{"id":29,"date":"2026-07-05T12:29:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T12:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theneverfear.com\/?page_id=29"},"modified":"2026-07-05T12:29:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T12:29:49","slug":"editions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/theneverfear.com\/?page_id=29","title":{"rendered":"Editions"},"content":{"rendered":"    <style>\n    .nfe-wrapper {\n        font-family: 'Raleway', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif;\n        background:\n            radial-gradient(ellipse 70% 40% at 50% 0%, rgba(78, 184, 232, 0.12) 0%, transparent 60%),\n            radial-gradient(ellipse 80% 50% at 50% 100%, rgba(14, 138, 154, 0.25) 0%, transparent 55%),\n            linear-gradient(180deg, #0e2d4e 0%, #071a2e 45%, #05101e 100%);\n        color: var(--nf-text-light);\n        min-height: 100vh;\n        line-height: 1.6;\n        padding: 3rem 1.5rem 2rem;\n    }\n    .nfe-inner { max-width: 900px; margin: 0 auto; }\n    .nfe-home {\n        display: inline-flex;\n        align-items: center;\n        gap: 0.4rem;\n        font-size: 0.75rem;\n        font-weight: 600;\n        letter-spacing: 0.15em;\n        text-transform: uppercase;\n        color: var(--nf-sky-bright);\n        text-decoration: none;\n        margin-bottom: 2.5rem;\n        transition: color 0.2s ease;\n    }\n    .nfe-home:hover { color: var(--nf-sky-light); 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This guide\n                lays out what each edition is, how to tell them apart, and what to check before you buy.\n                Details are drawn from publisher and retailer listings and will be updated as more is confirmed.\n            <\/p>\n \n            <p class=\"nfe-section-label\">United Kingdom<\/p>\n            <h2 class=\"nfe-section-heading\">UK Editions<\/h2>\n            <div class=\"nfe-grid\">\n                <div class=\"nfe-card\">\n                    <span class=\"nfe-card-cat\">Standard First Edition<\/span>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-card-title\">Bloomsbury Hardback<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-isbn\">ISBN 9781408897515<\/div>\n                    <p class=\"nfe-card-body\">\n                        The main UK trade edition from Bloomsbury Children's Books. The publisher describes\n                        the hardback as adorned with blue foil. This is the edition most bookshops will stock\n                        on publication day, and first printings are the ones collectors will want.\n                    <\/p>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-pills\">\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Hardback<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Blue foil<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">27 Aug 2026<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"nfe-card\">\n                    <span class=\"nfe-card-cat\">Retailer Signed Edition<\/span>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-card-title\">Waterstones Signed Edition<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-isbn\">ISBN 9781037204692<\/div>\n                    <p class=\"nfe-card-body\">\n                        Waterstones lists a signed edition with an exclusive sprayed edge under its own\n                        ISBN. Hand-signed by Katherine Rundell with an edge design available nowhere else,\n                        this is the flagship UK collector's edition at retail, and Waterstones signed\n                        exclusives for this series have sold out ahead of publication before.\n                    <\/p>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-pills\">\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Hand-signed<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Sprayed edge<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Waterstones only<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"nfe-card\">\n                    <span class=\"nfe-card-cat\">Independent Bookshops<\/span>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-card-title\">Independent Bookshop Signed Edition<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-isbn\">ISBN 9781408897515S<\/div>\n                    <p class=\"nfe-card-body\">\n                        Selected independent bookshops are taking pre-orders for a signed edition with\n                        sprayed edges, designated with an S suffix on the standard ISBN. Availability\n                        varies shop by shop, so check with your local independent. Buying this edition\n                        also supports indie bookselling, which collectors tend to feel good about.\n                    <\/p>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-pills\">\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Hand-signed<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Sprayed edge<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Indies only<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n \n            <p class=\"nfe-section-label\">North America<\/p>\n            <h2 class=\"nfe-section-heading\">US Editions<\/h2>\n            <div class=\"nfe-grid\">\n                <div class=\"nfe-card\">\n                    <span class=\"nfe-card-cat\">Standard First Edition<\/span>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-card-title\">Knopf Hardback<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-isbn\">ISBN 9780593809945<\/div>\n                    <p class=\"nfe-card-body\">\n                        The US edition from Knopf Books for Young Readers, with cover art by Ashley Mackenzie.\n                        The publisher describes foil and embossing on the jacket, full-colour designed\n                        endpapers, stained edges and interior illustrations. A distinct collectible in its\n                        own right, since the US and UK editions carry different covers.\n                    <\/p>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-pills\">\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Hardback<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Foil &amp; embossing<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Stained edges<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"nfe-card\">\n                    <span class=\"nfe-card-cat\">Retailer Exclusive<\/span>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-card-title\">Barnes &amp; Noble Exclusive Edition<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-isbn\">B&amp;N listing<\/div>\n                    <p class=\"nfe-card-body\">\n                        Barnes &amp; Noble lists an exclusive edition featuring an exclusive printed edge\n                        design and a unique case. Available only through B&amp;N in the US, which makes it\n                        one of the harder editions for UK readers to obtain.