About Us

What grabs your eye when you visit a bookstore, whether it is bricks & mortar or online? In our experience, it is a combination of:

- eye-catching cover design

- intriguing cover blurb

- and a first page that hooks something within you and won’t let go

This apparently simple equation works in partnership with other variables like recommendations from friends or booksellers, whether the reader has read other books by the author, price promotions & competitions… and so on. Not to mention whether the reader suffers from that (un)fortunate affliction that renders them unable to leave bookstores without a new acquisition!

We have set up this tumblr as a place to showcase the wonderful work done by designers and editors in packaging and polishing our books! If all our books were Cinderellas, these people would be their fairy godmothers.

About Allen & Unwin

Allen & Unwin is Australia’s leading independent publisher and has been voted “Publisher of the Year” ten times including the inaugural award in 1992 and eight times since 2000.

We publish around 250 new titles each year including literary and commercial fiction, a broad range of general non fiction, academic and professional titles and books for children and young adults. Our imprints include Allen & Unwin, Arena, Crows Nest and Inspired Living (MBS).

Our head office is in Sydney (83 Alexander Street, Crows Nest, NSW 2065. Tel 61.2.84250100), our children’s publishing office is in Melbourne (406 Albert Street, East Melbourne, VIC 3002. TEL 61.3.96655000) and our New Zealand office is in Auckland (Level 3, 228 Queen Street, Auckland. TEL 64.9.3773800).

Brief history
Allen & Unwin commenced publishing in Australia in 1976 as part of the UK company George Allen & Unwin Ltd established in 1914.

In July 1990, following the sale of the UK company, Allen & Unwin’s Australian directors effected a management buy-out and the company became fully independent, owning the Allen & Unwin imprint throughout the world.

Representation and distribution
As well as publishing our own extensive list of titles, Allen & Unwin are also the Australian and New Zealand agents for Atlantic Books and Corvus, Bloomsbury and A&C Black, Faber & Faber, Granta and Portobello, Icon Books, Nicholas Brealey, Profile and Serpent’s Tail, Short Books, Nosy Crow and V&A. In addition, we represent Murdoch Books in the New Zealand market.

Allen & Unwin distribute to the Australian and New Zealand markets through United Book Distributors (UBD), 30 Centre Road, Scoresby, Victoria 3179 (Tel 03.98112555, Fax 03.98112403)

International Sales
Allen & Unwin titles are available throughout the world - click here for details