You are very welcome to register books that have been made in 2025. Just make your own profile and fill in the form (costs: € 75 for the first title, € 50 for the next).

There are five categories from which a total maximum of 33 Best Dutch Book Designs can be selected. They are:

• Prose, poetry or graphic novels
• Informative nonfiction (cookbooks, history books, doctoral thesis, etc)
• Art, photo and architecture books
• Books for children and young people
• Others

Criteria

To be eligible for selection a book must fulfil at least two of the three following requirements.

1 The work (which need not be in Dutch) must have been:

>published by a publisher established in the Netherlands;
>designed by a person holding Dutch nationality or resident in the Netherlands;
>printed by a printing business and/or lithographed by a lithography business and/or bound by a binding business established in the Netherlands.

2 On registering for the selection the registrant must donate to the Foundation 2 copies of each work; 7 further copies must be provided if a work is selected as one of the Best Dutch Book Designs.

For more details see the Rules.

Please note: 2 copies of your book(s) have to be send to:

Allard Pierson

t.a.v. Jos van Waterschoot (De Best Verzorgde Boeken)

Postbus 94436

1090 GK Amsterdam.

Your books must be in by Tuesday, January 13, 2026 at the latest.

The books can also be dropped off at Oude Turfmarkt 129 in Amsterdam, only NOT between December 25 and January 5.

NB: If the book is selected, an additional 7 copies will eventually need to be sent, but we will inform you about this first.

Entry fee & payment

The registrant pays €75 for the first title and €50 for each further title. For this registration fee, in due course you will also receive the catalogue that will be published in the fall.

You pay directly through Ideal. You can also pay later: after the registration period you will receive an invoice and you can pay by bank, but for this we will charge € 7,50 (administration costs).

Judging Panel

In each individual book the panel of expert judges looks for a combination of design, printing and binding skills and overall concept, in the last of these also taking into account differences in budgets and target group. This year’s panel consists of Anniek Meinders (Head Publicaties Van Gogh Museum), Arthur Herrman (graphic designer), Serana Angelista (artist, designer), Jochem Öfner (director printing company RaddraaierSSP) and Kylièn Bergh (Arts and Culture scholar).

The jury will assess a combination of design, printing and binding techniques, and commissioning; for the latter element, differences in budgets and target audiences will be taken into account.

Entries in whose genesis any member of the panel was involved are passed on to the shadow panel, which is made up of past members of the main panel. The shadow panel considers these books and decides which can be submitted for the final judging (the judge concerned being excluded from discussion of the book in question).

Student panel

A separate judging panel consisting of six students will make their own selection of max 33 books. The five members all come from top Dutch art colleges. Their selection will be part of the exhibition at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

The Best Dutch Book Designs 2025 will be submitted for the international judging in Leipzig. The Dutch and international selection will be announced on March 12, 2026.