How do you choose a publisher?

How do you choose a publisher? Or do you let the publisher choose you? I suppose to an extent most new authors go by a combination of the two choices. My first choice of who to be published with would have been Harlequin/Silhouette. I grew up devouring them. Grocery bags full that I dragged home from the used book stores and all the new releases I could find as well. But in real life, I racked up lots of rejections from H/S although I'm still trying and have a submission in. Although I've not yet been picked up by my first choice, I haven't blindly submitted to just any publisher, either. I met my first publisher, New Concepts Publishing, at my local RWA group in 1998. I was impressed by the publisher. So I submitted. Later, I watched Ellora's Cave and saw their success and liked the quality of their books. I liked what I heard about their business practices. I liked the professional look of their site. When I received an email from Total-E-Bound, I liked the tone of the publisher. I also feel the site is professional and I've never been disappointed. I've also heard a lot of great things about The Wild Rose Press, my newest publisher. But I still receive emails from friends and loops with calls for submissions. Even though I'm pretty booked up and have my goals, I still look at these. I looked at one recently. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed with the site. It didn't look professional. The cover art was not that great. I'd only heard of one or two of the authors and then I barely knew their names. Usually, I like to lurk and hear what people are saying about a publisher before I submit and especially before I sign on the dotted line. A couple times I took a leap of faith. Once didn't work out so well and once worked out very well. Normally, I like security so take my time deciding. I wish this publisher luck. Maybe one day I'll change my mind and submit. But for now, my time is valuable. So is my trust. I'm already exhausted trying to run the wheel in my hamster cage and keep up with my writing. On the other hand, I've seen other publishers that look interesting. again, however, there is only so much time and I'm pretty happy - except for my inability to write even faster. I keep promising myself that when I retire from my day job (oh in 15 or 20 years or more) I'll write a full novel a month - at least every other month. We'll see. That's my goal anyway. But if I was looking for another publisher, I look at the publisher's reputation, the professional look of their web site, and the cover art. I'll also check out several of their books. What do you look at? Or have you thought about it? I'm sure veteran authors think long and hard about this. You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)