Anatomy of a Pocket Novel Cover

As I've said before, Pocket Novels are not like regular novels. For one, they're quite a bit smaller since they're short stories, not novels. But the length of the story is only part of what separates Pocket Novels from regular books. Much of the difference lies in the colorful wrapper.

In this case, maybe you can judge a book by its cover.

With fifteen years of professional experience in the art of graphic design, specializing in print media, our artist carefully plans, lays out, and renders each Pocket Novel cover, producing a work of art that both promotes the book and represents the overall tone and meaning of the story. When you look at the cover, it should inspire the same feelings that the story within will. This is why we get so many compliments on our covers. That awesome cover art is just a matching intro to the fantastic story behind it.

The back cover of our Pocket Novels is where the real differences show up. At first glance it might look like a tradition novel back, but then you'll start to notice certain features that you might associate with movies, comics or video games. These differences, which we hope will one day be adopted by every major publisher, are currently exclusive to Pocket Novels.

There's the blurb of course, the short description that tells you, the reader, exactly what the story is about without giving away any of the surprising bits that lay in store. What begins with the image on the front is driven home by the careful wording on the back. The story and its unique tone are summed up and presented here so you can decide if this will be a gift for your nephew or if you're keeping this one for yourself.

We said we did things with our covers that other publishing companies don't do, and here's the first. Just beside the Pocket Novel logo, you'll notice the story's genre clearly listed. When flipping through a stack of our stories, you can easily find them listed by genre. Looking for Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, Suspense, etc.? We proudly list our genres for your convenience. No more wondering. We openly tell you.

But the differences don't end there. Is the book suitable as a gift for your nephew? Will his mom call you up the day after Christmas, furious, because the innocent-looking book contains and explicit love-scene on page 16? Not if you can take the split-second to read what's located in the lower right corner of the back cover. Printed plain as day is the story's rating. All Ages, Teen, Mature. And we don't just rate the stories just like games and movies, we tell you exactly why it has that rating. No unpleasant surprises. No furious mothers. Just one more convenience to make your decisions that much easier.

What's that printed below the genre? What do those four words proclaim? Surely it can't be. I haven't seen that in 20 years! But it's true. Pocket Novels are printed right here in the United States of America, supporting local jobs and local families. Always have been. Always will be. Period. No outsourcing to foreign countries. No sweatshops. No slave labor. Just honest, hard-working individuals that you may bump into on the streets of this great nation. All our books are produced by a small, local printer. And that's how it's going to stay. Yes, that is a promise.

Finally, last but not least, is our logo. Pocket Novels. At the bottom left, proudly proclaiming that The Short Story Is Back!