5 tips on landing a visually arresting book cover

Tips on how to curate design, text and imagery to make a strong book cover.
An illustration of an orange book. The cover is bare.

We all judge a book by its cover regardless of what the adage says, but how do you make sure that your own work stands out like a beacon among the sea of titles? Remember, whether it’s on a shelf or on a screen, the cover is the face of your book, an invitation for prospective readers to engage further, so giving a good impression should be an absolute priority. Here are some tips you should consider before you decide.

Have a browse through some of the winning and shortlisted covers of the Australian Book Design Awards presented by the Australian Book Designer Association, the longest running book design awards in the country. For over 70 years, the Awards have ‘celebrated the bravest, the most beautiful and most original books published in Australia’. You’d be sure to find some inspiration for your own book in this catalogue of work that impressed the judges.

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Thuy On is the Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian. Her debut, a collection of poetry called Turbulence, came out in 2020 and was released by University of Western Australia Publishing (UWAP). Her second collection, Decadence, was published in July 2022, also by UWAP. Her third book, Essence, will be published in 2025. Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy