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The Outsider Common

2018 · Scribner (New York; Simon & Schuster imprint)
First-edition cover of The Outsider
First-edition jacket (first edition (verified vs jacket)) · source

What it’s about

When the mutilated body of an eleven-year-old boy is found in a small Oklahoma town, an airtight chain of eyewitnesses and physical evidence points to Terry Maitland — beloved Little League coach, teacher, and family man. Detective Ralph Anderson arrests him publicly and without doubt, until an equally airtight alibi proves Maitland was somewhere else entirely. Confronted by two irreconcilable truths, the investigation slides from a routine homicide into something that refuses to obey the rules of ordinary crime.

Significance A New York Times bestseller adapted into the acclaimed 2020 HBO limited series starring Ben Mendelsohn and Cynthia Erivo; it introduces investigator Holly Gibney as a lead, tying it into King's Mr. Mercedes / Bill Hodges universe and her later solo novel "Holly."

Is this the true first?Yes. The Scribner trade hardcover (May 22, 2018, ISBN 978-1-5011-8098-9) is the true first edition, first printing. There is NO small-press limited or paperback original preceding it. Cemetery Dance produced only an aftermarket SLIPCASE (book sold separately, $24.95) — not a separate limited edition of the text — so it does not affect the trade-first status.
The trade hardcover IS the true first. No Donald M. Grant / Philtrum / Land of Enchantment-style precedent exists for this title. The only "edition" complication is the Cemetery Dance slipcase (an empty aftermarket case designed to house the Scribner trade book — it does not contain a different printing). Glenn Chadbourne's "New Stephen King Original Cover Series No. 29" is a signed COVER-ONLY art print, not a book.

First-printing points at a glance

First-printing statement"First Edition" stated on the copyright page, which MUST be accompanied by the full number line. Per Scribner convention, BOTH the "First Edition" wording AND the number line ending in "2" must be present to confirm a true first printing.
Number lineFirst printing shows the full row "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" on the copyright page. A first printing ends in the low even digit "2" (the "1" present, full line intact). Later printings drop low numbers from the left — e.g., a number line beginning with "2" or higher (and missing the "1") indicates a later printing. Confirmed later printings (e.g., 11th) circulate, so verify the full line, not just the words "First Edition."
Gutter / printer codeN/A (Scribner-era title; the Doubleday gutter-code convention does not apply).
First printing — copiesNot publicly disclosed
First jacket price$30.00 (US). Canadian price typically printed as $40.00 alongside it. (Upper front jacket flap (top corner). A price-clipped flap hides this and lowers value. Cross-confirmed unclipped at $30.00 by AbeBooks and eBay listings.)
Board (panel) colorGrey/gray paper-covered boards (panels).
Spine / center bindingBlack quarter-cloth backstrip/spine with shiny gilt (gold) lettering on the spine.
Binding styleQuarter-bound (two-tone): black cloth spine over grey paper-covered boards; sewn binding. 8vo, approx. 6.5" x 9.5", [vi] + 561 + [3] pp.
Topstain / endpapersNo notable colored topstain reported (plain). Endpapers plain; no distinguishing endpaper print documented. UNVERIFIED for any colored topstain.

Dust jacket

Stark graphic-design jacket: dark/black ground with the title and author name in large type, a high-contrast minimalist image (an isolated tree/figure motif consistent with the novel's "outsider" theme) — design-forward rather than illustrative. Rear panel carries blurbs/review text; rear flap carries the author bio and photo. Author photo of Stephen King on the rear flap.

Art / design: Cover/jacket design by Jaya Miceli (Scribner Art Director); cover artwork/illustration credited to Will Staehle. Photographic-graphic design rather than a painted scene.

reference photohttps://bookshopapocalypse.com/products/the-outsider-by-stephen-king-first-edition-first-printing-2018-scribnerreference photohttps://www.hermitagebooks.com/pages/books/231386/stephen-king/the-outsiderreference photohttps://www.cemeterydance.com/the-outsider-slipcase.html
Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyNo Book-of-the-Month / book-club edition is a major factor for this 2018 Scribner title in the way it is for 1970s-80s Doubleday Kings. A genuine BCE (if any club issue exists) would: lack the "First Edition"/number-line statement, carry "Book Club Edition" on the lower front jacket flap, show NO printed price, use thinner/cheaper paper, a slightly smaller trim, and possibly a blind-stamp on the rear board. For modern Scribner Kings the larger caution is later TRADE printings (drop-line number), not club editions.

Also watch for: Watch for: (1) Later printings (11th, etc.) mislabeled "First Edition" — sellers cite the words "First Edition" while the drop-line number line proves a later printing; always read the full line. (2) Price-clipped jackets (corner cut) hiding the $30.00. (3) Married jackets (later-printing or facsimile jacket on a first-printing book, or vice versa). (4) "Signed first edition" listings that are actually signed LATER printings or slipcased later printings — verify the number line independently of the signature. (5) Ex-library copies (stamps, stickers, card pockets) and remainder-marked copies (spray/stamp on bottom edge) — both reduce value. (6) The Cemetery Dance slipcase being conflated with a "limited edition" — it is just an empty case.

