A KDP puzzle book is a regular paperback, not a low-content book, so it needs an ISBN (KDP’s is free). A typical setup is 8.5 × 11 in, black and white on white paper, about 108 pages with the solutions at the back. On Amazon.com that book costs $2.84 to print and earns $3.15 per copy at $9.99.
At a glance
| Setting | What KDP allows or requires |
|---|---|
| Trim | Any paperback trim. 8.5 × 11 in for large print; 6 × 9 in for a smaller, cheaper book. |
| Interior | Black and white. White paper gives the most contrast; cream costs the same. No bleed needed. |
| Page count | 24–590 pages at 8.5 × 11 in on white paper |
| Low-content box | No: puzzle books aren’t low-content |
| ISBN | Required: KDP’s free ISBN (imprint “Independently published”) or your own |
| Kindle eBook | No: KDP lists puzzle books as unsuited to Kindle |
| Expanded Distribution | You can enroll, but distributors decline repeated content, and KDP names puzzle books among the genres concerned |
| Hardcover | Possible from 75 pages on a hardcover trim (6 × 9 in, 8.25 × 11 in), not at 8.5 × 11 in |
| AI disclosure | Required for AI-written word lists, clues or quotes and AI cover art; not for grids made by an ordinary algorithm |
Word search, sudoku or mazes
Word search, sudoku and mazes make very different books. A word search book needs a theme and good word lists; a sudoku book needs grids with exactly one solution, graded by difficulty; a maze book needs one clear path per maze and, for children, wide paths. Mixed books combine several types. These are the starting points kdpbook’s generators use at each level (the same code runs the free makers):
| Level | Word search | Sudoku 9 × 9 | Maze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 10 × 10 grid, 10 words in 2 directions | 38 given digits | 8 cells across |
| Medium | 14 × 14 grid, 16 words in 4 directions | 32 given digits | 14 cells across |
| Hard | 16 × 16 grid, 22 words in 8 directions | 28 given digits | 22 cells across |
| Expert | 20 × 20 grid, 30 words in 8 directions | 24 given digits | 32 cells across |
- Word search: words of at least 3 letters, each hidden exactly once. A word hidden inside a longer one (STAR in STARFISH) would be found twice, so leave one of them out. Harder levels add diagonal and backward words.
- Sudoku: fewer given digits usually means a harder puzzle, but the solving techniques a grid needs matter as much. A puzzle with two solutions is broken, so check every grid with a solver. For young children, 4 × 4 and 6 × 6 grids start at 9 and 18 given digits on easy.
- Mazes: a “perfect” maze has exactly one path between any two cells, so the solution is unique. More cells across means narrower paths and a longer solve.
Trim size and large print
KDP accepts puzzle books in any paperback trim. The trim sets how big each puzzle can be, and whether KDP charges the large-trim rate: anything wider than 6.12 in or taller than 9 in costs more to print. At 108 pages, black and white, on Amazon.com:
| Trim | Trim class | Printing cost | Minimum list price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.5 × 11 in | Large | $2.84 | $5.68 |
| 8 × 10 in | Large | $2.84 | $5.68 |
| 6 × 9 in | Regular | $2.30 | $4.60 |
| 8.27 × 11.69 in (A4) | Large | $2.84 | $5.68 |
Large print isn’t defined in KDP’s help pages (checked 2026-09-28): the only type rule is a 7 pt minimum, for every book. Publishing guides describe a “Large Print” checkbox in the paperback details that labels the listing, and 16 pt as the usual large-print minimum; KDP Help doesn’t document either. kdpbook’s large-print word searches keep grid letters and word lists at 16 pt or larger, shortening the list when a page can’t hold them. Width is what limits a grid: with KDP’s minimum margins for 108 pages (0.375 in inside, 0.25 in outside), a page at 8.5 × 11 in leaves 7.875 in across, so a 15 × 15 word search gets cells about 0.53 in (38 pt) wide. At 6 × 9 in the same grid gets 0.36 in cells (26 pt), which is why kdpbook’s large-print puzzle books default to 8.5 × 11 in.
