A book cover is not an illustration of your story. It is a contract with the reader about the experience inside. When the contract is unclear, even the perfect reader walks past.
The two-meter test
Step two meters back from your cover on a screen. Can you read the title? Can you tell the genre in under a second? If either answer is no, your cover is failing the only job it has on a search results page.
Genre conventions are not clichés
Romance covers look like romance covers because that is how romance readers find romance. Breaking convention is allowed. Breaking convention without earning it is just hiding.
What your cover is really selling
Not the plot. The feeling readers will have on the couch at 11pm with this book in their hands. Mystery readers want to feel sharp. Literary readers want to feel slow. Romance readers want to feel safe enough to feel something. Your cover should promise the right one.
The takeaway
If your cover does not earn the click in one second, the rest of your marketing is paying to compensate for it. Fix the cover first.
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