Submissions

We genuinely welcome approaches from prospective authors and editors bringing their ideas and draft manuscripts.

But just so you don’t waste your time, energies and hopes, here are a few guidelines to what we publish and how best to present your ideas.

We publish textbooks:

• – about counselling, psychotherapy and critical psychology. By this we mean books for professionals/practitioners (including students/trainees), about the theory, training, development and practice of these professions.
• – primarily for psychological (including counselling, psychotherapy, coaching and mental health) students, practitioners, trainers, educationalists, researchers and academics, and also 
• – in the mental health field in particular, activists and antagonists of the psychiatric, diagnostic system.

We do not publish:

• – first-person memoirs and survivor stories.
• – fiction and poetry.

We suggest you look at the books we have already published, which you’ll find on our website, as this may help you decide if your book/proposal would meet our baseline criteria.

If you decide to send us your proposal, please contact us by email first and tell us briefly in your email:

• – the topic of your book or proposed book
• – who the proposed readership is
• – why they might want to read your book, and
• – a bit about you (essentially, what qualifies you to write it). 

Please write to me personally at the email address below.

If we think your proposal might fit with our list and we can reach your intended readership, we will send you a formal, detailed proposal form to take the approach to the next level. When we have received it and considered and discussed it, we may want to discuss it further with you to refine and clarify your ideas. If we decide this is not a book for us, we will give you our reasons and, if we can, suggest alternative routes to publication for you.

We would hope to do this within two months of receiving your formal proposal.

We look forward to hearing from you if you think we are the right publisher for you and your book.

Camilla Erskine
Editorial Director and commissioning lead
camilla@pccs-books.co.uk

About our E-Books

We use the Glassboxx service from Firsty Group for delivery of our E-Books. This makes it very simple and quick for you to get the books you’ve purchased using the Glassboxx app on your Android or iOS phones and tablets, and Windows and Mac laptops and computers. It also means our books are protected from being copied, pirated and tampered with, so we keep our authors happy as well.

After making your first purchase, follow the links on the order success page to download the Glassboxx app to your phone, tablet or computer, and login with the email address used for your purchase. Your books will automatically appear in the MY BOOKS screen of the app, where you can listen or read them using the built-in ereader.

Once you have the app, there’s no need to download it again – whenever you buy more books, just head straight there and your new purchases will be waiting for you.

If you have any questions about using the app, please go here or contact Firsty on glassboxxhelp@firstygroup.com.

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Thank you

Thanks for choosing to stay in touch!

You will now receive occasional emails from us with information on new books, events, conferences and news. 

PCCS Books

PCCS Books is an independent mental health publisher. 

We want a better deal for everyone who seeks help for emotional distress – better understanding, better responses, more choices and better outcomes. Our aim is that our publishing reflects that goal.

Our titles broadly cover three main subjects – counselling and psychotherapy, mental health and madness, and survivor and service user perspectives. 

