They say our attention spans are shortening. And that our appreciation of nuance has become limited in the era of X and Instagram. Some have even said that reading is a dying pastime. However, there is evidence that the book market is in rude health, which is great news for book cover illustrators.
Let’s look at the figures. According to Publisher’s Weekly, 762.4 million books were sold in the United States in 2025, more than in 2023 or 2024, but not quite as many as the 839.7 million copies shifted in 2021 – a number driven by lockdown. In the UK, NIQ reports show the market was down half a per cent in 2025, but revenue still reached £1.8 billion.
Reading culture is not dying; it’s just that people who read are reading rather than wasting time doomscrolling. If you do find them on social media, they’re likely around the BookTok and Bookstagram hashtags, enthusing about trending reads like Rebecca Yarros’s Onyx Storm collection or Richard Osman’s mysteries. Indeed, adult fiction sales are up with two escapist genres leading the way – romantasy and cosy crime. Oh, and cosy fantasy is a thing too, apparently.
As ever, publishers need insightful illustrators who can draw readers in – whether that’s via an online platform or in the physical bookshop. The idea of the book as an object of desire still holds sway, with high production values and beautiful artwork justifying premium price points.
“The market feels as buoyant as ever to me, and I can point with confidence at BookTok, Bookstagram, lockdown, romantasy and reading becoming cool again as reasons for that,” says veteran British illustrator Sarah J Coleman. “There have been some fabulously successful screen adaptations of best-selling books lately – One Day, Heartstopper, Aristotle & Dante to name just a few – which will always attract people to the original, printed version and any back catalogue.”
We decided to ask a select group of illustrators about how they approach book cover illustration and their experiences in the field.
Marianna Tomaselli
Italian artist Marianna Tomaselli works across the gamut of commercial illustration, including lifestyle imagery, packaging, entertainment and editorial projects. As such, book covers are just part of her repertoire, yet in this area she’s recognised for the ability to capture the atmosphere of a story or subject and put it into an image.
“My style is quite graphic and atmospheric,” says Marianna. “I’m much more interested in creating a mood than illustrating a literal scene. I mainly work digitally, and I love combining drawing, composition and colour to create covers that feel elegant, timeless, and emotionally engaging.”
Currently based in Milan, Marianna has been illustrating romance and mystery novels, and with a background in live-action and animation productions, she approaches book covers with a focus on making the era, genre, and mood of a book clear at a single glance. Crime novel Giardino con Delitto by Martina Parker is a good example of this.
“The author described it as ‘Italian chic’ and joked about the corpse being well dressed,” says Marianna. “So, I wanted the image to feel elegant but still clearly hint at a murder mystery. I chose a greenhouse setting because it’s visually rich and interesting, and it allowed me to subtly hide the body. You only see the feet.”
Sarah J Coleman
Based in the East Midlands of the UK, Sarah J Coleman – AKA Inkymole – has been a book cover illustrator since 1993 and is as busy as ever. She’s one of the most sought-after illustrators in the world for her calligraphic cover text, and the way this elegantly merges with her gothic-inspired linework often makes for a killer combo. Her 50th anniversary cover for To Kill a Mockingbird is just one of the briefs that have made her famous in publishing circles.
While everything seems to have changed since she started illustrating, book covers have remained remarkably similar. “If we’re talking about the fundamental requirements of a cover: it should hint at the content at a glance, it should communicate the mood and essence of a book, it should catch the eye of a potential reader and it should deliver a legible title and author credit – although whether to do that, and how legible, is sometimes also an aesthetic choice.”
However, the industry’s structure has changed with technological advances. There are still big publishers, but there are also authors and small presses out there who now enjoy a more direct route to market. “Technology and social media have empowered authors and provided an alternative to the publisher-only route to creating a physical book for sale, which has meant that I’m working directly with more authors now rather than solely with publishers, something I definitely wasn’t doing 20 years ago,” says Sarah. “Many self-publishing authors need their hand holding through the process, so it can feel more collaborative and more like a journey you’re taking together. It’s quite enriching to work both ways.”
Amanda Howell Whitehurst
Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Amanda Howel Whitehurst is an artist who often favours mid-century retro styles. Her portfolio is especially strong in pulp-style painted cover illustrations and imagery inspired by Silver Age comic book art from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. These are looks that clients and readers favour as she pairs a classic look with modern stories and subjects.
“I think they’re drawn to the nostalgia and the warmth of those styles,” says Amanda. “There’s something comforting about imagery that feels familiar, especially right now. A lot of people are gravitating back toward visuals that remind them of a time when things felt a bit simpler and more intentional. That’s definitely what it does for me.”
That same comforting vibe can be observed in her cover for Story of Things Imagined, an image shortlisted in the Book Covers category of the World Illustration Awards in 2025. The artwork focuses on the artist Solange, with an aesthetic inspired by Little Golden Books, a series of children’s books published in the United States dating back to the 1940s.
“I’ve always been drawn to the nostalgia of vintage children’s book illustrations and the sense of warmth, calm, and comfort they have,” says Amanda. “The goal was to translate those qualities visually and emotionally, and let my book feel like something familiar, peaceful, and very personal at the same time.”
Amanda works digitally but also uses oil and gouache paints.
Dawn XT Yang
The name Dawn XT Yang is worth looking out for – especially when it comes to book illustration. In 2025, she won The Folio Award, a prize given by the Folio Society, which reprints classic books replete with slipcases, high-quality binding and original illustration. Last year, the challenge was to create an image for the fairytale Rapunzel, which Dawn entered.
“For me, Rapunzel is not just a fairytale – it’s a metaphor for separation and breaking free from a toxic relationship or environment. I see the tower and the mother figure as symbols of control and emotional confinement. The moment when Rapunzel’s hair is cut is the turning point of the story. It’s the instant everything changes.”
You can see how she uniquely captured this moment in her illustration, which drips with shock, sadness, anger and fear, but also with a sense of awakening. According to Dawn, she poured all her emotion into the illustration. Indeed, every book illustration brief she tackles begins with what feelings the story evokes.
“After I finish reading, I ask myself: How did this book make me feel? Where did the emotional shift happen? What stayed with me?” says Dawn.
“I believe the reader’s experience often mirrors that first emotional impression. Illustration is a form of visual communication, so accurately conveying the story’s core emotion is essential. The strongest covers don’t try to summarise everything – instead, they capture the emotional essence.”
Originally from China, Dawn is based in New York City.
Rohan Eason
After studying fine art printmaking and book arts, Rohan Eason has been a professional illustrator for over 20 years, and his work appears in over 60 titles across children’s and adult literature. His pen-and-ink images sometimes look like the etchings used for illustration in the 19th century, giving his work a traditional quality.
“Being sent a brand-new manuscript still excites me greatly,” says Rohan. “It’s like being handed a plate of food you’ve never tasted. I love how my brain uses the words to draw pictures in my mind, pictures that can take shape on paper, and begin to bring a new dimension to the story.”
One of the London-based illustrator’s most recent works is the jacket for Silubra, by the German author Imogen Rost. “I let the words do what words do, and trust my imagination to work its magic,” Rohan continues. “It’s a beautiful process, and you never know where you will end up, or what references your memory will choose to adopt in how it describes the idea. So many avenues, options and possibilities, all boil down, given enough time and space, into a single clear thought. This thought is then tested and stretched, pulled apart and laid bare, its constituent parts thrown against the paper, until a beautifully balanced composition emerges, and a calm resolution, and a succinct message is spoken without uttering a word.”
The finished cover and original artwork for The Haunted Wood
