Well, I'm a dork. I can't even use being new as an excuse - I used Calibre for the first time almost three years ago. (Though I've never looked at the plugins or half the other preferences.)
Anyway, yes, that did the trick, and beautifully so. See, when you mentioned above that the cover fixing would be a new plugin, I looked at the plugins, saw I had a Sony one, and just figured it would be a new one when it got updated. So after I checked again I almost came back on here and said "yes, I have the plugin...but it still doesn't work," but then I tried and double clicked on it, and behold! It opens into something else and I can click on the author sort and the covers thing.
No wonder it seemed like none of my covers transered over...
Thanks for your patience guys. If it makes you feel better I've been trying to explain how things work to my Mom, since I gave her my old 505. (Had to handle a panicky moment the other day because she never authorized her Reader and was mad and certain she was out the money for the couple of books she had just bought that wouldn't open. Though she's better than my aunt that I had to go over to show her how to use the USB stick a friend gave her. See, I'm not bad at all.)
Thanks again.