Forma Generic eBook Covers

[lopan]

Hello,

Apologies in advance if this post is in the wrong forum but I'm wondering if anyone can shed light on a cover issue. I have purchased a couple of books and although while the covers show in the thumbnails they do not show when you go into the book itself. I am not sure if it is a device issue or if the publisher has designed the eBooks in this manner. Has anyone else experienced this?

I did contact Kobo chat but to no avail. At one point they indicated the file may be damaged and would discuss with the content team. When I followed up I was instructed to go through the usual steps; log out, log in, repair device, restart device, re-download file, etc.

[DNSB]

Those look like the covers I often see on library books from the Randy Penguin. And yes, if you open the books with an editor, you will find the cover image is the one displayed when the book is opened while the thumbnail is supplied by Kobo's servers.

If you are sideloading the ebooks, you can use calibre and either it's builtin Polish function or the Modify ePub plugin to update the covers if the book is not DRM protected. As an alternative, you can use the Kobo Utilities plugin to update the cover images for books downloaded from Kobo or already sideloaded on your Kobo ereader after you have updated them in the calibre metadata download/edit tool.

On yet another hand, I'm not sure why so many people seem so concerned about the cover image. They are not something that I am that enthused about since I see them for the fraction of a second it takes to the next page. My screensaver uses random images from the screensavers directory.

[Sirtel]

Yes, it's not that unusual. It's the publisher issue, namely the publisher hasn't bothered to include a proper cover with their book. The only thing you can do is change the cover in Calibre, as DNSB said.

[Karellen]

If you want some Godfather covers, I have some here...
https://github.com/KarellenX/book-co...0720bd5e20de85

[lopan]

Thank you for your replies everyone. Much appreciated.

And yes, in the grand scheme of things the cover is not really that much of an issue but if publishers are going to charge so much for a non-physical book then a cover would be nice

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by lopan

Thank you for your replies everyone. Much appreciated.

And yes, in the grand scheme of things the cover is not really that much of an issue but if publishers are going to charge so much for a non-physical book then a cover would be nice

It's especially hilarious when you buy such a coverless book and then find the following warning inside:

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware
that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and
destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the
publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

Which is a carryover from the paper book days and the publisher hasn't bothered to remove it from the ebook.