Which printing is my book

This will fluctuate depending on the publishing house, but most publishers will designate that a book is a first edition on the copyright page. To collectors, it refers to the very first version of the physical book to be printed. Many publishers will print the hardcover edition of a book and call that a first edition, then print the same text in paperback and call it a first edition as well.

Print runs are the set number of copies of the book printed at one time. It is a sequence of numbers, usually 1—10, and printed in descending or alternating order.

The lowest number found on the page is the print run number. Speaking generally, first editions will hold the most value if they are first editions, first printings. Every publisher organizes this information differently, and some make it a little confusing, so you have to prepare to do a little detective work.

That means this is the first version of the text published. Also good. Now, to find the print run number, we are going to look below the typography credit. Do you see the long list of descending numbers? On the right hand, you have 10—1. That indicates the print run numbers. The lowest number you can see is the print run number, in this case 1. On the left-hand side, you see the number 17— That refers to the year the print run occurred. This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff.

Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. This article has been viewed 95, times. Learn more While most publishers will lay out the information for you, it may still be tricky to find. To tell the edition of a book, look at the bottom of the copyright page. If there are no other editions listed, the book you have is the first edition. However, if there are other editions listed, your book will be the most recent one.

To learn how to decode an ISBN to find the edition, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers. Please log in with your username or email to continue. No account yet? Create an account. Edit this Article.

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Related Articles. Article Summary. Method 1. Look for text that states the edition of the book. Sometimes, the publisher will clearly write which edition of the book you have on the bottom of the copyright page. This means there could technically be two or more first editions of the same book. Check the year the book was copyrighted versus when it was published. If the copyright year and the year of publication is the same, it is likely that you have a first edition of the book.

If they are different, you will know you have a later edition of the book. Always use the most recent year as your basis of judgement. Use the number line to determine the printing. If there is a 1 still present in the number line, it is the first print of the book from the publisher.

As more runs are printed, the lowest number in the line will determine what printing you have. Always look for the lowest number. Let's try an "easier" one that was listed as a "first edition" on eBay, figure According to this we are looking at a first printing, published in Trouble is, look at the copyright date. If this really was a First edition they why is it coming out 25 years after the author established the copyright on the book?

In this case, this is a first edition and printing from this publisher, University of Georgia Press. The real "First" was published back in Y es, and this is where it starts to get really complicated, as if it isn't complicated enough already. Take a look at figure In this case the book was simultaneously released in a hardcover edition cloth and a trade paperback edition paper.

Which is the first? This situation occurs frequently with publications from university presses. Where this all starts to get funky is when a seller or buyer is not aware of an earlier edition and therefore takes the copyright page at it's word. For example. Can't tell the difference? Let me zoom in just a little.

We now have an "international" edition figure 18 and a non international regular edition figure In this case the paperbacks did come first so one of them must be the first edition. There was a hardcover released in the UK but that came after the paperback editions in this example. What we have here is the Canadian "international" , edition figure 20 and the US edition, figure Both actually printed in the US but that's not the issue here. They both say that they are "First" editions but one obviously came out before the other.

The final word on this one would be that the Canadian copy is the "true first". We'll get to what a "true first" is in just a moment. They graciously listed the publishing history of this title for us, figure Unfortunately, they did not take into account any of the foreign editions, which is typical, but quite important in this case. We just determined that the US Ballantine edition was the second paperback edition but this history implies that this is the second edition A "true first" is considered to be the very first edition and printing of a book that was released.

For example, for the past several years the UK release of Dean Koontz novels have preceded the US release by a month or two. When auctioning off these UK copies, many of the sellers will list this as a "true first". T ake a look at figure Is this the copyright page for the trade edition or the limited edition?

In this case the publisher, Putnam, has used the exact same pages in both editions. The difference is in the binding and an extra page in the limited edition stating that it is the limited. Why do I include this scenario here? Becuase I have seem books like this on eBay for sale as limited editions "because the copyright page says it's a limited edition. If the copyright page listed an ISBN for a paperback and a hardcover and you were selling the paperback, would you list it as a hardcover because the copyright page said so?

Of course not. Limited editions, always have some other indcation of their limited status. Usually an extra page stating so. Some publishers will state on the copyright page if a limited edition has been previously published by another publisher.

Knopf did this in the trade edition of Dean Koontz's Intensity stating "A signed first edition of this book has been privately printed by The Franklin Library". Unfortunately, neither Ballantine nor Bantam have made this statement in their paperback editions Galleys are copies of the book created solely for the purpose of copy editors at the publisher. These are generaly low-quality photocopies of the author's manuscript. Sometimes they are bound, but if so usually cheaply in some sort of spiral binding.

Proofs are the next step in the process. At this point the book has been typeset and the pages have been printed as they will look in the final edition.

The book has been through the editing process but has not been finalized. These copies have paper covers and may or may not have the final artwork. They are given to the author to proof for any last minute mistakes. Often these editions are also sent out to reviewers and booksellers to promote the book.

Advance reader or reading copies , also known as ARCs are finished copies of the book sent out to individuals for promotional purposes. Unfortunately, theses terms are used almost interchangeable in the bookselling trade and even by the publishers. Many ARCs are marked as such on the cover but also state "made from page proofs". This makes them proofs, but since the cover says "advance reading copy" the book will be listed as such.

Many booksellers also believe that all ARCs are proofs. This is not necessarily true. Neither are they necessarily galleys, which is also used in place of the term proof.

Lastly are the presentation copies. This circumstance arrises in the case of limited editions. For example, Dean Koontz's Dark Rivers of the Heart was published in a limited edition of numbered copies. This indicates that it is a presentation copy.

These are copies that have been printed above the stated limited number of copies. These are generally kept by the publisher or given to the author to do with what they wish. There is a small controversey over whether presentation copies are worth more than their "regular" counterparts.

Some claim that they aren't worth more, and maybe even less, since they are the leftovers.