Print run & scarcity

Format: standard Scribner trade hardcover, pub. May 22, 2018, ISBN 9781501180989, $30.00. FIRST-PRINTING ID: full number line on the copyright page reading '1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2' (no separate state/issue points). PRINT-RUN FIGURE: none published. Unlike the commonly cited Carrie ~30,000 figure, no announced or trade-press first-printing number exists for The Outsider; StephenKingCollector.com explicitly lists 'A first edition of ??? copies.' Publishers Weekly covered it heavily as a bestseller (8 weeks at #1, 26 weeks on list; 'first-week print unit sales better than any book in the Bill Hodges series') but never stated a first-printing quantity. As a marquee Scribner King title it was certainly a very large run (King hardcovers of this era typically run several hundred thousand to ~1M), but no specific number is sourced, so do NOT cite one. LIMITED EDITIONS: there was NO signed/numbered/lettered small-press limited edition of The Outsider (no Cemetery Dance, Suntup, or Donald M. Grant edition). The only 'Cemetery Dance' item is an aftermarket custom SLIPCASE accessory sold to hold the trade hardcover — not a limited edition of the book itself; do not count it as a limited-edition print run. RELIABILITY CAVEAT: anecdotal collector reports of 2nd/3rd printings appearing within a week of release led StephenKingCollector to speculate the first printing 'may be smaller than typical for a King book,' but that is an inference, not a documented figure.

First-state points & errata

No widely documented errata/typo state-change separates first-state first printings for this title. The first printing is identified by the "First Edition" statement + intact number line ending in 2. UNVERIFIED whether any internal text-state variants exist; none reported by collector sources.

Limited & signed editions

No publisher signed/numbered or traycased lettered edition of the text was issued by Scribner. Cemetery Dance produced an aftermarket SLIPCASE only ($24.95, open pre-order, book sold separately — now out of print). Glenn Chadbourne "New SK Original Cover Series No. 29" is an artist-signed cover print (not a book). Signed first-printing trade copies exist from author events (e.g., Wordplay event copies with FastPass ticket/COA), but these are signed trade firsts, not a distinct limited edition.

Market value estimate

~$25–$60

Assumes a genuine first edition / first printing in near-fine to fine condition (clean copy, unclipped jacket). Lesser condition is worth less.

No confirmed sale found, so this is rated at no less than its original jacket price — a true first/first should hold at least retail in near-fine/fine condition. Soft estimate from dealer listings (treat as approximate): $25–60 (true first, fine/fine, unclipped, UNSIGNED). Signed/first-printing flat-signed: $150–300.

Book-club edition (the trap): No true BOMC/book-club hardcover edition was issued at release (Scribner trade was the primary US hardcover); the analogous "trap" tier here is later printings (2nd–14th) and trade-paperback/large-print/Thorndike copies, which are effectively $5–15. A genuine BCE-style or ex-library copy is worth $3–10 — junk-tier. — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

CORRECT POINTS FOR THIS TITLE: Scribner first printing has the full number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" on the copyright page AND states "First Scribner hardcover edition May 2018"; quarter-bound red cloth spine over black/grey boards; DJ price $30.00 US / $40.00 CAN, unclipped. IGNORE the "Doubleday gutter code" and "book-club blind-stamp on rear board" framing in the brief — those are traps for King's 1970s–80s DOUBLEDAY titles ('Salem's Lot, The Shining), NOT this Scribner book. THE SINGLE BIGGEST TRAP FOR THE OUTSIDER: later printings sold as "first." Sellers list 2nd–14th printings (especially the 14th-printing copies SIGNED at the 2019 Wordplay festival, which carry a COA and look impressive) as "signed first edition." Always confirm the number line ends in "...10 8 6 4 2" with a 1 present, NOT "2" as the lowest digit. Condition sensitivity is mild for an unsigned copy (it's common, so even fine/fine tops out ~$60); a price-clipped DJ or any reading wear pushes it to $15–25. Signing is the ONLY real value lever: a verified FIRST-PRINTING flat signature roughly 4–6x's the price ($150–300); a signed LATER printing is worth far less than buyers assume ($60–120) and is the most common misrepresentation in the market.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: Price $30.00 cross-checked: AbeBooks ISBN 9781501180989 first-edition listings + eBay listings (unclipped). Number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" cross-checked: multiple AbeBooks first-edition seller descriptions. Binding cross-checked: two+ dealer descriptions agree on "grey/gray boards quarterbound in a black backstrip with gilt spine lettering." Designer/artist (Miceli/Staehle) via Cemetery Dance announcement + cover-design coverage. Note: one early search result claimed "red cloth/black boards" — treated as an outlier/error; the dominant, repeated dealer consensus is GREY boards + BLACK spine, so that is reported.

confidence: High — price ($30.00), number line ("1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2"), "First Edition" statement, and quarter-bound grey-boards/black-spine binding are each cross-confirmed across at least two independent sources (AbeBooks seller descriptions, eBay listings, dealer pages). Lower-confidence items: exact jacket imagery wording and topstain/endpaper specifics (design noted as Miceli/Staehle, but fine visual detail and any topstain marked UNVERIFIED).← Back to all titles