What makes a cover sell — lessons from 1,000 launches

Readers decide in under two seconds whether your cover belongs in their world. That means genre cues must be unmistakable at thumbnail size.

We analyse comp titles, colour trends and typography that survives Amazon’s grid. The best covers do not try to tell the whole plot — they make a single emotional promise.

If you are launching in a crowded category, invest in a designer who thinks like a marketer, not only an illustrator.