You can't entirely judge a book by its cover but a well-judged cover will tell you something about the contents and entice you to open the pages. So you might think the best-selling books have the best covers, or that great books always have brilliant covers. Not always. The shortlists for the 2016 Australian Book Design Awards highlight different books from other awards. It's always fascinating to spot the design trends. While commercial fiction covers often scream for attention, all finalists (Adam Laszczuk for Guilt by Matt Nable, Darren Holt for King Rich by Joe Bennett, Sandy Cull for Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic, Imogen Stubbs for Skin by Ilka Tampke) used muted colours and abstract, illustrated designs rather than the usual emphasis on women's faces and bodies. Is a subtle sophistication creeping in? Literary fiction continues its focus on clever typography: Josh Durham for Anchor Point by Alice Robinson, Allison Colpoys for Hope Farm by Peggy Frew, Laura Thomas for Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman, W.H. Chong for Muse by Jonathan Galassi. So does non-fiction, in which Chong has Between You and Me by Mary Norris and Colpoys has the other three finalists – Lion Attack! by Oliver Mol, Six Square Metres by Margaret Simons and We Are All Stardust by Stefan Klein. Colpoys, who was recently picked among 52 inspiring women book cover designers by The Casual Optimist, an American blogger, is also shortlisted as illustrator in the young-adult category. Last year's young designer of the year, Stubbs also appears in three categories, as does Durham. Daniel New, also a former young designer, is shortlisted for his third cookbook award. Murray Batten and Amy Daoud are strong candidates for young designer. Looking at the 60 titles in 15 categories, there's no doubt we have a wealth of first-rate original talent. Winners will be announced on May 13.

THE WRITER'S LIFE

The University of Technology, Sydney, has had a series of distinguished writers in residence, including Frank Moorhouse, Mandy Sayer and Leah Purcell. Now the role has changed, with the Copyright Agency funding the UTS New Writers Program. Two mid-career writers of fiction and non-fiction will receive $40,000 for 12 months to spend two days a week with postgraduate writing students and the rest of their time working on their own book, which must have publisher interest. John Dale, professor of writing, says the idea to support writers with one or two published books came from the late Brian Johns as chairman of the Copyright Agency. "For authors it's often not the first book that's the hardest but the subsequent books," he says. They may have a pitiful advance, if any advance at all, and though there's been some critical success there is no financial success." He expects to be inundated with applications at John.Dale@uts.edu.au.