# Is "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Dutton Books, 2012) is identified by: Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, New York, published 10 January 2012; octavo, 313 pages, ISBN 9780525478812, in the deep sky blue jacket/spine with black and white lettering. US precedence: Dutton Books, New York, 10 January 2012 is the true first and precedes the UK Penguin edition of 2012.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, New York, published 10 January 2012; octavo, 313 pages, ISBN 9780525478812, in the deep sky blue jacket/spine with black and white lettering
- The only reliable first-printing point is the copyright page: a full number line ending in 1
- The signature is NOT a first-printing point in the ordinary sense and must not be used as one on its own — Green announced he would hand-sign the entire first print run of 150,000 copies, and he did so by signing the sheets at his home in Indianapolis before the books were bound, so the signature is on an integral leaf of the first printing rather than a tipped-in slip; because every first-printing copy is signed, an unsigned copy with a full number line still warrants scrutiny, and a signed copy without the number line is a later state or a tour signature
- Green signed in Sharpie in a range of colours, allocated in proportion to a public vote on colour, so ink colour is not a state point; the census claim of specific "green/yellow/blue" inks is not documented and green is simply the most commonly reported
- Copies commonly carry a publisher's "Signed Copy" sticker on the jacket
- Publisher imprint reads Dutton Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Green |
| Publisher | Dutton Books |
| Year | 2012 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, New York, published 10 January 2012; octavo, 313 pages, ISBN 9780525478812, in the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, New York, published 10 January 2012; octavo, 313 pages, ISBN 9780525478812, in the deep sky blue jacket/spine with black and white lettering. The only reliable first-printing point is the copyright page: a full number line ending in 1. The signature is NOT a first-printing point in the ordinary sense and must not be used as one on its own — Green announced he would hand-sign the entire first print run of 150,000 copies, and he did so by signing the sheets at his home in Indianapolis before the books were bound, so the signature is on an integral leaf of the first printing rather than a tipped-in slip; because every first-printing copy is signed, an unsigned copy with a full number line still warrants scrutiny, and a signed copy without the number line is a later state or a tour signature. Green signed in Sharpie in a range of colours, allocated in proportion to a public vote on colour, so ink colour is not a state point; the census claim of specific "green/yellow/blue" inks is not documented and green is simply the most commonly reported. Copies commonly carry a publisher's "Signed Copy" sticker on the jacket.

## Is this the true first?
US precedence: Dutton Books, New York, 10 January 2012 is the true first and precedes the UK Penguin edition of 2012. There is no original-language or UK edition competing for precedence — the census claim stands. The later Dutton Collector's Edition (ISBN 9780525426349) and the Penguin Minis are "first thus" only.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is documented for this title. The census claim conflating "Hanklerfish" with the publisher's signed first printing is wrong and is corrected here: the Hanklerfish is an anglerfish drawn by the author's brother, Hank Green, added at certain stops on the 2012 tour (New Orleans is the stop most often cited), so Hanklerfish copies are tour-signed additions to an already-signed first printing, not a publisher-issued variant of it. Later Dutton printings show a number line beginning at a digit higher than 1; the movie tie-in, Collector's Edition and paperback issues are reprints.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Fault in Our Stars* by John Green a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-fault-in-our-stars
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.