Page count and printing cost
On Amazon.com a black-and-white paperback costs a flat $2.30 ($2.84 on large trims) up to 108 pages, then $1.00 plus $0.012 per page ($0.017 on large trims). KDP’s help table lists the flat fee for 24–110 pages; kdpbook’s calculators follow KDP’s own calculator, which already uses the per-page formula at 110. Up to 108 pages, the page count doesn’t change the cost.
| Pages | 8.5 × 11 in | 6 × 9 in |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | $2.84 | $2.30 |
| 60 | $2.84 | $2.30 |
| 100 | $2.84 | $2.30 |
| 108 | $2.84 | $2.30 |
| 120 | $3.04 | $2.44 |
| 150 | $3.55 | $2.80 |
| 200 | $4.40 | $3.40 |
A 108-page plan, as an example: 4 pages of front matter (title, copyright, how to play, contents), 89 puzzles one per page, then 15 pages of solutions at 6 per page. KDP counts blank pages too, but allows no more than 4 in a row at the start or in the middle and 10 at the end, so fill spare pages with notes pages or a bonus puzzle. At 108 pages the spine is 0.243 in wide on white paper, and KDP allows spine text from 79 pages.
Answer keys
- Put the solutions at the back, in puzzle order, and give each one the puzzle’s number or page. Solutions on the facing page spoil the next puzzle.
- Shrunk solution grids still follow KDP’s minimums: text at least 7 pt and lines at least 0.75 pt, whatever the grid size.
- Check every puzzle: each word placed exactly once, each sudoku with one solution, each maze with one path. One wrong answer key breaks the book for the solver.
- Mark the words or the path clearly: circled words, filled digits in another weight, or a drawn path, so a solver can check at a glance.
ISBN, Kindle and distribution
KDP’s low-content category covers notebooks, planners, journals and logbooks, and its help page lists puzzle books as not generally low-content. Leave the low-content box unticked and publish with an ISBN: KDP’s free ISBN works (the imprint then reads “Independently published”), and unlike a low-content book without an ISBN, it can have Look Inside, so buyers can see the puzzles. See low-content vs medium-content books for the full rule.
KDP’s Kindle quality guide lists puzzle books as unsuited to Kindle, so there is no eBook edition. Expanded Distribution (bookstores and libraries outside Amazon) is open to puzzle books, with no guarantee: KDP’s page says distributors don’t accept content that is excessively reused, recycled or repeated within or across books, and its list of genres concerned includes puzzle books, word search, sudoku, crosswords and mazes. If distributors decline a book, KDP removes it from Expanded Distribution, with no effect on its Amazon listing. A hardcover edition is possible from 75 pages, on a hardcover trim.
Pricing and royalty
KDP pays 60% of the list price minus the printing cost from $9.99 on Amazon.com, and 50% below. For the 108-page 8.5 × 11 in example (printing cost $2.84), the minimum list price is $5.68:
| List price | Rate | Royalty per copy |
|---|---|---|
| $6.99 | 50% | $0.66 |
| $7.99 | 50% | $1.16 |
| $8.99 | 50% | $1.66 |
| $9.98 | 50% | $2.15 |
| $9.99 | 60% | $3.15 |
| $10.99 | 60% | $3.75 |
| $12.99 | 60% | $4.95 |
One cent matters: $9.98 earns $2.15 and $9.99 earns $3.15. KDP pays on your list price even when Amazon discounts the book. Try other prices in the royalty calculator and other trims in the printing cost calculator, or read KDP royalties explained.
Free makers or a whole book
One puzzle at a time, free. The word search maker builds 8 × 8 to 22 × 22 grids from your words or 20 themes, with large print and an answer key. The sudoku maker prints 4 × 4, 6 × 6 and 9 × 9 grids from easy to expert, each checked to have one solution. The maze maker draws rectangle and circle mazes up to 40 cells across, with the solution. They run in your browser, need no account, and print on US Letter or A4, the same sizes as two KDP trims. To turn them into a book you still lay out every page at your trim with KDP’s margins, number the puzzles, build the answer section, and make a full-wrap cover sized for the page count with the cover size calculator.
A whole book with kdpbook. The puzzle book type builds a 108-page 8.5 × 11 in interior of word search, sudoku, criss-cross, cryptogram, word scramble and maze puzzles on your theme, large print by default, every puzzle checked by code and the solutions at the back, plus the full-wrap cover and a listing sheet. It is estimated at about 460 credits, within the free credits. New accounts get 2,000 free credits once, with no card required. Free-plan books carry a kdpbook.io preview watermark and are shared in the community; any paid plan exports clean files. For a single puzzle type, use the word search book, sudoku book or maze book types. The grids are built by code, but the word lists, clues and quotes are written by AI and the cover art is AI-generated, so declare both in KDP’s AI questions. kdpbook drafts the listing but doesn’t research niches or keyword demand, and it can’t promise that KDP will accept a book or that it will sell. Comparing tools? kdpbook.io vs Book Bolt and kdpbook.io vs LowContent.ai.