What makes a great book cover

1. Has a great title

The best books ever written have good titles. “Think and Grow Rich”, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, “The 4 Hour Workweek”, etc. The title has to catch your eye and make you think, “What’s that about? I want to know!”

2. Shows the reader what they will get out of it

A good book cover shows what the book is about. That way when someone sees it on a bookstore shelf or online they can say, “Oh! That looks interesting. I wonder what that is about? I want to read that!”

3. Is unique

A lot of people are competing for your attention on a bookstore shelf or online. If two books look very similar then one will lose out every time. This is why many people have complained about my own book covers (which were designed by someone else). They all look similar because they were designed by the same person and we didn't care enough to find someone else. So now I'm going to be more aware of this problem when designing my next book covers.

4. Has an image or photo that represents the content in some way (that doesn't necessarily mean literal)

For instance, Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire" has a Spartan helmet on the cover. Why? Because it's about Spartans and their battle tactics so he wants you to think "Spartans" when you see his book on a shelf or online. And there's an image so you can see what it looks like instead of just reading text. Another example is "The Obstacle is the Way". The author always talks about how stoicism was used by ancient Roman soldiers so there's an image of a Roman soldier on the cover even though it has nothing to do with modern day soldiers at all. Again, this is done so when you see it in a bookstore you'll think "Stoicism" instead of something else entirely and maybe pick up the book.

5. Is not too wordy

You don't need text covering up half the cover telling everyone why this book is so great and why they should buy it right away! The text should be minimal but still convey everything needed for someone browsing in a bookstore or online to decide whether they want to read your work or not. In other words, if your cover doesn't pass this test then no one will ever pick up your work off a bookstore shelf or click through on Amazon because they won't waste time reading all that text before deciding if they want to read your work or not (and most won't).

6. Is well-designed in general but also conveys what genre / category your work falls into

This means having good typography, colors that go together well, images / photos that are relevant (and high quality), etc.. Also important: does it look like something from within its category? For instance, if you're writing self-help then does your cover look like other self-help covers? Does it use colors similar to other self-help books? Or if you're writing fiction then does yours look like other fantasy novels? You don't want readers picking up your novel thinking it's non-fiction since its cover looks like non-fiction novels! It's important for readers who browse through categories easily (like on Amazon) not get confused as to which category yours falls into since this will determine whether they click through at all..