Judging a Book by its Cover

I think I now have the second half of the next book plotted. I'm now starting to see "movies" of scenes in my head, which is a good sign. Before, it was rather blank. Even when I knew what would happen in a scene, I couldn't see what it looked like.  I have to say that this is a case where giving myself a time quota for work helped. It was like the idea of forcing yourself to make a list of 20 things that can happen, so you can't just stop at the first idea that seems good. In this case, forcing myself to continue thinking until my time was up instead of stopping when I thought I was done resulted in coming up with an additional idea that pulled it all together.

I've been doing some strategizing with my agent, so look for some potential news in the near future. We've made some decisions about how to handle a "problem" (doesn't seem to fit into publishing niches) book, and I'm really excited about it, but it does mean having to make some other decisions that will require research.

Which brings up some questions: What kind of book cover is most likely to catch your eye? Are there any particular things you love/hate/are sick of seeing? Is there a cover you absolutely love, enough that it made you take a look at that book?

In other news, I've finally finished the last library run stash, and I didn't realize it at the time, but just about everything I picked up turned out to be some kind of family saga, usually quite serious and a little bit soap opera-like. There was some payoff, as some of those books sparked an idea that may lead to my Next Big Thing, but I think I need to find something a little lighter. I have two books on hold at the library that probably fit the "fun" quotient that I'll need to pick up this week, but it's very cold today (well, for Texas) and I still haven't entirely rid myself of that annoying cough, so I will not be venturing out today. I may have to force myself to start working through the To Be Read shelf. I think I still have some of the contemporary romantic comedies from the late 90s when that was a trend. If I start one of these books and can't get into it, I'm giving myself permission to get rid of it. Or, now that I think about it, I might even have some of those 70s-early 80s gothics from British publishers that I got from a former boss's wife.

Though the main thing I'll be reading today is my own book.