select first character of string mySql
mysql> SELECT pub_name, LEFT(pub_name, 5)
-> FROM publisher;
+------------------------------+-------------------+
| pub_name | LEFT(pub_name, 5) |
+------------------------------+-------------------+
| Jex Max Publication | Jex M |
| BPP Publication | BPP P |
| New Harrold Publication | New H |
| Ultra Press Inc. | Ultra |
| Mountain Publication | Mount |
| Summer Night Publication | Summe |
| Pieterson Grp. of Publishers | Piete |
| Novel Publisher Ltd. | Novel |
+------------------------------+-------------------+
8 rows in set (0.00 sec)