What are good publishing companies for beginning fiction authors?

I have written a novel and I want to try and get it published. I am a new/beginning author. What are good publishing companies for new/beginning authors?What are good publishing companies for beginning fiction authors?
The same companies that publish established authors. No publisher specialises in "authors whom nobody's heard of yet," because it's next to impossible to make a profit on their books. Most publishers specialise by genre, or have different imprints that specialise by genre, so without knowing what sort of book you've written, I can't recommend anyone anyway.



Most of the major publishers won't consider you unless you have a literary agent, so start looking into how you get one of those.



Most countries have a book, updated every year, that lists all the reputable publishers and agents. It's usually called "Writers' Market" or something similar. Read the lists and figure out which agents and/or publishers might be interested in your book. Apply to each of them, sending them whatever they say they want to see from a new author. If you reach the end of the list before someone says yes (which you almost certainly will, the first few times you try this) try again with another, better book.



What counts as a "reputable" publisher or agent? Basically, anyone who doesn't expect you to pay them up-front. Reputable publishers make their money by selling books to the public, and give the author a share of the money. Reputable agents make their money by taking a percentage of the author's income from writing as commission (so if you don't get paid, they don't get paid). Disreputable or scam agents and publishers make their money by milking the author for money and (depending on how dishonest they are) leaving the author to do most of the work, or giving the appearance of working very hard for the author while actually doing as little as possible.
Here's how you go about it:



First, make sure your novel is complete, polished, and critiqued by people who know what they're doing. Then query agents who represent books like yours. If one elects to represent you, they will try to place your book with an editor at a publishing house. Your agent gets 15% of your advance, you keep the rest. Never, _ever_ pay anybody. And educate yourself so you won't avoid the many scams out there.



For a good community about writing and publishing:



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



An agent who critiques query letters:



http://queryshark.blogspot.com/



A place to find agents:



querytracker.net



A place to research publishers and agents:



http://pred-ed.com/What are good publishing companies for beginning fiction authors?
Most legitimate agents don't sign authors who haven't been published, and most big-house publishers don't accept submissions from authors who are not represented by an agent. That leaves you with either overcoming those odds or looking into a smaller, independent publisher. The website pred-ed.com is Preditors and Editors. They list and rate agents and publishers, including indies. They also have links to sites that can help you with query letters, etc. Good luck.
There aren't any.



If the publisher can't tell you are a new or beginning author, you don't need a special publisher.

If they _can_ tell, your book is not good enough to be published.



Go look at the books on your bookshelf. All the publishers of those books are good publishers.What are good publishing companies for beginning fiction authors?
You need an agent, not a publisher. Search the web for agents who represent books like yours. Also, get a copy of Writer's Market or a similar publication for more advice on finding an agent.
Google up 'publishing my novel' - you'll get lots of links and good advice. Or go to the library and look at Writer's Markets. It lists some 3,000 publishers and you can pick the ones who work in your genre.