	Peter Sanders (1951–2022) – Director Pete worked as a volunteer counsellor for ‘Off The Record’ in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the early 1970s when he was a psychology undergraduate. This experience, and a full time Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling at the University of Aston in Birmingham in 1974/5, set him on his subsequent career as a counsellor, trainer and supervisor. During this time he was the course leader on three BACP recognised courses and was centrally involved in establishing and running the BACP Trainer Accreditation Scheme. In 1993 he founded PCCS Training and PCCS Books in Manchester with his wife Maggie while continuing to work as a counsellor, trainer and supervisor until 2005.  As the publishing side of their business took over, Pete did most pre-production jobs from editing to typesetting. Along the way he wrote, co-wrote or edited 15 books, and dedicated the rest of his time to the demedicalisation of distress, understanding that mental health services are in urgent need of reformation. He was a Trustee of the Soteria Network, UK.
	Maggie Taylor-Sanders – Director Maggie is co-founder and co-owner of PCCS Books. In 1993, when the idea occurred to her and her co-founder, Pete Sanders, that setting up a publishing company might be light relief from the daily grind, being of an adventurous frame of mind, she jumped at the chance. Happily fortune did favour the brave on this occasion. Working on a need-to-know basis she discovered the jobs that needed doing in order to get books from Pete’s head into buyers hands, and set about either doing them or finding someone who could. She discovered that in spite of being an English teacher where words were familiar, there was a bit more to perfection in the publishing world. And while that elusive goal was not quite just round the corner, she set about the task with the optimism of the naive. Now, having done just about everything in the business at some point in its history, she is taking a back seat, but her hands are still hovering over the steering wheel, even if she is looking in a different direction.
	Sam Taylor – Business Director Sam joined PCCS Books in 2014 to work on the technical, book-production side of things. Having learned more about the day-to-day running of the company he took over as Business Director in 2016, and is now responsible for general company operations, our business relationships and all things financial. After a varied academic career studying philosophy and cultural criticism at Cardiff University, and then Law and Political Justice at Birkbeck, Sam worked with the RIBA in London for nearly 10 years doing architectural recruitment. Having decided it was time for something completely different Sam moved to Cornwall a few years ago and spends most of his spare time, and money, building an eco-house in Helston.
	Camilla Erskine - Editorial Director Camilla joined PCCS Books in January 2025 and is delighted to be working with a committed, mission-focused publisher where people genuinely matter. Her role involves identifying new authors and working with them to develop their book proposals, then working closely with commissioned authors throughout the writing process up to publication. Camilla has worked in academic and educational publishing for more than 25 years, spanning a range of subject areas in the social sciences and humanities to publish books and journal articles for students, practitioners and academics. She is motivated by making a positive difference to people’s lives through the work she publishes.
	Katie Moffat – Communications Manager Katie joined PCCS Books in November 2016 as the Communications Manager. She works in collaboration with the PCCS team and our authors to promote our publications. If you have any queries regarding PR, sales opportunities, inspection copies and events then please get in touch with her. Previously she worked in bookselling and the publishing industry for over 25 years. Her experience includes sales and marketing roles at Waterstones, Hodder and Stoughton and HarperCollins. Latterly, she worked at Wiley in marketing, publicity and brand management. Katie is also a counsellor based in Edinburgh.
	Di English - Administrator Hi I’m Di English and I’ve worked for PCCS Books since 2008. I’m the membership administrator for WAPCEPC. I’m also involved in keeping membership tags on Asylum Magazine. I take bookings for conferences or events for PCCS Books. My work for PCCS Books is varied. I help with book referencing, name indexing etc. and generally undertake jobs that no-one else wants to do! 😊 I love to travel but I’m also happy walking the ways of Herefordshire. My greatest love is needlework. I make soft furnishings, clothes and wallhangings. I also knit and crochet.
	Jen Kennedy – Publishing Assistant Jen joined the PCCS Books team in October 2023. She is responsible for providing sales and marketing support, eBook production and distribution, stock management, contracts and royalties.  Previously Jen worked in the book publishing industry for Bloomsbury and Penguin Random House, after which she trained as a primary school teacher. She now lives in Cornwall and enjoys spending sunny days on the beach with her family and their whippet.

Thank you for your inspection copy request

We are now reviewing your request and will respond as quickly as possible.

Once you do receive your inspection copy we would welcome your feedback on the text, so please let us know by contacting katie@pccs-books.co.uk

Furthermore, if you do wish to the adopt the title as a course text then do please contact us and we can add it to your institutional course catalogue on our website where your students can receive an additional discount.

