I love this cover for many reasons. All of the stories in this collection make an impact (sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes dark) and there is a "ripple" effect from them. The play of light on the water with dark and light intersecting with each other represents the stories well too. And, of course, I hope the stories will draw in future readers as my eyes are drawn in to that central image.
Most of the time, of course, writers are creating images with words. It doesn't necessarily have to be a lot of words either (as flash fiction generally proves). It is the selection of words that matters and one of my favourite moments in writing is when I know absolutely I have chosen the right word or phrase for the image I want to conjure up at that point in the story. (And you do know when you've got it spot on. Usually takes many an edit to get to that point though!).
Sometimes a picture can help inspire a writer to find the right words or, at least, give a rough idea of the effect you want to achieve (making it easier to find said right words).
So what pictures are you hoping to conjure up in your stories? Beta readers can be really helpful here in confirming that you've succeeded here - or not as the case may be. Sometimes they can pick up on things you hadn't - I've had that happen a few times but those insights are always really useful (albeit disconcerting at times).