Sponsored and administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors, the ASME Best Cover Contest honors the most outstanding magazine covers and digital images of the previous year. The contest began in 2005, when ASME members chose the top 40 covers of the previous 40 years. The No. 1 cover chosen then by ASME members was the Rolling Stone cover featuring Annie Leibovitz’s photograph of John Lennon and Yoko Ono published immediately after Lennon’s murder.

The winners of the ASME Best Cover Contest are now chosen by judging groups composed of leading editors, art directors and photo editors, most of whom are members of ASME. Finalists and winners are chosen in 10 categories. The ASME Board of Directors chooses the Cover of the Year from the winners in the 10 categories. Covers entered in the contest are also posted on Facebook and Instagram, where media consumers choose the winners of the ASME Readers’ Choice Awards.

Any consumer or business magazine or website edited and published in the United States is eligible to enter the ASME Best Cover Contest. Entries may include images from special-interest and newsstand-only publications. Other creators and publishers of magazine-like content, including newspapers and newsletters, are also eligible. Marketing and promotional magazines and websites are not eligible. The contest administrators reserve the right to determine if a publication qualifies for entry.

Download the 2025 Call for Entries

ASME Best Cover Contest 2025 winners announced. Read the press release here

View the Winners and Finalists Gallery

For more information, email asme@asme.media or call (212) 872-3737