Semantic Coherence: Profile Books – Signal Evidence & AI Readability

[H3] News

[H4] Recommended Books to Read for World Autism Acceptance Month

Two books from the Profile list on Autism Spectrum Disorder

[H4] Profile celebrates 30 years and co-founder Andrew Franklin retires

Here at Profile, we're celebrating 30 years as one of the UK’s leading independent publishers!

[H4] Spring Reading 2026

With longer and warmer days ahead of us, we're so excited to share our selection of Profile reads to keep you entertained for the Spring months!

Sign up to our newsletter

[H2] New releases

[H4] Unequal

Eugenia Cheng

Award-winning mathematician Eugenia Cheng offers a perspective-shifting exploration of how maths can change your mind

[H4] Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea

Emily Wilson

Emily Wilson reflects on the power of language to evolve our understanding of the past

[H4] Murder in the Midday Sun

Various

Tensions reach boiling point in this collection of classic summertime crime tales

[H4] The Hormone Loop

Gillian Goddard

An expert-led guide to women's hormonal health at every stage of life

[H4] Hinterlands

Hannah Lucinda Smith

A timely eyewitness account of the overlooked territories where the new Cold War is playing out

[H4] Advance Britannia

Alan Allport

A major – and global – history of how the Second World War was won, by the author of Britain at Bay

[H4] Narcissists at Work

Sarah Davies

How to identify and deal with narcissism in the world of work, from the author of Raised by Narcissists.

[H4] Tehran Diaries

Raha Nik-Andish

Vivid and precise dispatches from life in the Iranian capital told from behind the blackout

[H4] World Cup Fever

Simon Kuper

The story of how football transformed the world, told through nine World Cups – by one of our most talented football writers

[H4] The Rules Book

Mikael Krogerus

Master the tried and tested, unwritten laws of life – from the bestselling team behind The Decision Book

[H4] The Invention of Good and Evil

Hanno Sauer

A grand, sweeping history of the evolution of morality across the entire existence of humankind

[H4] To the Sea by Train

Andrew Martin

A lively history of the seaside holiday by train from Britain's 'Bard of the Buffer'

[H4] Moveable Feasts

Chris Newens

A rising-star food writer takes us on a gastronomic adventure around Paris and its melting pot of cuisines

[H4] How to Invest

Peter Stanyer

A new guide to personal investment for the era of cryptocurrencies and personal trading platforms

[H4] Hoax

Madeleine Pelling

The History Hit presenter's spellbinding history unpicks the stories of three incredible eighteenth-century hoaxes

[H4] Fail Smarter

Dougal Shaw

Learn from others' mistakes with this enjoyable, immersive and practical guide

[H4] Mini Murdle Junior: Summer Fun

G. T. Karber

A pocket-sized puzzle activity books for younger puzzlers, from the global bestselling Murdle series!

[H4] Grasslands

John Wright

Discover the fascination and joy of grasslands with the bestselling author of The Forager's Calendar

[H4] Natural Born Heroes

Christopher McDougall

From the man who brought you Born to Run: a radical new approach to fitness

[H4] Escaping Babylon

Jesse Bernard

How thirty years of Black music reshaped Britain, from 1989 to the present

[H2] Featured authors

[IMG: Annabel Sowemimo]

[H4] Annabel Sowemimo

[IMG: Raja Shehadeh]

[H4] Raja Shehadeh

[IMG: Tiya Miles]

[H4] Tiya Miles

[IMG: Ryan Holiday]

[H4] Ryan Holiday

[IMG: Robert Greene]

[H4] Robert Greene

[IMG: Eugenia Cheng]

[H4] Eugenia Cheng

[IMG: Julia Cameron]

[H4] Julia Cameron

[IMG: Alan Bennett]

[H4] Alan Bennett

[IMG: Mary Beard]

[H4] Mary Beard

[H2] Bestsellers and Classics

[H4] Emperor of Rome

Mary Beard

A sweeping account of the social and political world of the Roman emperors by 'the world's most famous classicist' (Guardian)

[H4] Murdle

G. T. Karber

The internationally bestselling first book in the Murdle murder mystery logic puzzle series!

[H4] Chums

Simon Kuper

Power. Privilege. Parties. It's a very small world at the top.

[H4] The Forager's Calendar

John Wright

A beautiful bible for every outdoors lover

[H4] The Artist's Way

Julia Cameron

'I love it. A practical, spiritual, nurturing book.' – Russell BrandSince its first publication, The Artist's Way has inspired the genius…

[H4] The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

Shoshana Zuboff

THE TOP 10 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERSurveillance Capitalism: A new phase in economic history in which private companies and governments track your every…

[H4] Born to Run

Christopher McDougall

'A fascinating and inspiring true adventure story … destined to become a classic.' Ranulph FiennesA New York Times bestseller and word of…

