Research for a book cover? I can hear people asking that question. And the answer is, yes. Trends for genres come and go and if you aren't up on them your book might be ignored by your target audience, especially in publishing. When I first published my Merlin's Chosen series glossy covers were the go to for YA books. Now it's matte covers. A fellow author's kids told her she had to do matte because that's what kids wanted. Minimal was in for a while in dystopian, and is still the go to for most in that genre. The point is, do research. Go to a book store, find the section for your genre and see what the majority of the covers look like. Trust me, you'll see a trend among them. It doesn't mean you must do what is popular, but it's good to know what is the current mainstay for the publishing industry. 

Something else you need to think about is your title. Yes, what you've picked may fit your story perfectly, but it may not be the best title to use. I've seen a lot of people choose titles that are either already in use by a more well known author, or they pick something that is associated with something else entirely. Like band names or a product name. Google your title and see what comes up. A fellow author and I both have books in the works titled Breathe, they are vastly different stories but same title. Titles aren't copy written, so you'll find multiple books with the same or very similar titles. If you want to stand out then try and make your title unique. You don't want someone associating your book with something you never intended it to be associated with. A group a friend of mine belonged to wanted to call something Nirvana and a couple of them said, "But then everyone is going to think it's the band." And one girl goes, "There's a band called Nirvana?"

Google, my friends, can be a big help. If ever you aren't certain about something then Google it, you might get conflicting answers, but you'll get something that could help you. I don't care if it's information for your books or something else, Google it. This generation is so lucky, you have vast amounts of information at your fingertips 24/7. You have so many helpful tools that can make life so much easier for you, but many rarely use them and run around ignorant instead. In a time when information is so readily available I have never seen so many stupid people in my  nearly fifty years of life. People don't take advantage of what's right in front of them. When I was a teenager doing research involved hauling your butt to the library. It meant opening a book and searching out the information you needed. I can't imagine being an author back then, it's vastly easier to research a book nowadays than when I was younger.

So do your research, whether it's for content inside your book or for the cover on the outside. Know what you're doing.