Publication vs published

[meenakshiverma]

To mention the year of publishing on a book's back cover, which is correct: First publication 2021 or First published 2021?
Kindly explain your answer.

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forum, meenakshiverma.

Why do you have to make this decision? Are you a publisher?

 

[meenakshiverma]

Welcome to the forum, meenakshiverma.

Why do you have to make this decision? Are you a publisher?

Thanks. I am working in a publishing company and I am not quite sure about this. To me, both look correct.

 

[emsr2d2]

Have you looked at other books published by the company you're now working for? I'm sure you'll be able to work out quickly if they have a specific wording they always use. If you don't find any consistency in their other books, you can probably use whichever you prefer.

One question, though - are you sure the date of publication should go on the back cover? Normally, it appears on the first page inside the book. This is called the copyright page. You can read more here.

 

[meenakshiverma]

Have you looked at other books published by the company you're now working for? I'm sure you'll be able to work out quickly if they have a specific wording they always use. If you don't find any consistency in their other books, you can probably use whichever you prefer.

One question, though - are you sure the date of publication should go on the back cover? Normally, it appears on the first page inside the book. This is called the copyright page. You can read more here.

Yes, I looked into other books. Most of them are using "first published" and very few call it "first publication".... I preferred "first publication" but my friend said that "first publication usage is incorrect", when I asked why, she answered because not everyone uses that. "First published" is more popular on books. Now to me, just because a small group of people use that term, it does not have to be incorrect. Grammatical rules don't have anything to do with number of people following it. It is illogical to reject an idea because minority follows it and majority does not . So what I want to know originally whether the term "first publication" is correct or not.

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes, I looked into other books. Most of them are using use "first published" and very few call it use "first publication". I preferred "first publication" but my friend said that "first publication usage it is incorrect. When I asked why, she answered said that it's because not everyone uses that. "First published" is more popular on books. Now, to me, just because only a small group of people uses that term, it does not have to be incorrect. Grammatical rules don't have anything to do with the number of people following it them. It is illogical to reject an idea because a minority follows it and a majority does not. So What I want to know originally is whether the term "first publication" is correct or not.

Please note my corrections above.

"First publication" isn't wrong. It's basically a short version of "The first publication of this book was in ...". However, "First published" is understandably more common because it's a short version of the more natural "This book was first published in ...".

 

[Tdol]

I'd use first published. I might use first publication if talking about historical Gutenberg volumes, but not for something recent.