In TS3, how does novel writing work. Is it like in FT where you can choose the cover and thought bubbles? What about being able to buy them at a book store, can other sims purchase them? I really like the TS2 novel writing, but it is kind of boring w/out FT.

You can control the genre and the title. That's about it.
They then receive a copy in the mail, and other sims can read it at the library. Haven't been able to find a single custom book at the book store, though. Which seems like BS to me.

Any given sim can refine "writing skill." The higher your writing skill, the better your books will be, and the more genres will be open to your sim. Your sim writes the book and sends chapters off to a publisher regularly. Then when it's finished he'll got weekly royalty payments, and a copy of the book.

In my experience I haven't been able to choose the cover or anything, but you can choose the title.

Thanks, that answers my question. It seems not as good as I hoped, but better then the TS2 basegame.

Depending on the genre I noticed the texture on the book itself is different. A Romance having a different design to its cover than say a Horror novel when sitting around or in your inventory.

Eh? It's something.

Well, I was too slow writing my answer (I hate being that bad in English )...

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As far as I have experienced it:

At first, you choose the genre of the book you want to write (the better the writing skill, the more options you have here) like humor, drama, sci-fi or non-fiction... Then you choose the book title (the game gives you a suggestion). Yeah and after that your sim starts writing.
How many pages your book will have is determined by the type of book you're writing, for example non-fiction books have around 90, humor books around 320 - if I remember correctly. The more pages the book will have the longer the sim needs to write it. During the writing process my sim could consistently sell some chapters to a publisher and earn some (little) money that way.
When your sim is done, the whole book is sold to a publisher and your sim gets the pay: weekly royalties. And you learn, if the book is a flop, hit or best-seller. The next day your sim will find the new book in the mailbox for personal use.

I don't know if other sims can now buy these written books in the bookstore, but I can tell, that my sim read his own book in the library. :D

Hope that helps.