Mr. Green, the author of the global blockbuster “The Fault in Our Stars,” is in some ways the ideal author to start this experiment. He’s got a devoted young fan base — his novels have more than 50 million copies in print — and a huge social media following, with more than five million followers on Twitter and 3.1 million subscribers on YouTube through his Vlogbrothers channel, which he runs with his brother, Hank.

The mini versions of Mr. Green’s novels — “Looking for Alaska,” “An Abundance of Katherines,” “Paper Towns” and “The Fault in Our Stars” — will be sold for $12 each, or $48 for a boxed set, at major retail chains like Barnes & Noble, Walmart and Target as well as independent bookstores, where they will often be given prime placement on counters next to the register. With their appeal as design objects, mini books could eventually make their way into furniture and design stores and outlets like Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, potentially broadening publishers’ customer base.

Dutton and Mr. Green are hoping that younger readers from a generation that grew up with the internet and smartphones might be receptive to the concept of a miniature flipbook.

“Young people are still learning how they like to read,” Mr. Green said. “It is much closer to a cellphone experience than standard books, but it’s much closer to a book than a cellphone. The whole problem with reading on a phone is that my phone also does so many other things.”