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EnglishWhat is Serpent's Tail?
Updated
Serpent's Tail is the website of a British independent publisher that specialises in literary fiction and non-fiction. Its homepage is a discovery and news hub rather than a shop: it presents new releases, featured authors, bestsellers and classics, plus award news and newsletter sign-up. Use it if you want to find out what the press is publishing, read about its authors, or check whether a title has been shortlisted for a prize. It is not a general bookstore or a self-publishing platform.
What the site covers
The homepage is organised into a few clear sections:
- New releases – recent and forthcoming titles, each with a short description and often a comparison to similar authors or books.
- Featured authors – profiles of writers on the list.
- Bestsellers and Classics – established titles from the backlist.
- Serpent's Tail Classics – a dedicated classics strand.
- News – prize listings and announcements.
- Newsletter sign-up – a way to receive updates.
The kind of books it publishes
The titles shown on the homepage give a good sense of the range:
| Title | Author | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Snow Birds | Roisin Maguire | Winter story |
| The Wolf of Whindale | Jacob Kerr | Gothic tale |
| Changing Gender | Susan Stryker | Non-fiction |
| A Thought Without Collision | Adrian Duncan | Literary study |
| Song for Another Home | Bora Lee Reed | Family saga |
| The Melancholy of Resistance | László Krasznahorkai | Fiction (redesigned paperback) |
| Herscht 07769 | László Krasznahorkai | Fiction |
| Air | Christian Kracht | Speculative/literary fiction |
| In the Dream House | Carmen Maria Machado | Memoir |
| Her Body And Other Parties | Carmen Maria Machado | Short fiction |
| The End of Everything | M. John Harrison | Post-apocalyptic fiction |
| Lush | Rochelle Dowden-Lord | Fiction |
| Offenses | Constance Debré | Non-fiction |
| I Am Agatha | Nancy Foley | Debut fiction |
The list runs from translated European fiction and prize-shortlisted literary novels to memoir and genre-adjacent work, so the press is not confined to one style.
Prize news and author updates
The site carries its own award announcements. Two examples from the homepage:
- The End of Everything by M. John Harrison was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
- The same novel was also longlisted for the Booker Prize, described as a "slyly satirical apocalyptic adventure".
It also flags extracts, such as a sample from Air by Christian Kracht, and notes that Kracht is the author of Eurotrash.
How to use it
- Open the homepage and scan New releases if you want something recent.
- Check Featured authors or Bestsellers and Classics if you are following a particular writer or looking for an established title.
- Read the News items to see which books are in contention for prizes.
- Sign up to the newsletter if you want release and author updates without revisiting the site.
The descriptions are editorial summaries, so treat the "perfect for fans of…" lines as publisher framing rather than neutral reviews. The site does not display prices or a checkout in the material available, so use it to identify a title and then buy through a retailer or library.