# Open Library API: List books by author

> Finds an Open Library author by name, link or key and lists their works with first publication year, edition count, cover and an author profile.

Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Open Library.

- Page: https://fous.com/methods/openlibrary.org/list-author-books
- Method: `openlibrary.org/list_author_books`, version 1
- Website: openlibrary.org
- Returns: author profile (name, dates, biography, photo), total works, and books (title, first year, editions, cover, link)
- Effect: read (it gets data and changes nothing)
- Sign-in: none needed
- Cost: 1 credit per completed run (1¢ with pay as you go); failed runs are free
- Verified: Nov 2, 2026

## Inputs

| Field | Type | Required | In the run below | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `sort` | string | no |  | Order of books, for example newest. Popular is the default. One of "popular", "newest", "oldest". Default "popular". |
| `author` | string | yes | `"Toni Morrison"` | Author name, Open Library author link, or author key, for example Toni Morrison. |
| `max_results` | integer | no |  | Maximum number of books to return, for example 50 (up to 200). Default 50. |

## Output

From a run on Oct 23, 2026, shortened. Its input:

```json
{
  "author": "Toni Morrison"
}
```

Its output:

```json
{
  "books": [
    {
      "title": "Beloved",
      "edition_count": 111,
      "cover_image_link": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/8261367-L.jpg",
      "open_library_link": "https://openlibrary.org/works/OL50548W",
      "first_published_year": 1987
    },
    {
      "title": "The Bluest Eye",
      "edition_count": 63,
      "cover_image_link": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/15152696-L.jpg",
      "open_library_link": "https://openlibrary.org/works/OL50565W",
      "first_published_year": 1970
    },
    {
      "title": "Sula",
      "edition_count": 55,
      "cover_image_link": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/8384008-L.jpg",
      "open_library_link": "https://openlibrary.org/works/OL50567W",
      "first_published_year": 1973
    }
  ],
  "biography": "Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed black characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved.",
  "author_key": "OL31120A",
  "birth_date": "18 February 1931",
  "death_date": "5 August 2019",
  "photo_link": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/a/id/6388126-L.jpg",
  "author_link": "https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL31120A",
  "author_name": "Toni Morrison",
  "total_works": 95
}
```

## Run it

From code, with a Fous API key in `FOUS_API_KEY`; the answer's `data` holds the output:

```bash
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"method":"openlibrary.org/list_author_books","input":{"author":"Toni Morrison"}}'
```

From an AI agent connected to the Fous MCP server: its `run` with the same method and input. To connect one, give it `set up https://fous.com/SKILL.md`.

## Ask your agent

- Show me all the books by Toni Morrison on Open Library, sorted from newest to oldest, with their first publication years.
- Can you pull up the author profile and bibliography for Ursula K. Le Guin, limited to the 20 most popular titles?
- List the works of Jane Austen with edition counts and cover images, oldest first.
- I need a list of up to 75 books written by Haruki Murakami, along with the author's biography and photo.
- Find the author OL26320A on openlibrary.org and give me their total works count plus the top 10 books by popularity.

## Input schema

```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "author"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "sort": {
      "enum": [
        "popular",
        "newest",
        "oldest"
      ],
      "type": "string",
      "default": "popular",
      "description": "Order of books, for example newest. Popular is the default."
    },
    "author": {
      "type": "string",
      "minLength": 1,
      "description": "Author name, Open Library author link, or author key, for example Toni Morrison."
    },
    "max_results": {
      "type": "integer",
      "default": 50,
      "maximum": 200,
      "minimum": 1,
      "description": "Maximum number of books to return, for example 50 (up to 200)."
    }
  }
}
```

## Output schema

```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "author_name",
    "birth_date",
    "death_date",
    "biography",
    "photo_link",
    "author_link",
    "total_works",
    "author_key",
    "books"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "books": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "required": [
          "title",
          "first_published_year",
          "edition_count",
          "cover_image_link",
          "open_library_link"
        ],
        "properties": {
          "title": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "edition_count": {
            "type": [
              "integer",
              "null"
            ]
          },
          "cover_image_link": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ]
          },
          "open_library_link": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "first_published_year": {
            "type": [
              "integer",
              "null"
            ]
          }
        },
        "additionalProperties": false
      },
      "description": "Books by this author in the requested order."
    },
    "biography": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "Short plain-text author biography."
    },
    "author_key": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Open Library author key."
    },
    "birth_date": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "Birth date as listed by Open Library, which may be a partial date."
    },
    "death_date": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "Death date as listed by Open Library, which may be a partial date."
    },
    "photo_link": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "Author portrait image link."
    },
    "author_link": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Open Library author page."
    },
    "author_name": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Author name on Open Library."
    },
    "total_works": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "Number of works attributed to this author."
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false
}
```

## See more

- [Open Library API: Search books](https://fous.com/methods/openlibrary.org/search-books.md): Finds Open Library books by search words, optionally narrowed by author and subject, sorted by relevance or publication age. Returns work-level results; free_online means at least one edition is marked public or borrowable, not that a loan is available now.
- [Open Library API: Get book details](https://fous.com/methods/openlibrary.org/get-book.md): Gets a book's catalog details from Open Library by its title, with an optional author or ISBN to identify the right book. Reading availability reflects listed editions; details may be missing when the catalog has none.
- [Project Gutenberg API: Search free books](https://fous.com/methods/gutenberg.org/search-free-books.md): Finds free public-domain Project Gutenberg books by title, author or topic, with authors, languages, subjects, recent downloads, and reading and download links. Public-domain status is based on the United States.
- [Genius API: List an artist's songs](https://fous.com/methods/genius.com/list-artist-songs.md): Lists an artist's songs on Genius by popularity or newest release date, with featured artists, release dates, page views and song art. The artist can be given by name or by Genius artist link; dates or views may be unavailable.
- [SoundCloud API: List artist tracks](https://fous.com/methods/soundcloud.com/list-artist-tracks.md): Lists a SoundCloud artist's public tracks in latest or SoundCloud popular order, with profile and track details. SoundCloud's popular list may contain fewer than 100 tracks (currently at most 30).
- [Google API: Search Google Books](https://fous.com/methods/books.google.com/search-books.md): Searches Google Books by words, author, subject or ISBN, with language, free-ebook and newest-first options. Ratings counts are not shown by the public book feed; newest sorts the available matches by publication date.
- [loc.gov API: Search Library of Congress collections](https://fous.com/methods/loc.gov/search-collections.md): Searches Library of Congress digital collections by keywords, material format and date range, in Library search relevance order. Rights notes may be unavailable for some records.
- [Medium API: List a writer's or publication's latest articles](https://fous.com/methods/medium.com/list-author-articles.md): Lists the latest public articles by a Medium writer or publication (by username, publication name or Medium link), with dates, reading times, claps, member-only labels and tags.
- [All Open Library methods](https://fous.com/methods/openlibrary.org.md)