How to make a puzzle book for Amazon KDP (word search, sudoku, mazes)

Below, each choice in the order you make it: the trim and paper, the print size, puzzles per page and answer keys, the low-content box and the ISBN, where the book can be sold, and what it costs. The worked example is kdpbook’s default puzzle book: 108 pages at 8.5 × 11 in.

What trim size and paper should a puzzle book use?

8.5 × 11 in is the usual size: big grids and room for a word list. Use white paper for crisp grids; the interior is black and white, and only the cover is printed in color. KDP accepts 24–590 pages at 8.5 × 11 in in black and white. The trims kdpbook’s puzzle types offer, at 108 pages on Amazon.com:

A hardcover edition needs at least 75 pages and one of KDP’s hardcover trims (6 × 9 and 8.25 × 11 in for kdpbook’s puzzle types). Pick the trim before you lay out the pages: after publishing, a new trim size means a new edition.

What makes a puzzle book large print?

Bigger letters, bigger cells and fewer puzzles per page. KDP’s help pages we checked don’t define a large-print size; its only rule is a minimum of 7 pt for any text. kdpbook’s listing check warns you if you tick “Large print” with body text under 16 pt, and in large print its word search pages never set the grid letters or the word list smaller: the generator drops words, then shrinks the grid, until both fit. Its grids run from 10 × 10 letters on easy to 20 × 20 on expert before that fitting. If you say “large print” in the title, make sure every page lives up to it.

How many puzzles per page, and where do the answers go?

• One puzzle per page for large print, with its title and instructions above the grid. Smaller print can take two.
• Answer keys at the back, several small solution grids per page, numbered like the puzzles. kdpbook’s 108-page book holds 88 puzzles and 15 pages of solutions, about 6 per page, after 4 pages of front matter.
• Every puzzle must work: every word placed in a word search, exactly one solution for a sudoku, exactly one path through a maze. kdpbook generates and checks puzzles in code, not with an AI image model, so grids are exact.
• Group puzzles by type or theme and get harder through the book, so buyers see progress.

Is a puzzle book a low-content book on KDP?

No. KDP defines low-content books as repetitive books meant to be filled in, such as notebooks and planners, and says this doesn’t typically include activity books such as puzzle or coloring books. Its own table lists puzzle books as not generally low-content. Leave the low-content box unticked. More in what low-content books are on KDP.

Does a puzzle book need an ISBN?

Yes, like any regular paperback or hardcover: use the free KDP ISBN (the imprint then reads “Independently published”) or your own. Unlike a low-content book published without an ISBN, it can show a sample on Amazon (Look Inside), so buyers can see the grids and the print size before they buy.

Can a puzzle book be a Kindle eBook or use Expanded Distribution?

Kindle: no. KDP’s content-quality guide lists puzzle books among books not suited to Kindle, because readers write on the pages. Publish in print only.

Expanded Distribution (bookstores and libraries): you can tick it for a paperback, but KDP’s page lists puzzle topics among the content its distributors don’t currently accept:

KDP’s Expanded Distribution page says its distributors “may not accept books according to their guidelines and policies”, and that content not currently accepted includes, but is not limited to:

• paperbacks with frequent lined or blank pages (journals, notebooks, planners, calendars, agendas, organizers)
• summaries of, or insight into, another published book without the original author’s permission
• interiors that need a high concentration of ink
• public domain content
• coloring books
• poorly translated content
• content rebranded or re-released with significant metadata changes
• content excessively reused, recycled or repeated within or across books

The same list continues with a table of topics: sport, cryptocurrency, cookbooks, travel guides, Bitcoin, keto, biographies, options trading, intermittent fasting, cryptography, Python, plant-based, guided exercise, NFTs, Mediterranean, word scramble, workbooks, dark psychology, motivational quotations, handwriting practice, manipulation, manifestation, scissor skills, mind control, mindfulness, activity books, hypnosis, fitness and dieting, drawing books, narcissism, ChatGPT, puzzle books, crafting books, word search, trivia books, Cricut, sudoku, how-to books, knitting, crossword, title count over 99, crocheting, maze, joke books, cross stitch. Hardcovers aren’t eligible at all. Source: KDP Help: Expanded Distribution, read on October 4, 2026. Per-type status: KDP Expanded Distribution.

Plan on Amazon sales.

What does a puzzle book cost to print and make?

On Amazon.com, the 108-page 8.5 × 11 in black-and-white paperback costs $2.84 to print, and its minimum list price is $5.68. KDP pays 60% of the list price from $9.99 and 50% at $9.98 or less, minus the printing cost:

Try other prices in the royalty calculator and other trims in the printing cost calculator, or read KDP royalties explained: paperback, hardcover and Kindle rates in 2026.

With kdpbook, a 108-page puzzle book is estimated at about 460 credits, within the 2,000 free credits every new account gets (free-plan files carry a preview watermark and aren’t for sale). Start from the puzzle book generator for a mix, or a single-puzzle type: word search, sudoku or mazes for kids. To try single grids first, use the free word search maker, sudoku maker or maze maker. Comparing tools? Read kdpbook.io vs Book Bolt and kdpbook.io vs LowContent.ai.