If you work on a reference desk, chances are you’ve had at least one patron who wants to read an author’s works in order of publication. Readers may want to see how an author’s writing has evolved over time. They may have loved a title and want to read all the author’s previous works from the beginning. They may have read everything by their favorite author and are looking to start with a new author.
The team at NoveList has been there, and we’ve created a new way to help you help your readers! We have identified and tagged titles that are an author’s initial venture into publishing. This could be either their own collection of short stories or longer prose. We’re calling this tag Debut title.
Does an author write under a pseudonym? We’ll apply Debut title to whichever work is written first by the author, regardless of the name used. Does an author write books in multiple languages with English translations? We’ll apply Debut title to the first title published in English. Does an author write for multiple audience levels? We’ll apply Debut title only to the first title published, regardless of audience.
Here are some searches to get you started:
- To find all the debut titles we have tagged so far, search GN Debut title. If you have a patron who is looking for a new or up-and-coming author, you can sort your list by “Date Newest” or limit the publication date range.
- To find debut titles in a certain genre (I’ll use fantasy for my example), search GN “Debut title” AND GN “Fantasy fiction”.
- To find a specific author’s debut title (using a favorite of mine), search GN Debut title AND AU King, Stephen.
At present, we are still working on adding the Debut title access point to older titles, so keep checking back as we add more!
Suzanne Temple is a Metadata Librarian II at Novelist. She is currently reading Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones.
