What Makes a Best-Selling Magazine Cover?

No part of a women’s magazine is more critiqued, tinkered with, obsessed over, and polished to focus-grouped perfection than its cover. Magazine covers are meticulously designed for maximum grabbiness. Editors know what readers like and respond to, and what makes them put their wallets away. Want to know how to craft a best-selling magazine cover? Here are 159 shocking, sexy secrets about how covers convince us to buy. (See what we did there?)

By DivineCaroline

Celeb Cover

The cover model can make or break the issue. You probably already know most women’s magazines feature actresses or singers on their covers, usually timed to coincide with a star’s new movie, album, or big project. But if you wonder why some stars pop up more often than others, it’s because certain stars simply sell more magazines. Jennifer Aniston (seen here on Marie Claire’s best-selling issue of 2011), Sarah Jessica Parker, Angelina Jolie, Mila Kunis, Heidi Klum, and Lady Gaga are proven performers. Other celebs don’t fare so well, such as Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, and Fergie, who provided both Lucky and Allure with their worst-selling issues of 2011.