Trigger Publishing

Submissions

Trigger Publishing is an independent publishing house specialising in mental health and well-being books.

One of our three imprints could be the perfect home for your book.

Trigger Publishing

A traditional publisher for mental health and well-being books

Cherish Editions

Trigger’s highly selective, author-funded publishing imprint for lived experience books, self-help, poetry, children’s books and more

Ups!de Down Books

Trigger’s publishing imprint that specialises in children’s books

Trigger Publishing

Submitting a Manuscript to Trigger Publishing

Trigger specifically seeks bibliotherapy, books that show our readers that mental health recovery is not only possible, but that it is within their grasp, or that there are practical steps they can take to maintain and enhance their well-being.

As a traditional publisher, Trigger seeks longer manuscripts – preferably 60,000 words or more – written by authors who ideally have already begun to cultivate an audience and a platform. However, for the right book, we are happy to work with new authors who have yet to make these strides and help them to do so.

Trigger publishes nonfiction and fiction books with a clear bibliotherapeutic angle. We prefer to assess completed manuscripts of 60,000 words or more.

We also publish mental health-centric poetry collections inclusive of at least 150 poems.

Trigger authors will ideally have a demonstrable platform and established brand or audience. Please share your social media handles, websites, prior book sales, etc., so we can evaluate this aspect of your submission as well.

To submit your manuscript to Trigger Publishing, you can either:

• Download this form and send it along with a copy of your manuscript to [email protected]

• Or you can complete this online form and submit your manuscript files online.

Be sure to highlight your qualifications as a mental health expert, if applicable; any previous publications and sales figures; links to your social media or author platform; and other unique selling points that set you apart as a potential author in the mental health and well-being space.

The completed manuscript of at least 60,000 words should be sent as a Microsoft Word or PDF attachment.

If you have any questions before submitting your manuscript, please email Publisher Soraya Nair at [email protected].

Upside Down Books

Submitting a Manuscript to Upside Down Books

If you seek a traditional publisher for a book aimed at children, tweens, teens or young adults, then submit your manuscript to Upside Down Books.

As with Trigger’s main list, we are looking to acquire manuscripts that focus on mental health and wellness, but we also seek stories of emotional intelligence and mindfulness.

Please make sure your submission fits into one of these categories before submitting.

We are currently accepting the following types of books with the aforementioned mental health, well-being, emotional intelligence and/or mindfulness angle:

  • Fiction and nonfiction picture books
  • Activity, puzzle and/or game books
  • Middle-grade fiction and nonfiction (for ages 8-12)
  • Young adult fiction and nonfiction

To submit your manuscript to Upside Down Books, you can either:

• Download this form and send it along with a copy of your manuscript to [email protected]triggerpublishing.com.

• Or you can complete this online form and submit your manuscript files online.

Be sure to highlight your qualifications as a mental health expert, if applicable; any previous publications and sales figures; links to your social media or author platform; and other unique selling points that set you apart as a potential author in the mental health and well-being space.

For children’s books, there is no minimum or maximum word count, but please keep in mind that most children’s books are between 800 and 1,000 words.

Middle-grade and young adult fiction and non-fiction should be at least 25,000 words.
 
If you have any questions before submitting your manuscript, please email Publisher Soraya Nair at [email protected].
 

Cherish Editions

Submitting a Manuscript to Cherish Editions

Cherish Editions is Trigger’s author-funded publishing imprint dedicated to furthering our mission of creating important, impactful bibliotherapy. A mental health publisher producing just 30 books each year, we acquire only a small selection of the manuscripts that are submitted to us.

However, Cherish will consider a broader range of books for publication: memoirs, self-help books, poetry, fiction, children’s books and more. The most important qualification is that your book can provide some form of bibliotherapy to a reader who may be struggling with their mental health or well-being.

Like Trigger, we strive to create bibliotherapy that will show our readers that recovery is not only possible, but that it is within their grasp, or that there are practical steps they can take to maintain and enhance their well-being. 

If your manuscript falls outside of those parameters but still has a well-being or mental health angle, don’t hesitate to submit it! You can use the submissions form to explain what motivated you to write your book and how it would fit on the Cherish list. For instance, if writing provided relief during a low period, the resulting book would be a candidate for self-publishing with us.

Don’t forget that Cherish Editions is a selective self-publishing imprint, which means we only take on a small number of the manuscripts submitted to us. We base our decision on several factors, including:

  • Written quality
  • Marketability
  • Author brand
  • The topic itself

Please also keep in mind that we do have some minimum word counts for Cherish submissions:

  • Adult fiction or nonfiction: 25,000 word minimum, although we prefer books of 40,000+ words
  • Poetry collections: at least 35 poems, although we’d prefer a collection of at least 100 pages/poems

Our children’s books are typically 32 pages long and between 800 and 1,000 words, but we are open to stretching or shrinking those parameters for the right submission.

For more information on what we look for in a manuscript, follow this link.

There are so many benefits to our hybrid publication process. To sum it up, you get the expertise of the Trigger team to guide you through publication, while you still have creative input throughout the editorial process.

We can also offer our authors quick turnaround times, a professional finish to their books, a short marketing campaign with industry experts, and 50% of royalties from every sale.

On our end, we donate a portion of our proceeds to Shawmind, a mental health charity, so that we can further the reach of our bibliotherapy and advocacy efforts.

Click here for more reasons why you should publish with Cherish.

To submit your manuscript to Cherish Editions you can:

• Complete the submissions form on the Cherish Editions website.

• Download this form and send it along with a copy of your manuscript to [email protected].

• Or you can complete this online form. (Be sure to click Cherish Editions as the imprint to which you are submitting your manuscript.)

 
If you have any questions before submitting your manuscript, please email Publisher Soraya Nair at [email protected].

Submit Your Manuscript