- Edited
NOTICE: Do not try to request for a cover at this thread! Any posts of that sort will be ignored.
Whenever I come to the forum these days, the front page has at least one or two threads dedicated to people struggling with book covers, whether it's how to upload it, how to change it, or etc.
It's not that hard, people. Let's address these issues:
1) Why is my book cover not uploading?
Well, that's probably because your book cover doesn't fit what Webnovel requires. Webnovel has very specific (& clear) requirements for your book cover, and they list it very clearly under the space where you can upload your cover.
Your cover MUST be EXACTLY 600 px in width, 800 px in height, no more than 5 MB, and in JPG format.
If your cover does not fit any of the three listed above, it's not going to work.
So... how to fix this issue?
Simple: make your cover fit those guidelines.
If you found an image that's not exactly 600x800 px, make it that way. Use something like https://imageresize.org/ and resize/crop your image! The site above also has functions to optimize/compress your image to make it less than 5 MB if that's the case (i.e... here) and it also has image converting functions to change your file type from whatever it is to JPG.
You don't have to own Photoshop or be a graphic designer to be able to do some basic editing like this. Searching online will give you more than enough results.
2) My book cover fits the standards, but it's still not uploading.
If that's the case, there's a few things that you can try that'll potentially fix this issue.
1) Go on another device. If you're on desktop, try on a mobile device. If you're on mobile, try desktop. If neither work, try another desktop/mobile device you haven't already.
2) Go on another browser on desktop. (e.g. chrome, firefox, microsoft edge, opera, etc.)
3) Reinstall the app if you're on a mobile device. Make sure your app is completely up-to-date.
4) Clear cookies and cached files/images on desktop. Not sure if this works, but it might do something.
5) Refresh the page if you're on desktop.
6) Check if your cover really fits the guidelines of 600x800 px, jpg, and under 5 MB. This might sound stupid, but you could seriously just be off by something all along.
7) Try another day. Maybe Webnovel's just experiencing glitches. Come back to it another time.
3) How do I change my book cover?
Changing your book cover is another simple thing that clicking around for a while will lead you to the results.
Go on MOBILE SITE or DESKTOP
(as of right now, I'm pretty sure that even on the app, it redirects you to the link for inkstone)
1) Go to Inkstone (link)
2) Hover over Workspace on the sidebar.
3) Click Stories
4) Click Explore for the story you want to change the cover of. It should be a blue button towards the right.
5) Click Settings, which should be a gear icon in the top right, next to "create chapter".
6) Press to upload book cover. It should be the first thing you see.
Again, make sure your new cover fits the guidelines of 600x800 px, less than 5 MB, and JPG.
4) How do I get a book cover?
Either make one yourself, or get someone to make one for you.
On the Webnovel forum, there are a few threads dedicated to getting you a cover.
Just search "covers" in the search bar, find a thread that's open, and request! (If they are open! Make sure to read the original post on the threads/any recent posts to see if they are open or closed. Do not request if they are closed-- as the owner of one of the threads, I can tell you that it is 100% frustrating to see people request when they are closed.)
You can also search around on other sites (e.g. wattpad, deviantart) to see if there are any people who are willing to make graphics for your stories.
If you want to make a cover for your own story, then there are programs both online and installable to help you finish the task. I personally prefer Photoshop CS6, but that costs money and there are good free alternatives too (just do some research on your own on what you can use) I've also seen people use online resources like https://www.canva.com/ which seems to work pretty well to get you a simplistic cover.
Webnovel also has a new function where in inkstone, there's a cover maker.
You can find it right under where you would click to upload a book cover. It says "Create your own book cover in 5 steps! Start!". Click the start, and the rest is pretty self-explanatory, so I don't think it's necessary to explain how it works (for now?).
I also have this thread, Novel Cover Tutorial/Process, that gives some insight or inspiration if you want to look at how I make covers myself. There are plenty of tutorials online that are much better though, but I'm just putting that link out in case people don't want to do research themselves. (which is understandable... research is hard)
5) Where do I get images for my cover?
Here's where things get a little tricky.
If you want to be legal and not break any copyright laws, the best thing is to use images that you know you have the rights to. Be prepared to face copyright issues & monetary damage if you're ever discovered.
If you want to find free images that you legally are allowed to use, you can go on google and apply the filter "Labeled for reuse with modification" (Go to Images > Tools > Usage Rights > Labeled for reuse with modification) to get images that you CAN use commercially too. If you want to pay for your image, there are options where you can buy the rights to use photos (e.g. stock photos or custom commissioning an artist). If you don't know if the photo you want to use is copyrighted or not, automatically assume that it is copyrighted.
If you just want to use images that you automatically know will be safe, there are sites like https://unsplash.com/ and https://pixabay.com/en/
But... There are so many people breaking copyright laws with the covers they use. Not many of them get discovered. Just know that you can use an image you don't own the rights to, but there's always a risk you're choosing to take in case the original owner of the image finds that you're using and decides to sue you.
6) I uploaded my cover on desktop and it shows up fine, but on mobile, it's still the old cover/no cover?
The Webnovel mobile app is much slower than the desktop. Give the app some time, and it'll eventually update. Don't panic. It will change.
That's about all the common questions and answers I can think of for now. If there are any more questions that you may have, feel free to leave them down below. I will do my best to answer them! (just please stop spamming the forums with threads about the same repetitive questions of "book cover blablabla")
