Penguins advice page on how to publish with them :
First things first
If you aspire to be an author, a great place to start is your local library, where you'll find a wealth of information on writers groups and plenty of books on writing and the publishing process.
Understanding how our industry works will help you appreciate the dynamics of the business and how a book gets from inbox to bookshelf. Being quite deliberate in your approach and thoughtful of your audience and the needs of the market, will certainly help your book get noticed.
Our company policy is to not accept unsolicited manuscripts or synopses and we cannot enter into correspondence about unpublished work. So, when you feel your work is ready for publishing, you need to get a literary agent. Agents can objectively advise you on your work and will know the most suitable publisher to take it to, not to mention fighting for the best deal on your behalf. A comprehensive listing of UK literary agents can be found in the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook, published annually by A & C Black.
Penguin books advises when publishing, to get in contact with Author solutions, which is part of penguin books. They are a self-publishing company, in collaboration with penguin books
This book published by A&C Black was advised by penguin books for finding an agent.
"To an aspiring writer, literary agents can seem like a parasitic race – they take their percentage, but what do they give back? And is it worth having one?
The short answers are ‘lots’ and ‘yes’. Read on!
An agent sends your manuscript out to see who would like to bid on it for publication. They’re effective because they have more knowledge of the editors and publishers than most. An agent knows who is on the lookout for the next big historical novel, whose lists are full, who is looking for a new crime writer, and can target their submissions accordingly.
It’s a two-way street, as publishers will know what genres the agents are likely to be submitting, which ones specialise in crime, which ones are more literary etc.
Once an agent has matched your work to the right publisher (which doesn’t always mean going for the biggest advance, sometimes a publicity commitment is worth more than upfront cash), they are the professional whose job it is to negotiate the best contract for you. Unless you’re confident about tackling aspects such as high volume discounts, territorial rights, and the tricky area of electronic rights, these are all best left to someone who fully understands them.
A good literary agent will be the buffer between the publisher and yourself, negotiating, say, an extended deadline, better dates for a book tour, or fighting for improved deals as needed.
A strong agent/author relationship can be incredibly beneficial for a writer as it means having someone who’s always ‘on your side’, who is enthusiastic about your writing, and whose desire for the best deal is for both your benefits."
Agents sometimes hold
manuscript auctions in which they auction to different publishing houses, an agent that is well known and can host a well aranged and successful auction can be a great asset to an illustrator
