Atticus Waller, who is an accomplished graphic designer, recently said the following about book cover design:

"When designing a book cover, I have six ideal goals: 1) A cover should communicate the book's content, be that the story or simply the mood. Reading the book first is important. 2) The graphics should convey only one conceptual statement about the book, which should nest neatly with the imagery. Avoid graphics with no conceptual reason for being. 3) Cover text should be cohesively incorporated into the imagery. 4) The cover should attract those who'll enjoy the book once drawn in. 5) The cover should stand out amongst many books from across a room. 6) The cover should satisfy the client I'm designing for and the author of the book."

Publishers know that a beautifully designed cover will lead to higher sales. This is the era of the big box bookstore, where millions of books compete with each other on the shelves to catch your eye. Some say that the art of the book cover is a dying one, because of the huge popularity growth of e-readers like the Kindle and the iPad. Nevertheless, new book cover art in 2010 was in top form. Check out ten of our favorites this year.