How can you find a decent publisher and literary agent without getting ripped off?

Why not publish with Createspace.com. What is an Amazon site, where you can publish your books in print books on demand. Check out the website and then you can check the forums on the subject.
 
Amazon has the promotions,  

The book is in its database, you can do some promotions for yourself, too. Have a friend (if you do not know how) to create a simple WP site for his book and a link to the Amazon sales page. Be sure to sign up as an affiliate of Amazon so you can get credit for the link to your book if someone buys it.
 
There are many ways that it can promote. 
 
To create a space that you can buy copies of his book very cheap and offer them to libraries around to see if it will help promotion. Is it a book review site, in addition to promoting WP site and this link to the Amazon book page. In the book review site you can get the opinions of people who have read the book people have shown.
 
You can also 

Go across the Amazon and publish the same book on the Kindle. Thus, Amazon is now promoting the book in two ways.