Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

Submission details

Submitting your entry

For submission, we are asking for three book design spreads using your new design system for Penguin.

  1. Use the Penguin paperback template provided below which will give you the correct sizing
  2. The Penguin logo has to appear on the front cover and spine, although you can decide where and how it is displayed
  3. Use the cover copy provided below for your books of choice

Submission form

Naming your PDF

In order to ensure that the shortlist selection process is completely impartial, the judges will only see the PDF and its file name.

Please name your PDF with your initials, underscore, date and month you were born, underscore and the award category.

For example, if your name was Allen Lane and you were born on 21 September, then it would be: AL_2109

File format

  • PDF
  • 300dpi
  • CMYK
  • 3mm bleed
  • Maximum file size 5 MB
  • Crop and bleed marks applied

If you’re unsure what crop and bleed marks are, click here for our cover design jargon buster.

For each book title, please include the front cover only on the first page of your PDF and a full cover spread (front, spine and back cover) on the second page of your PDF (supplied as one document). This means you will submit a 6-page PDF – as illustrated in this example.

You can do this by creating your InDesign document with ‘facing pages’ selected, which will make it into a book and magazine format.

Cover design template

Please refer to the FAQ page for frequently asked questions about submissions.

Shortlisted entrants

Shortlisted entrants will be notified by email by Wednesday, 12 February 2025.

Shortlisted entrants will be required to provide the following support material for their final submission – submitted digitally:

  • A short, typewritten text (max. 50–100 words only) explaining the concept for their design.
  • A one-page landscape PDF demonstrating the development of the thought process from the original research to the final concept.
  • A high-resolution PDF and JPEG of the front cover only and of the full cover design (both to size 1:1) with and without bleed and trim marks