[H2] About Profile Books
Profile Books was founded on April Fool’s Day in 1996 by Andrew Franklin and Stephen Brough to publish stimulating non-fiction in a wide range of fields. Looking for inventive books, powerful voices and lively thought, early bestsellers included Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss (more than 3 million copies sold worldwide) and the New Scientist ‘Last Word’ series, which sold over 2.5 million copies. We are a lifelong home for authors and create books that surprise, delight and endure. Bestselling authors include Mary Beard, Oliver Bullough, Alan Bennett, Margaret MacMillan, Francis Fukuyama, Shaun Bythell, Robert Greene, Ryan Holiday, Shoshana Zuboff and Eugenia Cheng.
Since its beginning, Profile has published books under the Economist Books imprint, in association with The Economist. The annual Pocket World in Figures is approaching its thirtieth edition and has sold over three million copies. Recent titles range from the Christmas bestseller Unconventional Wisdom to Philip Coggan’s world economic history More.
In 2002 the company acquired the HarperCollins UK business list, including classics such as In Search Of Excellence and What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School.
Founded by Pete Ayrton in 1986, Serpent’s Tail became an imprint of Profile in 2007. It publishes highly distinctive, award-winning international fiction such as Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent, Karen Joy Fowler’s Man Booker Prize shortlisted We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Torrey Peters’ Women’s Prize longlisted Detransition, Baby and books by Mary Gaitskill, Esi Edugyan, Jami Attenberg, Alain Mabanckou, Attica Locke and Carmen Maria Machado. The Serpent’s Tail Classics includes titles by Walter Mosley, Chester Himes, Langston Hughes, Elfriede Jelinek, Eileen Myles and David Peace. Viper Books, a crime imprint, was added in 2019, with its first title A Famished Heart by Nicola White published in February 2020.
In 2012, Profile launched a new list with Wellcome Collection, designed to showcase brilliant writing about science, health, medicine and human experience. Notable successes include Forensics by Val McDermid, Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and Adventures in Human Being by Gavin Francis, all of which were Sunday Times bestsellers, as well as books by Elif Shafak, Susie Orbach, Adam Kucharski, Iain Sinclair, Joanna Cannon and Tiffany Watt Smith.
Since 2014, we have published a boutique list Tuskar Rock, selected by Colm Tóibín and Peter Straus. In 2015, Seiobo There Below by László Krasznahorkai, won the Man Booker International Prize and Chris Kraus’ cult book I Love Dick became a bestseller almost twenty years after it was first published.
Profile took on Souvenir Press in 2018 following the death of its legendary founder, Ernest Hecht. He had run the company for a record sixty-seven years. Souvenir has a wide-ranging backlist of around 500 titles and is especially strong in psychology, expert advice, health and creativity. Bestsellers include the multimillion selling The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards, HypnoBirthing by Marie Mongan, She Comes First by Ian Kerner and Cribsheet by Emily Oster.
Profile Editions (formerly Third Millennium Publishing), a publisher specialising in highly illustrated histories of companies, organisations and schools, joined Profile in 2015. Notable titles include histories of the University of Cambridge, The Royal College of Physicians, The New School, New York, an illustrated history of the Women’s Institute and the Man Booker Prize diary.
Profile Books has won Independent Publisher of the Year awards at the British Book Awards four times. In 2024, Murdle won the Non-Fiction: Lifestyle and Illustrated category as well as overall Book of the Year. It was also Waterstones Gift of the Year.
When Profile started there were three people, now there are sixty in the company and we publish around 100 new books a year. Twenty-eight years on and our mission is unchanged: to be a fearless publisher of a diverse range of distinctive books, of the highest quality, written by the best authors in their field, and to remain a beacon of independent publishing.
Visit our catalogue page to browse the catalogue online or download a PDF version.

[H2] CONTACT US
For all media enquiries, please email [email protected]. For all general queries, please email [email protected].
Profile Books Limited
Registered in England & Wales under No. 3120147.
VAT Registration No. 674 9638 76.
Registered Office & Postal Address
29 Cloth Fair
London
EC1A 7JQ
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7841 6300
Unsolicited submissions
We only accept unsolicited, non-fiction submissions from published authors (not self-published) and university academics.
If you meet these criteria, please submit an outline of your proposed work, a table of contents and a sample chapter of up to 2,500 words to [email protected].
We are not accepting unsolicited fiction or poetry at this time.
We never ask for reading fees or work with organisations that do. If you are contacted by entities who say they either are, or are representing, Profile Books, asking for payment in return for assessing your work, this is part of a scam and you should cease all communication with them.
To contact a department at Profile Books
Editorial – Profile General
[email protected]
Editorial – Serpent’s Tail
[email protected]
International Rights
[email protected]
Permissions
[email protected]
Production
[email protected]
Publicity
[email protected]
Marketing
[email protected]
Sales – UK
[email protected]
Sales – Europe and Rest of World
[email protected]
Ebook distribution
[email protected]
Admin/Accounts
[email protected]
General Enquiries
[email protected]

[H2] Catalogue
Read our Autumn 2026 catalogue by clicking on the image below or download a PDF version here.
Read our Spring 2026 catalogue by clicking on the image below or download a PDF version here.
Read our Autumn 2025 catalogue by clicking on the image below or download a PDF version here.
Read our Spring 2025 catalogue by clicking on the image below or download a PDF version here.

Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest on our new titles, plus author and book news