I missed this poll, but in case someone is interested: for new authors, I use the
Literature Map.
I put a favorite author in there, in a genre that I like to read, and then select a few authors a have heard of sometime, or somehwere. Mostly I look towards the fringes of the cloud. Then I read up a bit on each of the authors and their books, and then in the end, I select a book from one of them which I think may be worth reading.