Is My It Starts with Us a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Atria Books, New York, published 18 October 2022, ISBN 978-1-6680-0122-6, 336 pp. — and the decisive fact is that the US first is a TRADE PAPERBACK ORIGINAL, not a hardcover; no US hardcover trade first exists
• The first printing is identified by a full number line on the copyright page ending in 1; dealers describe the true first as 'first edition, first printing, full number line present' and 'a true first paperback printing, confirmed by the number line ending in 1', exactly as with its predecessor It Ends with Us (Atria, 2016), also a paperback original
• The first UK edition, published the same day — Simon & Schuster UK, London, 18 October 2022, ISBN 978-1-3985-1816-2, 336 pp. — IS a hardback, bound in blue cloth boards with gilt lettering to the spine and issued in an unclipped jacket; a collector who wants a hardback first must go to the UK issue

How Atria Books marked a first edition

• States 'First Edition' or 'First Atria Books hardcover edition' on the copyright page AND uses a descending number line ending in 1.
• Simon & Schuster-family convention: explicit 'First [Imprint] edition (Year)' statement is the reliable signal.

Full Atria Books first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

Census claim refined. Same-day US/UK publication on 18 October 2022 is confirmed, but the point that matters is format, not date: Atria's US issue is the true first and is a trade paperback, while the Simon & Schuster UK issue of the same day is the first hardback. Both are collected and neither displaces the other. Describing this simply as 'Atria (US) 2022' invites the common error of hunting a US hardcover first that was never published — and of then buying the 2024 Special Collector's Edition in its place.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented. The 'first thus' traps are unusually thick here. The US Special Collector's Edition hardcover (ISBN 978-1-6680-2105-7), with foil cover, designed endpapers and added recipes, is a 2024 production and is NOT a first edition, though it is the earliest US hardcover most buyers ever see. In Britain, retailer-exclusive first-impression hardbacks with a blue marbled fore-edge circulate alongside the standard UK first and are a variant of it, not a separate edition. And the print run was enormous — reported at roughly 2.5 million copies across the first four printings, with 800,000 sold on day one — so 2022 Atria copies whose number line no longer reaches 1 are extremely common second-, third- and fourth-printing books that look identical to the first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of It Starts with Us a first edition?

A first edition of It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover (Atria Books) is identified by: Atria Books, New York, published 18 October 2022, ISBN 978-1-6680-0122-6, 336 pp.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). Census claim refined.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club edition is documented. The 'first thus' traps are unusually thick here. The US Special Collector's Edition hardcover (ISBN 978-1-6680-2105-7), with foil cover, designed endpapers and added recipes, is a 2024 production and is NOT a first edition, though it is the earliest US hardcover most buyers ever see. In Britain, retailer-exclusive first-impression hardbacks with a blue marbled fore-edge circulate alongside the standard UK first and are a variant of it, not a separate edition.

I have a first edition of It Starts with Us — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.