Almost every magazine publisher I've ever worked with has had intricate (and sometimes immovable) theories about what you put or don't put on your cover in order to get people to buy. Back in the seventies and before, one iron-clad rule was that you never — no, never — cover any part of your logo in any way. You want it to be instantly readable. I see a lot of magazines breaking that "rule" these days.
Also, every publisher seemed to have a list of words and phrases that increased sales. The man who was the Publisher at Marvel Comics for years, Martin Goodman, had a list that included words like "tales," "savage," "astonish," "strange" and "suspense." That was why he published Savage Tales, Tales to Astonish, Strange Tales and Tales of Suspense. He also seemed to believe no one would buy a western comic book unless it had the word "kid" in its title. When I briefly worked in 1970 for a publisher of Hollywood-themed gossip magazines, he got angry if the words "Love Nest" were not on his covers…and it couldn't be spelled "Lovenest."
So I'm wondering about the current issue of Cosmopolitan which, as you can see, partially obscures the title and tempts potential purchasers with, "Butt & Leg Workout. Get the Ass You Deserve!" What was the thinking behind that?
I'm not saying it won't help sell magazines. It's certainly a grabber when one is waiting at the supermarket checkout counter. I'm just wondering about the discussion before they put that on there. I'm not a big reader of Cosmo but it seems to me every cover has to have at least one promise to women of the secret to getting a body that men will crave.
And come to think of it, if you took out the part about butt and leg workout, the exact same blurb would work on the cover of Hustler.