# Is "The Fisherman" by John Langan a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Fisherman by John Langan (Word Horde, 2016) is identified by: Trade paperback original, Word Horde, 2016, cover art by Yves Tourigny. The 2016 Word Horde trade paperback is the true first edition, a small-press paperback original with no preceding hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Trade paperback original, Word Horde, 2016, cover art by Yves Tourigny
- The first printing is so stated on the copyright page; a small-press print run
- Won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel for 2016
- Publisher imprint reads Word Horde
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Langan |
| Publisher | Word Horde |
| Year | 2016 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Trade paperback original, Word Horde, 2016, cover art by Yves Tourigny |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Trade paperback original, Word Horde, 2016, cover art by Yves Tourigny. The first printing is so stated on the copyright page; a small-press print run. Won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel for 2016.

## Is this the true first?
The 2016 Word Horde trade paperback is the true first edition, a small-press paperback original with no preceding hardcover. Genuine firsts are relatively scarce because of the small initial run.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition exists. Later printings are identified as such on the copyright page (for example a second-printing notation), so confirm the first-printing statement there.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Fisherman* by John Langan a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-fisherman
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.