# Is "Terminal Mind" by David Walton a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Terminal Mind by David Walton (Meadowhawk Press, 2008) is identified by: US Meadowhawk Press trade paperback original, 2008 (ISBN 978-0-9787326-3-9), stated first printing. The US Meadowhawk Press 2008 trade paperback is the true first and the author's debut novel.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US Meadowhawk Press trade paperback original, 2008 (ISBN 978-0-9787326-3-9), stated first printing
- A small-press original issued only in perfect-bound softcover; there was no simultaneous hardcover trade edition
- As with most small-press originals of the period, precedence rests on the Meadowhawk imprint and 2008 date on the copyright page rather than on a printer's number line
- Publisher imprint reads Meadowhawk Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | David Walton |
| Publisher | Meadowhawk Press |
| Year | 2008 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US Meadowhawk Press trade paperback original, 2008 (ISBN 978-0-9787326-3-9), stated first printing |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
US Meadowhawk Press trade paperback original, 2008 (ISBN 978-0-9787326-3-9), stated first printing. A small-press original issued only in perfect-bound softcover; there was no simultaneous hardcover trade edition. As with most small-press originals of the period, precedence rests on the Meadowhawk imprint and 2008 date on the copyright page rather than on a printer's number line.

## Is this the true first?
The US Meadowhawk Press 2008 trade paperback is the true first and the author's debut novel. It won the Philip K. Dick Award (for the best original science-fiction paperback published in the US) presented at Norwescon in 2009 for 2008 titles, in a tie with Adam-Troy Castro's Emissaries from the Dead. A scarce small-press title.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later reissues, including the reset edition under a different ISBN (978-1-4927-9701-2), are reprints and are not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Terminal Mind* by David Walton a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/terminal-mind
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.