What is the best self publishing company?

What is the best way to pursue publication of a children's book, I do not want to self-publish but I would like to present my book to a publishing company and still protect my work?

• Answer:

  Publishers don't steal your work. Why not?  Because stealing is a crime. This isn't the mafia you are dealing with! Even if they did, your work is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright, so any publisher who did steal your work is on the wrong side of the law. They are not publishers, they are copyright thieves, and they would be wide open to you suing them and even to criminal charges. No legitimate publisher is going to run this risk. There may (theoretically at least, I've never heard of it) be some 'publishers', who are really a front for copyright theft. For the purposes of argument let's assume there are. However, most legitimate publishers (almost all the major ones) refuse to consider work that is not 'represented' by an agent, so the usual route into being published is via a literary agent. These copyright-thieves-masquerading-as-publishers would very quickly get a reputation, because the world of publishing is small, and your agent would simply not submit your work to them. So, I'd advise you to look for an agent who handles children's authors. You might find http://graemeshimmin.com/creating-an-irresistible-elevator-pitch/ useful for tips on the kinds of things you need to get together (beside your book) in order to approach an agent. For a list of agents that handle children's books, I recommend a directory of agents: In the UK the best known is probably http://www.writersandartists.co.uk/. It is often available in libraries. In the USA I believe the equivalent is http://www.writersmarket.com/.