How to Enter
1: Complete the appropriate submissions form:
Books and Journals Entry Form
Jackets and Covers Entry Form
2: Submit payment for your entries:
3: Ship ONE copy of each of your entries to the AUPresses Central Office:
Association of University Presses
Attention: Trevor Nau
Book, Jacket, and Journal Show
1412 Broadway, Suite 2135
New York, NY 10018
Deadline for Entries: Friday, January 17, 2025
ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE ENTRY DEADLINE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THE SHOW. NO EXCEPTIONS. NO EXTENSIONS.
Please mail entries as soon as possible to avoid a deluge of entries arriving close to, or after, the deadline.
View the call for entries PDF.
Entry Fees
$45.00 per book/journal
$35.00 per jacket/cover
Fees are due upon submission.
BOOKS AND JOURNALS
Scholarly typographic, Scholarly illustrated, Trade typographic, Trade illustrated, Poetry & literature, Journals, and Reference
JACKETS AND COVERS
Book Jacket design, Book cover design, and Journal cover design
EXPLANATION OF CATEGORIES
Books can be entered for competition in the AUPresses Book, Jacket, and Journal Show in the following categories: Scholarly typographic, Scholarly illustrated, Trade typographic, Trade illustrated, Poetry and literature, and Reference. Books may also be submitted for their jacket or cover design. Journals are judged on their overall design or on their covers.
SCHOLARLY BOOKS are intended for a specialized audience, oftentimes for academic instructors to use as texts in college courses. They are not widely distributed to sell in bookstores and are most often available from online retailers and directly from the publisher. They are reviewed in academic journals and advertised directly to their core audience. The text structure is typically more complex, requiring a design that helps the reader navigate the variety of text elements and scholarly apparatus, including footnotes, endnotes, and appendices. These books are given a specialist or short discount, which usually indicates that they will not be stocked in brick and mortar retailers; and online retailers may sell to customers at full price or less than their usual discount.
SCHOLARLY TYPOGRAPHIC: A book with no or comparatively few illustrations that are clearly subordinate to the text.
SCHOLARLY ILLUSTRATED: A book in which the visual elements (such as photography, art, or graphic design) are the focus and the text is subordinate.
TRADE BOOKS are intended for a general audience and to be widely distributed. The design is typically open and accessible and the text features few, if any, notes, appendices, and bibliographies. They are available for sale in bookstores and are reviewed and advertised in general interest and national newspapers, magazines, websites, and other media. These books are given a trade discount by publishers so that they may be stocked by brick and mortar retailers, and online retailers may sell them to customers at a discounted price.
TRADE TYPOGRAPHIC: A book with no or comparatively few illustrations that are clearly subordinate to the text.
TRADE ILLUSTRATED: A book in which the visual elements (such as photography, art, or graphic design) are the focus and the text is subordinate.
POETRY AND LITERATURE Poetry books often require line-for-line formatting and have unique spacing requirements, while works of literature typically have few formatting needs.
REFERENCE books may be primarily intended for a trade or a scholarly audience, depending on the subject. Because they will not be read from beginning to end, reference books must organize information in a way that allows for quick location of specific entries in the text, which should be easy to read. The text may be paired with illustrations or other visuals.
JOURNALS are intended to be available to readers in libraries and other reference collections for many years, so design for both interiors and covers must be timeless. Balancing the need for fresh design against the importance of honoring the journal’s brand (which might be decades in the making) is also an important consideration. A note on the cover design: it must work on its own and as part of a series. The spine design is particularly important, since journals typically sit together on a shelf.
Eligibility
This competition is open to members of AUPresses only. Presses may submit any number of books, jackets, and covers published in the current calendar year, 2024, and journals published at least twice during 2024. Books may have been manufactured anywhere in the world, but imports or copublications from another publisher are not eligible.
The Jurors
BOOKS AND JOURNALS
Alban Fischer
Alban Fischer has designed hundreds of book covers and interiors since 2009. His work has appeared in Graphis Design Annual (2023, Silver Award), has been shortlisted for the Art Directors Club Awards (2021, 2023), shortlisted for Communication Arts Design Annual (2023), selected for AIGA’s 50 Books/50 Covers (2017, 2019, 2020), included in the AUPresses Book, Jacket, and Journal Show (2017), and has been recognized by The Book Cover Archive, The Casual Optimist, Literary Hub, Print, and Spine. He lives with his husband in Michigan and is the founding editor of Trnsfr Books and author of the poetry collection Fake Moon.
