Scholars have largely ignored the book cover as a field of inquiry generally until they began to conceptualise it as a key element of Gérard Genette's work on ‘paratext’, those aspects that are part of a conscious effort to frame and inform the public reception of a printed text. Debate about the limitations of Genette's approach aside, his work provides a useful framework for exploring important paratextual elements of Horwitz paperbacks. There was the title, often no more than three words long, which was sometimes changed as the book moved across geographical borders or, in the case of a work originally in hardback, appeared in paperback, a process during which the company's editors often tried to make the title more provocative in tone than the original. Another element was the author's name, often a pseudonym, and especially important in the case of a popular series. Other paratextual elements included a ‘blurb’, a short punchy line of prose used to describe the story, which mobilised emotionally hard-hitting and sensational sounding words. The blurb was written by one of Horwitz's editorial staff or, in the case of a book that had originally appeared in hardback, lifted from a newspaper or magazine review. Horwitz paperbacks occasionally also featured the words ‘complete and unexpurgated’ to indicate an original and unabridged work. The practice of placing these words on the cover originated early in the American paperback revolution in response to publishers who cut or shortened original hardcover texts for their paperback release, often due to paper shortages. The Federal Trade Commission responded by forcing publishers to note on the front cover if the text of a book had been abridged or significantly changed. In terms of framing a pulp paperback's public reception, the words ‘complete and unexpurgated’ also became a shorthand code for material that was likely to be more adult and salacious.

Important paratextual elements were contained on the back cover of Horwitz books. These included a summary of the story or passage from the text, almost always centring on its most thrilling or explicit themes. In the case of titles by popular Horwitz authors in the 1950s, the back cover also included an author photo, as well as a short biography that mined the writer's life for sensation in such a way as to collapse the distinction between their real identity, their pulp persona, and the category of fiction they wrote.