How do you find a book if you forgot the author?
James Olson
Updated on March 27, 2026
Google Books Search You can quickly view sample pages to ensure that the book you’ve found is the book you’ve been looking for. There are several other book databases you can find as well, such as Book Finder, Word Cat, LibraryThing, Book Sleuth, Goodreads, Amazon’s Advanced Book Search, and Library of Congress.
How do you find a book that you don’t know the name of?
Below, we’ve gathered a few useful ways you can find a book from a vague description.
- Google it. Many book lovers may be familiar with Google Books.
- Turn to the expertise of strangers through social media.
- Search on BookBub’s website.
- When in doubt, ask your librarian.
How do you find a book in a vague description?
How to Find a Book From a Vague Description
- Gather the details. via GIPHY. Every detail matters when you’re trying to find a book without a title!
- Google it. via GIPHY. We know—we just said these things are difficult to Google.
- Google Books it. via GIPHY.
- Ask Reddit. via GIPHY.
- Ask a librarian. via GIPHY.
How do I find a book without the title or author?
There are some search engines that are more specialized for book searches.
- BookFinder. BookFinder is an advanced search engine (Click on Show more options) that taps into the inventories of over 100,000 booksellers worldwide.
- WorldCat.
- The Library of Congress.
- Goodreads.
- LibraryThing: Name That Book.
- Quora.
- Stack Exchange.
How do I find a book if I only know the cover?
For when you can only vaguely remember what the cover looks like, try Big Book Search. If you can include a keyword from the title, you’ll be more likely to find what you’re looking for. However, if you really can only remember images on the cover, you still might have luck.
What is the beginning of a book called?
Written by the MasterClass staff. A preface, prologue, and foreword are all a part of a book’s front matter, the introductory pages of a book before the main text—often numbered with Roman numerals—that include the title page and table of contents.
How can I market my book for free?
Here are 10 ways to promote your book, even if you have no funds:
- Guest blog posts.
- Blog & Podcast Interviews.
- Make Your Own Podcast and Podiobooks.
- Create a YouTube Channel.
- Join reader groups on Facebook (and elsewhere)
- Go On a Local Book Tour.
- Promoted Posts on Facebook.
- Use Your Mailing List.
Do reviews help book sales?
Reviews factor into Amazon’s algorithm , which determines how much they’re willing to recommend your book. If your book has a lot of verified reviews, your book is more likely to appeal to potential buyers. Thanks to the algorithm, reviews help sell books.
How do I find a book if I only remember the cover?
How to find a book without knowing the title or author?
In the old days, you could have asked the librarian. Today, you can go online and use these tips to find a book when you don’t know the title or author. When you can’t (or even if you can) remember the name of a book, author, or the characters in it, Google or another search engine should be your first port of call.
Where would I find a co-author for my book?
It depends on which type of book you are looking for co-author- whether novel, travelogue or on specialised subjects. before looking for co-author please be aware of limitations and constraints of working with unknown co-author. First source to look for coauthor could be face book/ linked in itself.
Where can I find the book I’m looking for?
You can quickly view sample pages to ensure that the book you’ve found is the book you’ve been looking for. There are several other book databases you can find as well, such as Book Finder, Word Cat, LibraryThing, Book Sleuth, Goodreads, Amazon’s Advanced Book Search, and Library of Congress.
How can I find a book on Google?
There are other advanced Google search skills that you can give a try too, like excluding specific keywords or using the wildcard operator to guess the name of a character. The Google Books Library Project now makes it possible to find books by searching through their text and content.