For further information on any of the above please contact katie@pccs-books.co.uk

Inspection Copy Request Form

To request an inspection copy of one of our PCCS titles please complete in the form below

Asylum Magazine Subscription Options

'I love Asylum magazine. It helps me cope with my job and inspires me to work in a different way' - Mental Health Nurse

'Does the concept of sanctuary, of refuge, of asylum have any place in a society dominated by the ideologies of neo-liberalism and globalism? What price humanity? What cost to us? Asylum magazine has an archive of material stretching over thirty years and continues to strive in probing relevant issues around mental health.' - Long-standing Asylum subscriber 

'Asylum has consistently provided a welcoming forum, sometimes the only one, where the voice of the survivor activist can find a fair hearing. It is, and has always been, an important resource for anyone interested in radically changing the mental health system.' - Peter Campbell, veteran survivor activist

'Makes any other mental health magazine look like Women's Weekly' - Dolly Sen, activist, artist, and author of DSM69

Asylum Magazine is published 4 times a year and is a forum for free and open debate about controversial issues in mental health and psychiatry. It is a place for the discussion of experience and ideas, and for campaigning for humane and democratic alternatives to traditional psychiatry.  As a not-for-profit publication which is independent of powerful lobby groups such as mental health organisations and drug companies, it is a place where mental health service-users, frontline workers, adademics and allies can express their views.

You can read sample articles at http://asylummagazine.org/

Asylum is produced by Asylum Associates and the Asylum Collective. © Asylum Collective and Asylum Associates on behalf of authors. Asylum Associates is a not-for-profit workers’ cooperative. The Asylum Collective is open to anyone who wants to help produce and develop the magazine, working in a spirit of equality. Please contact us if you want to help in any way.

*You can now sign up to a rolling subscription, avoiding the yearly headache of remembering to resubscribe. Choose the subscription type to suit you here:

Dedicated Course Catalogues

Please click on your University, College, Training Institute or Society to find books recommended on your reading list.

By entering your special discount code at the checkout, your institution or society will be able to confirm this, you will receive an extra discount off our already-discounted online prices.

Postage in the UK is free and orders are dispatched within one working day. 

We offer the most competitive prices for our books and you will get cheaper books with a friendlier service here!

If you have any queries please call on 01600 891509 or email admin@pccs-books.co.uk

Good luck with your studies.

Amersham and Wycombe College	Tresham College
Edge Hill University	Keele University
University of Strathclyde	Weston College
PCCS Workshops	The Norwich Centre
CfD Nottingham	University Campus Suffolk
Northern Regional College	Renew Training/Anglia Ruskin University
Soteria UK	Coleg Sir Gâr
Space2learn	Listening Post Counselling Service
University of Aberdeen	University of South Wales
Nottingham Trent University	Liverpool John Moores
Temenos	National Counselling Society
National Hypnotherapy Society	West Lancashire College
The University of Edinburgh	BACP Members
Collaborative Counselling Academy (CCA)	York St John University
Carino Counselling

Privacy and cookies policy

General data protection

We are committed to protecting your privacy. We will only use the information that you have given us permission to hold about you lawfully (in accordance with the forthcoming data protection regulations, as outlined in the EU Data Protection Directive 2016/680).

We will never collect sensitive information about you without your consent. The information we hold will be accurate and up to date. If you have questions or concerns about our Policy, how we process your personal information, or would like us to correct or delete your personal information, feel free to contact us at admin@pccs-books.co.uk. The personal information will be held securely, in accordance with our internal digital security policies.

We collect information about you for 2 reasons: firstly, to process your order and secondly, to provide you with the best and most relevant information about our upcoming publications and events.

We will not send you our newsletter you unless you have given us your consent by joining our mailing list. We will not pass your e-mail address to anyone.

Regarding sales

The type of information we require to process your order includes:
    your name, address and credit/debit card details

We may also ask for:
    a contact phone number or email address to confirm that the sale has been successful and the goods are on their way.

If you call the office to make a payment, this information is only used to fulfil your order, and for our trading records. It will not be used for any other purpose. Credit card details are not retained once the validation and transfer has been successful.

If you pay for anything via our website you will be directed to a secure, third-party site to process this transaction. In this case we do not receive any of your banking details. 

At all times your personal data will be held securely, in accordance with our internal digital security policies and the Payment Card Industry security standards.

Regarding marketing

Our newsletters and marketing correspondence will always be directly related to details about our catalogue of books, publication of a new title or a promotional offer, or book stalls and conferences that we will be attending/hosting. 

