What are the book Publishing Companies in Chicago?

Try the phone book, but some of them may be vanity presses.





Most of the offices of the major publishers in the US are in New York.





But distance doesn't matter in publishing. I've sold more than 23 novels to several publishers in NY and never once visited the offices in 19 years.





The rules are you check their submission guidelines on the website and follow them to the letter.





Same thing for finding an agent. I've been with mine for 12 years, and only met her 4 times face to face.





Most pub business is done by mail, email, and phone calls.





Go to a bookstore. Find books like yours. Look inside the front pages to get the publishers' websites. Follow their submission guidelines to the letter.





Look up websites of writers with work similar to your own. See if they mention who reps for them. A short polite mail asking if they can recommend an agent is not out of place. Do not tell them about your book, that's seen as poor manners.





Obey YOG'S LAW: "Money flows TOWARD the writer."





This means NEVER pay to get published or to enter contests or pay a fee-charging agent. NEVER. Obey Yog's Law and you won't get ripped off.








Go to the 808 section of your library which has all the books on writing. They will help you steer clear of the rips.





Writer's Market 2010 will be in the reference section. It lists all the commercial publishers and what they're looking for.








This site is a SAFE writer's board run by pros. It is free and they can help you stay clear of the sharks in the publishing pool.





http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/





You don't start shopping your book around until you've gotten solid feedback on it first. AW has a Share Your Work forum where other writers can give constructive crits.





Feedback, beta readers, polished, and re-polished, a book has to be the best you can make it before you send it out. I thought my first was ready, but two years of rejections and rewrites taught me better.





(It did sell, I landed a multi-book contract.)





But you can't be in a hurry, or assume you'll get paid a fortune.





STAY AWAY FROM PUBLISHAMERICA. They are the BIGGEST ripoff site of them all. They say they're free and don't want your money, but that is a LIE. You end up buying overpriced copies of your own book!





Just google "publish America" + "scam" and find all the writers who got ripped off by them. They are what is called a "print mill." you don't want anything to do with them. They ruin lives and careers.





If any publisher or agent advertises on Google, it will only lead to a scammer or a vanity house. A real publisher or agent doesn't advertise!