I'm brand new to this site and I tried looking up the answer, but couldn't find an answer.  Here is my question: Can you message someone regarding a book to find out information on it?  It's not regarding the condition, but I have a series of books that I want all to be the same type of covers.  Is it possible to find out?  I know the covers of the book and the image on here don't have to match.

If I understand your question, I belive if you want information on a specific book (ie book condition) you'd have to actually request it and then PM the person who has it on their shelf.

Is there a penalty for requesting and then cancelling if it's not what I'm looking for?  I would rather not request multiple items and have to cancel on others...

If I were you I would set up a Requestor Condition (RC) describing which covers you want.  Just be sure to turn them off if you are requesting books that aren't in that series.  That way you won't have to cancel books if they aren't what you are looking for.  Plus you won't run the risk of someone accepting and mailing the book before they look at your PM. 

You can also ask on relevent forums.  You may be surprised at what people can tell you.  :)