From time to time we may use software to track the patterns of behaviour of visitors to our site and the responses to emails that we send out. This response monitoring is used purely to gauge the success of our marketing and does not further target individuals based on any particular response.

Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored by your browser on your computer's hard drive. Our cookies enable us store items in your Shopping Basket between visits and you may choose to store your personal details, but this is not done unless you authorise it. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually change your browser to prevent that.

Terms and conditions

Your Statutory rights are not affected by any of the following terms and conditions.

Prices

Goods are charged at price shown on the product pages on the date the customer places the order. Price including VAT will be shown when that product format it selected by a customer. Postage outside the UK is charged at cost, and will be added at the checkout for website orders. Goods may be paid for by secure credit card transaction, by telephone, personal cheque or building society cheque. There are no extra charges for credit card payments. Cheques to be made payable to "PCCS Books Ltd".
 

Privacy

We respect your privacy and will not contact you unless you have given us express permission to do so.

Please read our privacy policy here
 

Delivery

How Long Before I Receive My Order?

All orders are dispatched the next working day. Orders placed on a Friday will be dispatched the following Monday.
UK postage is free and sent using a 2nd class service – guide delivery time: 3-5 working days.
Overseas deliveries are charged at cost and sent using an untracked service – guide delivery time: EU - 5 to 10 working days / Rest of the World - 10 to 15 working days..

If for any reason a delay is likely, we will let you know.
 

An Express Service is Available

For further details phone the office on +44 (0)1600 891509 or e-mail admin@pccs-books.co.uk
 

Cancellation and Return of Goods

We reserve the right to cancel any order at any time.

Orders may be cancelled without reason within 14 days of the customer’s receipt of the product. If returning your purchase please ensure that ALL PRODUCTS ARE UNDAMAGED AND REPACKAGED CAREFULLY. In this case we will make refunds within 30 days. (Unless the goods were received damaged or faulty the customer may have to pay the cost of returning the goods.)
 

Complaints

Complaints can be made directly by phone +(0)1600 891509 or by emailing admin@pccs-books.co.uk. Any complaints will be dealt with as a matter of priority.

Authors

Ignore this page - it is a fallback pae should someone just type http://pccs-books.c.uk/authors

Thank you for contacting us

We'll respond to your message as soon as we can.

Contact us

Please use the following contact information to reach the team-member you need. If you can’t find the information you need here, please phone us on +44 (0)1600 891509 or email admin@pccs-books.co.uk

You can write to us at: PCCS Books, Wyastone Business Park, Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, NP25 3SR

Or send us a general enquiry using the form below...

Information for lecturers

PCCS Books aims to provide accessible and affordable texts for students of counselling, psychotherapy, psychology and professions allied to mental health, from entry level through to postgraduate courses.

As well as supporting the core counselling training curriculum, our list promotes the study of current debates in mental health care provision, alternative methods and service user perspectives.

Please contact Katie Moffat at katie@pccs-books.co.uk or phone +44 (0)1600 891509 if you are interested in any of the following:

• A termly newsletter for lecturers and tutors, including new title information and special offers for academics (paper copy or email)

• Special discounts for students at your institution. By our creation of a dedicated online catalogue of PCCS titles recommended on your courses, your students can access unbeatable discounts by buying direct from us.

​To request inspection copies please complete this form including information about your course(s) and how many students are enrolled.

For authors

Notes for authors

These notes are intended to make the publication process as simple, error free and painless as possible, for everyone involved.

They should be read in conjunction with the PCCS Style Guide and tips on grammar.

You can download a pdf of the guide here. 

These notes are intended for all authors whose work we have agreed to publish. Editors of books with several contributors should give a copy to all the authors, as well as any specific instructions for the volume to which they are contributing.

Your well-presented typescript will make a significant contribution to the speedy production of your book.

Text layout

Please supply your typescript in a Word document. Use basic Word formatting. Please don’t apply any fancy layout design or formatting (including automatic referencing or footnotes and endnotes); we will only have to undo it in the copyediting process, which can increase the chance of errors creeping in.