\n                    <\/p>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-pills\">\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Printed edges<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Unique case<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">B&amp;N only<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"nfe-card\">\n                    <span class=\"nfe-card-cat\">Other Formats<\/span>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-card-title\">Audio, Ebook &amp; Large Print<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-isbn\">Multiple ISBNs<\/div>\n                    <p class=\"nfe-card-body\">\n                        The Neverfear also publishes as an ebook, an unabridged audiobook from Bloomsbury\n                        in the UK with a separate US audio release, and a large print hardcover in the US.\n                        These formats serve readers rather than collectors, but complete-set collectors\n                        may want the audio editions.\n                    <\/p>\n                    <div class=\"nfe-pills\">\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Audiobook<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Ebook<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"nfe-pill\">Large print<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n \n            <p class=\"nfe-section-label\">Before Publication<\/p>\n            <h2 class=\"nfe-section-heading\">Advance Proofs<\/h2>\n            <p class=\"nfe-prose\">\n                Ahead of publication, Bloomsbury circulates <strong>uncorrected proof copies<\/strong> of\n                The Neverfear to reviewers, booksellers and press. Proofs are paperback, usually carry\n                distinct cover treatments, and are marked not for sale. The text can differ from the\n                finished book. Proofs are printed in small quantities and never sold in shops, which is\n                why they are sought after by series collectors once the finished book is out. If you come\n                across one, expect it to look plainer than the finished hardback: that is normal.\n            <\/p>\n \n            <p class=\"nfe-section-label\">The Series So Far<\/p>\n            <h2 class=\"nfe-section-heading\">Collecting Books One and Two<\/h2>\n            <p class=\"nfe-prose\">\n                <strong>Impossible Creatures (2023)<\/strong> launched the series and won the Waterstones\n                Book of the Year. Beyond the standard Bloomsbury first edition hardback, it appeared in a\n                Waterstones exclusive sprayed-edge edition, a numbered collector's edition from Goldsboro\n                Books, and an exclusive edition at Indigo in Canada. The US Knopf edition followed with its\n                own cover design.\n            <\/p>\n            <p class=\"nfe-prose\" style=\"margin-top: 1rem;\">\n                <strong>The Poisoned King (2025)<\/strong> repeated the pattern, with retailer exclusive\n                editions alongside the standard hardback in the UK and US. For both books, first printings\n                with intact jackets and unmarked edges are the copies collectors look for.\n            <\/p>\n \n            <p class=\"nfe-section-label\">Buying Guidance<\/p>\n            <h2 class=\"nfe-section-heading\">Collector's Checklist<\/h2>\n            <div class=\"nfe-checklist\">\n                <div class=\"nfe-check\">\n                    <span class=\"nfe-check-mark\">1<\/span>\n                    <p class=\"nfe-check-text\"><strong>Match the ISBN to the edition.<\/strong> Each edition\n                    carries its own ISBN. If a listing claims an exclusive edition, the ISBN on the\n                    barcode should match the retailer's own listing for that exclusive.<\/p>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"nfe-check\">\n                    <span class=\"nfe-check-mark\">2<\/span>\n                    <p class=\"nfe-check-text\"><strong>Trust photographs over descriptions.<\/strong> Sprayed\n                    edges, foil and edge printing should be visible in the photos of the actual copy you\n                    are buying, not just described in the blurb.<\/p>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"nfe-check\">\n                    <span class=\"nfe-check-mark\">3<\/span>\n                    <p class=\"nfe-check-text\"><strong>Know your signatures.<\/strong> A hand-signed copy is\n                    signed in ink by the author. Printed signatures and facsimile signatures reproduced on\n                    the page are not the same thing, and honest sellers will say which one a copy has.<\/p>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"nfe-check\">\n                    <span class=\"nfe-check-mark\">4<\/span>\n                    <p class=\"nfe-check-text\"><strong>Check the printing line.<\/strong> On the copyright\n                    page, a number line ending in 1 usually indicates a first printing, which is what\n                    edition collectors generally want.<\/p>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n \n            <footer class=\"nfe-footer\">\n                <p class=\"nfe-footer-text\">\n                    Fan resource &middot; Not affiliated with Katherine Rundell, Bloomsbury Publishing,\n                    Waterstones or The Walt Disney Company &middot; Details correct at time of writing\n                <\/p>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/theneverfear.com\/\">&larr; Back to The Neverfear<\/a>\n            <\/footer>\n \n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-29","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theneverfear.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theneverfear.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theneverfear.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theneverfear.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theneverfear.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theneverfear.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30,"href":"https:\/\/theneverfear.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions\/30"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theneverfear.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}