Copyright Office (and I'm assuming this question is US) state "Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among others [...] Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration" Copyright on a work is held on creation. However, there are several advantages of holding a registered copyright. If you have something that can be copyrighted you need to fill out the form (for unpublished, nondramtic literary works its form TX) and submit $45 to the Library of Congress.

You can't copyright an idea, just a text itself. Primarily because I'm sure your idea has already been done! What is important is that you have a fresh take on it, and that it is marketable. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Think about authors like Shakespeare-- not one of his plays was unique. If he had to copyright his ideas, he probably couldn't because they were already done! If you are dealing with reputable publishers, they will not steal your ideas. Do your research (start with the website Preditors and Editors) and you will be fine. As a side note, proposals are only for nonfiction work. If you are a fiction writer, you will need to actually write the book before querying publishers.