Designers, It’s Your Time! Entries are now open for the 74th ABDA Awards.

We’re thrilled to announce that the 74th Australian Book Design Awards are officially open for submissions! 

We can’t wait to see the amazing creativity and craftsmanship that’s been poured into this year’s book designs.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Early bird entries close: Midnight, Tuesday, 9 December 2025
• Entries close: Midnight, Wednesday, 24 December 2025
• Awards ceremony: May 2026 in Melbourne (stay tuned for more details!)
• Open to: Australian designers, for books published between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025

Updates to the awards:
To keep up with the evolution of genres and to encourage a wide spread of entries, one of the categories have changed slightly.

• Best Designed Commercial Fiction Cover is now Best Designed General Fiction Cover: A ‘general fiction’ title is aimed at general and commercial markets and includes genre fiction such as crime, romance, adventure, thriller, fantasy, science fiction, horror, comedy etc. Books in this category are judged on the cover alone.

Optional Design Notes:
A short statement written by the designer is now optional and is at the designer’s discretion. These notes may include, but are not limited to; print finishes, the designer’s concept and/or process, how the designer responded to the brief, any budget constraints, any unique challenges you faced in the design process, and anything you feel the judges should know about the book to help them understand the concept behind the design.