Is My The Atlas Six a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the author's self-published print-on-demand paperback, ISBN 9781679910999 / 167991099X, issued 30 January 2020 under Amazon's "Independently published" imprint at 383 pages, with illustrations by Little Chmura; the self-published Kindle ebook followed on 31 January 2020
• Because the book was print-on-demand — the author states her self-published titles are distributed by Amazon and printed on demand, with no inventory held — there is NO conventional first printing to identify: every copy was manufactured individually as ordered, the interior file could be revised silently between orders, and copies carry an Amazon/KDP manufacturing stamp on the final leaf recording the print date and facility instead of a printer's key
• Identification therefore rests on the ISBN 9781679910999, the "Independently published" imprint statement on the copyright page, the 383-page setting, and the original self-published cover
• There is no number line and no dust jacket, so no jacket points exist; any listing claiming a "first printing" number line for this book is wrong

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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?

Self-published US precedes; the census claim is correct. The self-published POD paperback (30 January 2020) is the earliest issue. Tor Books' ebook reissue followed on 28 September 2021, and Tor's hardcover on 1 March 2022 (ISBN 9781250854513, 376 pp) is a REVISED and re-edited text with new illustrations by Little Chmura — the author's own FAQ states "The revised version with new illustrations by Little Chmura will release March 1, 2022" — so the Tor hardcover is a first thus of a revised text, not the first edition. The first UK issue is Tor UK / Pan Macmillan, ISBN 9781529095234, 2022. Both the self-published 2020 issue and the 2022 Tor hardcover are collected, for different reasons: the former as the true first, the latter as the first hardcover and first appearance of the revised text.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue. The trap runs the opposite way from a normal reprint tell: the Tor hardcover and the Tor Trade paperback (9781250854544, 6 September 2022) are the copies most often encountered, while the plain self-published POD paperback is the one that is actually the first. And because POD copies were manufactured to order across a long window, a late-printed self-published copy is bibliographically indistinguishable from an early one except by the KDP date stamp on the last leaf.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Atlas Six a first edition?

A first edition of The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake (self-published) is identified by: The true first is the author's self-published print-on-demand paperback, ISBN 9781679910999 / 167991099X, issued 30 January 2020 under Amazon's "Independently published" imprint at 383 pages, with illustrations by Little Chmura; the self-published Kindle ebook followed on 31 January 2020.

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). Self-published US precedes; the census claim is correct.

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

No book-club issue. The trap runs the opposite way from a normal reprint tell: the Tor hardcover and the Tor Trade paperback (9781250854544, 6 September 2022) are the copies most often encountered, while the plain self-published POD paperback is the one that is actually the first. And because POD copies were manufactured to order across a long window, a late-printed self-published copy is bibliographically indistinguishable from an early one except by the KDP date stamp on the last leaf.

I have a first edition of The Atlas Six — 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.