The points of issue
Three-volume slipcased hardcover set, Top Shelf Productions, 2006, ISBN 1-891830-74-0 (978-1-891830-74-7). Each oversized volume has a sewn-signature binding and its own dust jacket, all housed in a slipcase. The first printing has no additional-printing statement. Explicit erotic content.
Is this the true first?
Portions were serialized earlier in the anthology Taboo; the 2006 Top Shelf three-volume slipcased set is the first complete edition. To finance the first printing, Top Shelf also offered a numbered subscription limited to the first 500 customers, issued in the same 2006 slipcased format. The later single-volume softcover (2009) is a first thus.
Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition.
Frequently asked questions
Is my copy of Lost Girls a first edition?
Look for these first-edition points: Three-volume slipcased hardcover set, Top Shelf Productions, 2006, ISBN 1-891830-74-0 (978-1-891830-74-7). Each oversized volume has a sewn-signature binding and its own dust jacket, all housed in a slipcase. The first printing has no additional-printing statement. Explicit erotic content.
How do I tell the first printing from a later one?
Check the copyright page for the publisher's first-printing convention and confirm the points above. Portions were serialized earlier in the anthology Taboo; the 2006 Top Shelf three-volume slipcased set is the first complete edition. To finance the first printing, Top Shelf also offered a numbered subscription limited to the first 500 customers, issued in the same 2006 slipcased format. The later
Is the book-club edition the same as the first?
No book club edition.
I have a first edition of Lost Girls — what should I do?
If you're clearing books, New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup in Albuquerque, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies aren't lost. To sell, see the author's collecting guide. Either way, nothing valuable ends up in a landfill.