Use 12pt Times New Roman text, unjustified (ranged left), single spaced with a line space between paragraphs. Do NOT indent the first line of paragraphs. Start new chapters on a new page. Use a double space above and single space below subheads.

Please ensure the presentation of the text is consistent throughout. Use the same fonts, spacings and heading and paragraph styles.

Subheadings

Subheadings should be used sparingly within chapters. They should be ranged left, with two line spaces above and one below.

We discourage use of sub-subheadings (level 2) or sub-sub-subheadings (level 3). Please use only if absolutely essential to the clarity of the text.

To distinguish, use bold for the main subheadings, bold italic for sub-subheadings, and italic for sub-sub-subheadings, thus:

     Bold for subheadings level 1
     Bold italics for subheadings level 2
     Italics for subheadings level 3

Do not number the subheadings unless it is essential to the clarity of the text. 

Punctuation and spelling

Follow the Style and Grammar guides for spellings and punctuation.

Be consistent. We prefer spellings to conform to the new edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, but will accept alternatives provided they are consistent. American spelling and punctuation should be used by American authors, and American spellings retained in any quotes from American authors.

Use a single (not double) space after a full stop.

Always spell-check your text.

Quotes

Short quotes are normally within the text and use single quotation marks (see Style Guide). Quotes longer than 35–40 words do not have quote marks and should take a new paragraph, indented from the left margin with a line space above and below. Please ensure you have copied faithfully the original spelling and punctuation.

If you add your own comments within a quote, put them inside square brackets ([…])

Preliminary material

This includes title page, dedication (if any), foreword, preface, acknowledgements, lists of abbreviations, figures, tables etc, contents and introduction.

The title page should carry the exact final wording of the title (and subtitle, if any) and your name, as author or editor, in the form you wish it to appear.

The Foreword should be written by someone other than the author or editor, who has relevant expertise in relation to the content, to introduce the text and highlight why it is significant.

The Preface is written by the author to explain how the book came to be written.

The Introduction is a longer, detailed discussion of the subjects covered in the book, with a chapter by chapter brief synopsis of the contents and main arguments.

Acknowledgements may include thanks to professional bodies, colleagues, and personal friends and helpers. Keep them to a minimum; if you try to thank too many, any omissions *(deliberate or otherwise) will only be accentuated. Credits for any photographs or illustrations should be included here. Permissions for the use of any copyrighted material from other works should also be included here. Please ensure all relevant permissions have been requested and obtained, for text and artwork, in writing (email confirmation is fine).

The contents page lists the chapter headings, which should be identical to how they appear in the text.

Plates, figures and tables can be listed in the preliminary pages if you think this will be useful to the reader, but this is not essential.

Images

Photographs/illustrations should be sent as separate attachments, in j-peg format at 300dpi, and must always be permissioned and credited. Photographs downloaded from the internet will not be good enough quality for print reproduction.

End matter

This includes any appendices, the references, bibliography and index (in this order).

Appendices usually comprise material that is too detailed to be included in the main text without unbalancing the book but that adds important information that readers would find useful (eg samples of survey questionnaires).

The reference section lists all the sources cited in the text (see Style Guide for details on how to present them).

The bibliography comprises suggested further reading (again, follow the Style Guide).

We ask authors to complete the index when the text is at final proof stage and the page numbers are confirmed. You may find it helpful to have prepared a list of subjects you think should be included before this stage.

References/Bibliography

We use Harvard referencing. Please ensure your references are correct and complete. The Style Guide gives full details.

Footnotes/Endnotes

Please keep use of footnotes/endnotes to a minimum. They are intended for essential information that adds to but would unbalance the flow of the content if included in the body text. But they should be no more than two or three lines in length at most. They should be numbered sequentially, using superscript, in the body of the text, and supplied at the end of each relevant chapter, sequentially, with the numbers starting again from 1 with each new chapter. The Style Guide gives full details of how to present them.

Make sure you back up your text on your computer when you send us a copy!

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