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2026 Australian Book Design Awards – Check Out the Book Cover Longlist
The 2026 ABDA Book Cover Awards Longlist Is Out – And It’s a Masterclass in First Impressions
One of my favourite annual announcements has landed: the longlist for the 2026 Australian Book Designers Association Awards. It’s the 74th year of celebrating Australian book designers and I’m always in awe given the only art I create is in word form!
Each year, the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA) longlist is a reminder that book covers are not just decoration, they are positioning. Covers are a promise, they’re art, they’re strategy, they’re a feeling – and more and more are key to a book’s success.
Across every cover design category – literary fiction, genre, children’s, illustrated, non-fiction, poetry, cookbooks – the longlist showcases work that understands something fundamental: a cover can’t just look good, it also needs to work.
As I’ve written before when talking about cover design, a strong cover answers three critical questions:
- Who is this for?
- What kind of reading experience am I about to have?
- Does this feel professionally produced and worth my time (and money)?
The longlist makes clear that the best designers across fiction and non-fiction aren’t simply choosing fonts or colour palettes. They are making nuanced decisions about hierarchy, tone, genre signals, retail thumbnail visibility, and emotional cues.
For authors – especially indie authors – this list is also a benchmarking tool. It shows what “excellent” looks like in the current market. And yes, there might be no design here that would work for you or your book, you might not even like any of them – but they’ve been designed and published this way for a reason.
Plus – if there’s a design you DO like, you can reach out to the designer to get a quote to design for YOU!
With the authors I mentor and consult, the writing is most important, but then, so much comes down to book cover choices. There’s the choice of designer, the budget, and the necessity to understand that the book you wrote – now needs to find its readers – much of that is done through the cover.
I point my writers in the direction of the best cover designer for them, their budget, genre and readers – so much can go wrong in this part of the process so it’s so important to get the right match.
We talk often about writing craft. But production craft matters just as much if you want readers, media, librarians, podcast hosts and others to take you seriously.
It’s also why entrepreneurial authors often go back and redesign their covers and relaunch their books years later! Updating them for current trends and to make a fresh impact. Sometimes the budget wasn’t there the first time. Sometimes it was poor initial briefing or a disconnect with the designer. Sometimes it’s because they have launched more books. And sometimes, it’s just because the world has changed and readers see the world is different too.
If you’re writing in series, the long list is especially useful.
Take a look at that category to see how designers link each book together, build the author and series’ brand over time, and make readers want every one of the covers in their collection.
What I also appreciate about the ABDA longlist each year is seeing both established and emerging designers recognised. Good book cover design is an art form, and these are the year’s best.
Congratulations to all the longlisted designers. The bar is high – and that’s great news for Australian authors and readers alike.
You can access the longlist here.