# Is "The Mercy Journals" by Claudia Casper a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Mercy Journals by Claudia Casper (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2016) is identified by: Arsenal Pulp Press (Vancouver) trade paperback original, May 2016; first printing. The Canadian Arsenal Pulp Press 2016 trade paperback original is the true first edition; it is a paperback original with no preceding hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Arsenal Pulp Press (Vancouver) trade paperback original, May 2016; first printing
- Issued as a paperback original with no preceding hardcover; the first printing was produced with deliberately roughened, weathered page edges intended to evoke the novel's post-catastrophe world
- Publisher imprint reads Arsenal Pulp Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Claudia Casper |
| Publisher | Arsenal Pulp Press |
| Year | 2016 |
| True first | Canadian edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Arsenal Pulp Press (Vancouver) trade paperback original, May 2016; first printing |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Arsenal Pulp Press (Vancouver) trade paperback original, May 2016; first printing. Issued as a paperback original with no preceding hardcover; the first printing was produced with deliberately roughened, weathered page edges intended to evoke the novel's post-catastrophe world.

## Is this the true first?
The Canadian Arsenal Pulp Press 2016 trade paperback original is the true first edition; it is a paperback original with no preceding hardcover. It won the Philip K. Dick Award announced in 2017, making Casper the first Canadian woman to win the award.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings and reissues are reprints, not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Mercy Journals* by Claudia Casper a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-mercy-journals
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.