Cover record penning novel arrangement (7)
I believe the answer is:
envelop
'cover' is the definition.
(enveloping is a kind of covering)
'record penning novel arrangement' is the wordplay.
'record' becomes 'ep'.
'penning' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'arrangement' is an anagram indicator.
'novel' with letters rearranged gives 'nvelo'.
'ep' placed around 'nvelo' is 'ENVELOP'.
(Other definitions for envelop that I've seen before include "Obscure" , "Swathe" , "Surround and embrace" , "blanket" , "Wrap up - pen love (anag)" .)