If you order a book and see it marked “first edition,” you may wonder what that means. When a book prints for the first time, it’s classified as a first edition book. If sales take off and the book becomes popular, it goes through several re-printings, yielding multiple editions. Sometimes different publishers publish a book over a span of many years, and sometimes re-printings accommodate film accompaniments. A “first edition” is classified as the first time a book is printed with a certain publisher or cover art, but the “true” first edition always refers to the book’s original printing date with the initial publisher.

A second printing before publication means the publisher was able to successfully promote the book. The publishing company received more requests for the book than the number of first editions printed for the first publication date. While the second printings are printed early in a book’s life cycle, they are not considered first editions.

A limited edition is a book with restricted publication, meaning a smaller number of copies are ordered. The author generally signs these and the publication is purposefully limited. First trade editions are another type of printing distributed for general commercial sale. They fall into the category of a true first edition if they printed simultaneously with the original book.

Finally, advanced reading copies go out to booksellers and reviewers. The cover is not always complete, but they are frequently marked “advanced reading copy.” These are not considered true first editions because the printing has not been finalized.

What do I do now?

If you get a book that’s marked as a first edition, don’t get excited immediately. The book could belong to any one of these categories. So when you decide to sell that book after you’re finished, don’t market the book as a first edition unless you’re 100 percent sure. First editions are often collector copies and are best sold on sites like ebay.com or amazon.com for the most profit.