Need help finding publisher for animal book

Aaargghh! I wrote a nice, long response and the board ate it!! I'll try to remember what I said.

First of all, welcome Rose M! Hope you'll visit our little corner of Absolute Write often.

Here are a few thoughts on your questions:

Visit your favorite bookstore and look up books that are similar to what you are writing. (I see that you've already done this to an extent.) You can also look on Amazon.com and do the same thing. Make notes on the publishers of these books.

Next, look them up on the Internet and see if they have submissions guidelines posted online. If they do, print them out and study them carefully. If you can't find the publishers online, you might look in the front of the book to find an address where you can mail a request for submissions guidelines.

(Some publishers only work with agented authors; others will accept materials from writers who don't have agents--this should be specified in the guidelines.)

Then, craft the best query or proposal that you can and send only what the guidelines say they're willing to look at. Don't send the whole manuscript unless they specify that is acceptable. And if they accept e-mail submissions, be sure to adhere to their rules. If they say no attachments, don't send an attachment, etc.

Unfortunately, this is not usually a speedy process. Patience is a virtue.

Hope some of this is helpful! Maybe others will pipe up with some suggestions, too. Good luck.

I wish you much success with your book, Rose. It sounds like something I'd very much enjoy reading.