Traditional publishing company?

[Ellen]

I had a children's book published by a self publishing company. I made a few sales and after that things went down hill. The company kept asking me for money, but I was doing the work and I severed my connection with them.
I have been reading information about self publication and all that I have seen want money from the author. I have also read that any legitimate publishing company will not ask for any money from the author.
I know that by going the Traditional publishing way is difficult, but from what I have read I feel that it is a better option. I have been searching online for a legitimate free Traditional publishing company, however all I find is information about self publishing companies which I would prefer to keep away from.
If anybody knows of free legitimate Traditional publishing companies who will take unsolicited children stories please email me with the information.

Thank you,
Ellen

[Steve D]

You need to get a literary agent first. Most traditional (read "real") publishers work either with established authors with a track record or through literary agents they can trust who have reviewed the submissions and shifted through them for quality.

Most real publishing houses also will not accept unrequested books for review.

[Jake]

You probably just have to pay advertising companies to help with your own self managed publishing, traditional publishers pay such a small royalty (it's a percentage of the dealer cost)

There are print on demand book makers who will ship directly to your customers, eliminating the cost of print runs and a garage full of books. You might also look into making an Amazon Kindle version.

Example Online Print On Demand Publisher - they also handle drop shipping to USA (overseas orders cost considerably more)
http://www.Lulu.com/

Useful links:
worthyofpublishing.com - For self-published authors
amarketingexpert.com Author Marketing Experts
writersinthesky.com
inktreemarketing.com
ebookfriends.com

[TheBellJar]

http://nosycrow.com/

But these days there are also places that offer free self publishing and only get paid if your book sells like Nookpress. or Smashwords

Beware with Lulu because they now offer additional "packages" that are the run by the same giant company that scammed you. (Author Solutions) Author Solutions have scam vanity (fake self publishing companies) under many many names but they are all run by the same international giant scam company with ties to the Mafia. (The books launder money for the Mafia in America.)

It's actually nonsense that there aren't many legitimate companies that will accept books without an agent. The person saying that is 3 years out of date. A LOT has changed in publishing in the last three years.