There’s nothing like introducing readers to a new author! Below is a list of first-time authors whose fresh perspectives, unforgettable characters, and bold storytelling will keep you hooked. Whether you’re ordering for your collection, building a display in the library, or choosing your next book club pick, we’ve got a debut author for you!
Find even more debuts in this Edelweiss catalog.
Miss Archer by Jordan Harrison
On sale: 1/5/27
An audaciously original and genre-bending debut novel from the mind of celebrated playwright and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Jordan Harrison, about a young woman and the strange, brilliant boy she’s entrusted to raise.
“Miss Archer is a clever postmodern mashup, a Gothic novel with a flourish of the speculative, a tale so gripping it’s hard to believe this is a debut. The story contains many mysteries—the less said about those the better…”
—Rumaan Alam, New York Times bestselling author of Leave the World Behind
Jordan Harrison will be on Writers to Watch on October 29th at 7 PM ET. Register on Crowdcast or RSVP on Facebook to hear directly from the author.
Tomorrow We’ll Be Prey by Anna Polonyi
On sale: 2/16/27
A riveting gothic debut about family, power, and beasts—both real and imagined—told by two women centuries apart. Perfect for fans of Sarah Perry and Charlotte McConaghy.
“This debut historical fiction with a gothic edge encourages readers to question which beasts are the most dangerous: the real that walk among us, the mystical, or those that live within our imagination.”
—Booklist
Orange on a Stoop by Jessica Scalise
On sale: 3/9/27
An unlikely friendship between two spirited girls in rural Florida bridges social divides as they attempt to solve a decades-old mystery involving an old plantation house, an orange grove, and a legendary diamond. A richly atmospheric debut novel that is perfect for fans of Broken Country and Where the Crawdads Sing.
“Utterly immersive and richly atmospheric…. Scalise’s masterfully-crafted debut has something for every reader.”
—Shelley Read, bestselling author of Go as a River
I Can Feel It All Over by Ebonya Lia
On sale: 3/16/27
In this radiant and incisive debut novel in the tradition of works by ZZ Packer and Toni Cade Bambara, a Black woman fights to reclaim—and reinvent—her world after a little understood illness and a public health crisis threatens to upend everything she has.
“…a prism elucidating the connections between social expectations and spiritual turmoil, between power and stress, and between racism and illness, forcing us to ask whether it’s the individual who is ill, or the society.”
—T. Geronimo Johnson, award-winning author of The Occidental Book of the Dead and Welcome to Braggsville
Ask Me How I Know by Mary Grace Colangelo
On sale: 3/16/27
After the sudden loss of their father, five sisters and their mother must come together to confront their fractured past and find a new understanding of family, sisterhood, and what it means to forgive in this big, rich, deeply felt debut novel.
“A deeply felt and intimate depiction of six women in the throes of grief, Ask Me How I Know offers a complex look at the dynamics of family, sisterhood, motherhood, and marriage. A compelling debut from an author to follow.”
—Hannah Selinger, USA Today bestselling author of Valley of the Moms
Dated by Leah Abrams
On sale: 2/2/27
A wickedly funny, defiantly poignant debut novel about a young progressive political staffer whose life is upended when her well-meaning but highly opinionated grandmother secretly impersonates her on JDate.
“Funny, prescient, and deliciously current, Dated is a careful examination of personal responsibility in an era of global calamity. Few writers would dare quote Saul Bellow and Sexxy Red in the same novel; thank goodness, Abrams does. A fabulous debut.”
—Ruben Reyes Jr., author of There is a Rio Grande in Heaven
Screen Memory by Victoria Hulbert
On sale: 3/9/27
A binge-worthy debut novel about a contestant on a reality TV dating show who is sent home after a night on set she doesn’t remember.
“Victoria Hulbert’s propulsive novel is a firecracker of a debut…. Screen Memory is one of those books that compels readers to consider their own complicity as its characters grapple with daunting questions: How do we live with ourselves, and what do we owe the people around us?”
—Deesha Philyaw, author of The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman
Ping Pong Kids by Renny Gong
On sale: 4/6/27
An uproariously funny and surprisingly tender debut novel following a junior ping pong player who travels from Los Angeles to rural China to spend a transformative summer at an elite Table Tennis Academy.
“Ping Pong Kids is the greatest, funniest, most honest book I’ve read about the nature of prodigy. Renny Gong is quite clearly a prodigy himself, and this batty, brilliant debut novel will have you doing every possible kind of crying.”
—Tony Tulathimutte, author of Rejection
If you have any questions about these forthcoming debuts, please email us at librarylovefest@harpercollins.com.
