diff --git a/bookwyrm/tests/test_author_search.py b/bookwyrm/tests/test_author_search.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e6b20a2c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/tests/test_author_search.py
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+""" test searching for authors """
+from django.test import TestCase
+
+from django.contrib.postgres.search import SearchRank, SearchQuery
+from django.db.models import F
+
+from bookwyrm import models
+
+
+class AuthorSearch(TestCase):
+    """look for some authors"""
+
+    @classmethod
+    def setUpTestData(cls):
+        """we need basic test data and mocks"""
+        cls.bob = models.Author.objects.create(
+            name="Bob", aliases=["Robertus", "Alice"]
+        )
+        cls.alice = models.Author.objects.create(name="Alice")
+
+    def test_search(self):
+        """search for an author in the db"""
+        results = self._search("Bob")
+        self.assertEqual(len(results), 1)
+        self.assertEqual(results[0], self.bob)
+
+    def test_alias_priority(self):
+        """aliases should be included, with lower priority than name"""
+        results = self._search("Alice")
+        self.assertEqual(len(results), 2)
+        self.assertEqual(results[0], self.alice)
+
+    def _search_first(self, query):
+        """wrapper around search_title_author"""
+        return self._search(query, return_first=True)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _search(query, *, return_first=False):
+        """author search"""
+        search_query = SearchQuery(query, config="simple")
+        min_confidence = 0
+
+        results = (
+            models.Author.objects.filter(search_vector=search_query)
+            .annotate(rank=SearchRank(F("search_vector"), search_query))
+            .filter(rank__gt=min_confidence)
+            .order_by("-rank")
+        )
+        if return_first:
+            return results.first()
+        return results
+
+
+class SearchVectorTest(TestCase):
+    """check search_vector is computed correctly"""
+
+    def test_search_vector_simple(self):
+        """simplest search vector"""
+        author = self._create_author("Mary")
+        self.assertEqual(author.search_vector, "'mary':1A")
+
+    def test_search_vector_aliases(self):
+        """author aliases should be included with lower priority"""
+        author = self._create_author("Mary", aliases=["Maria", "Example"])
+        self.assertEqual(author.search_vector, "'example':3B 'maria':2B 'mary':1A")
+
+    def test_search_vector_parse_author(self):
+        """author name and alias is not stem'd or affected by stop words"""
+        author = self._create_author("Writes", aliases=["Reads"])
+        self.assertEqual(author.search_vector, "'reads':2B 'writes':1A")
+
+    def test_search_vector_on_update(self):
+        """make sure that search_vector is being set correctly on edit"""
+        author = self._create_author("Mary")
+        self.assertEqual(author.search_vector, "'mary':1A")
+
+        author.name = "Example"
+        author.save(broadcast=False)
+        author.refresh_from_db()
+        self.assertEqual(author.search_vector, "'example':1A")
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _create_author(name, /, *, aliases=None):
+        """quickly create an author"""
+        author = models.Author.objects.create(name=name, aliases=aliases or [])
+        author.refresh_from_db()
+        return author