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What draws you to a cookbook - other than a familiar author?
CONTENT. A familiar author means nothing to me if the book won't contain anything I am interested in using or making.
Since one of my main objectives for cooking is to try as many different world cuisines as possible, using recipes that are as authentic as possible, I use the Internet (or ask people who are native to a particular culture) to find out what foods would best represent the culture - either for everyday meals or special occasions. Other types that I like are ones that focus upon a particular ingredient, or that provide detailed and useful instruction.
Very often, I will ask those same people for actual recipes (such as the lumpia I am about to try making, for which I even joined a Filipino website that has a "Filipino Food and Fiestas" forum). If I then look through corresponding cookbooks, I'll compare to make sure the recipes therein have not been too "Americanised."
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Do you like a picture or pictures on the cover?
I do not consider them necessary but, when they are used, I prefer photos that feature representative food items, not people, not landscapes, not art, but something for which the recipe IS inside, and that would be something more likely to be made, instead of just having been chose for a flashy presentation.
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Do you prefer verbage about the book on the cover instead of pictures?
Again, I'm all about the CONTENT. Verbiage (by definition, excessive wordiness) would NOT be acceptable. Brief, biographical information about the author/editor is okay, but most of the text should describe the CONTENT of the book in such a way as to be accurate AND to give me a good reason for choosing the book over others, including some idea of how involved or difficult the
average recipes in the book are.
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Any other ideas for covers that catch your eye?
Not so much catching the eye, but also important: covers that won't fall apart when used in a kitchen (instead of just sitting on a bookshelf), and whose ink won't come off on your hands (especially due to contact with things that would be used in the kitchen).
One thing that DOES catch my eye, but in a negative way, is incorrect spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and other signs of sloppiness and unprofessionalism. If the book is something being offered as a typical "church cookbook," or similarly self-published work, I will relax those standards, to some degree, but the content will remain the deciding factor.
No big deal!!! 
) was sold to a group who do not seem to be as altruistic as the old group, so with their logo on the book, I have to kind of fly under the radar.