Serpent's Tail

Serpent's Tail is London-based independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It specialises in publishing work in translation, particularly European crime fiction. In January 2007, it was bought by a British publisher Profile Books.

Publications
The firm publishes both fiction and non-fiction books. Boyd Tonkin, writing for The Independent, has described the publisher's list: "from hard-boiled noir to gems in translation and left-field cultural reportage – often defines the meaning of 'cool'."

Noted writers

 * Derek Raymond
 * Elfriede Jelinek
 * Elizabeth Young
 * Herta Müller
 * Jonathan Trigell
 * Kathy Acker
 * Kenzaburō Ōe
 * Lionel Shriver
 * Nicholas Royle
 * Stella Duffy

Noted debut novels

 * Nineteen Seventy-Four by David Peace
 * The South by Colm Tóibín
 * Whatever by Michel Houellebecq

High Risk Books
High Risk Books was an imprint of Serpent's Tail that existed from 1993-1997. It was founded by Ira Silverberg and Amy Scholder and aimed to publish innovative, provocative, and progressive literature (such as Kathy Acker and William S. Burroughs), poetry (including Jayne Cortez), and non-fiction (including the collected journalism of Cookie Mueller).