Lara Minja
Lara Minja is the Principal and designer of Lime Design Inc., located in Victoria, British Columbia. Her love of the arts, history, learning, and storytelling has led her to the focused design of scholarly and trade books, exhibition catalogues, magazines, educational materials, and postage stamps. She holds bachelor degrees in visual communication and fine arts from NSCAD University and a master’s degree in communication and technology from the University of Alberta. Her work has been widely recognized by The Alcuin Society, The Association of University Presses, PubWest Design Awards, Applied Arts Magazine, University and College Designers Association, Council for Advancement and Support of Education, and Design Professionals of Canada amongst others.
JACKETS AND COVERS
Debbie Berne
Debbie Berne has been a professional, freelance book designer since 2002—designing hundreds of books in genres across the board and for everyone from the Big 5 publishers to independent and academic presses to self-publishing authors. Her favorite books to design are children’s picture books and cookbooks. In 2024 a book she both designed and wrote—The Design of Books: An Explainer for Authors, Editors, Agents, and Other Curious Readers—was published by University of Chicago Press. She lives with her family in Oakland, CA.
Angela Moody
Angela Moody, a visionary designer with a keen eye for aesthetics, has shaped the visual landscape for over three decades. Her BFA in graphic design from the University of Michigan laid the foundation for a career marked by innovation and creativity primarily as a branding designer but also with a particular focus in book cover design. Having collaborated with a diverse range of clients, including renowned university presses such as Northwestern University Press, Stanford University Press, University of California Press, and Fordham University Press, among many others, she also works for mass market publishers, independent presses, and individual authors. Her recent recognition in the Association of University Presses 2023 Book, Jacket, and Journal Show is a testament to and underscores her exceptional talent.
About the Book, Jacket, and Journal Show
The Association of University Presses Book, Jacket, and Journal Show honors excellence in design produced by its member presses. The show recognizes meritorious achievement in the design, production, and manufacture of books, jackets, covers, journals, and digital publications by members of the university press community. 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of this book show.
What you may notice first about the publications by AUPresses members is the wide variety of subjects, forms, and approaches to disseminating scholarship. This variety reflects the diversity of the members themselves. Some members are among the very largest scholarly publishers in the world while other presses are offices with small staffs and limited resources. It also reflects the variety of new forms and formats available to publishers including digital and print-on-demand technologies in addition to offset printing. The budgets for the publications themselves reflect the market needs of the individual project, the press’s resources at hand, and decisions a press makes about physical aspects of the publication. What unites these books, however, is something you cannot see. It is the fact that these publications have been subject to the rigorous standards of peer review.
The design and production aspects of these publications are also integral to the very mission of the Association. Excellent design contributes to a book or journal’s reception and its impact in the larger world.
In addition to recognizing excellent work, the AUPresses Book, Jacket, and Journal Show provides an evaluation of members’ work and serves as a focus of discussion and a source of ideas for intelligent, creative, and resourceful bookmaking. The 2025 show will include books published by AUPresses members in 2024 and jackets and covers of books published that year. Books may have been manufactured anywhere in the world, but imports, and copublications designed and produced by a with a foreign publisher, are not eligible.
Through the show, and its acclaimed annual catalog, the Association seeks to expand the conversation about the essential importance of good design in scholarly publishing.
Special thanks to the 2024–2025 Book, Jacket, and Journal Show Committee
Michelle van der Merwe, British Columbia, Chair
Shiraz Abdullahi Gallab, Michigan
Ashley Bernicky, Toronto
Alison Cobra, Calgary
Jennifer Conn, Wisconsin
David Zielonka, Stanford
Lori Lynch, Alabama
Isaac Morris, New Mexico
Corey Parson, North Georgia
Peter Perez, North Carolina
Kate Kolendo, Community Development and Communications Manager, AUPresses
Trevor Nau, Administrative Coordinator, AUPresses