How to make a sudoku book for Amazon KDP

In short

low content

No. KDP lists puzzle books as “Not Generally Low-Content”, so the box stays unticked

ISBN

KDP’s own ISBN, at no cost, works for a sudoku book

pages

24 at least; at most 828 on 6 × 9 in and 590 on 8.5 × 11 in, white paper

print

type of 7 pt or more, lines of 0.75 pt or more

royalty

60% of the list price from $9.99, 50% at $9.98 and below, minus the print cost

new titles

2 new paperbacks a week per account

Kindle

No eBook edition: KDP names puzzle books among books not suited to Kindle

step 1 of 8

Decide whether it is a low-content book

It is not. KDP’s page on low-content books sorts examples into two columns, and puzzle books sit in the “Not Generally Low-Content” one, next to novels and coloring books:

“This does not typically include activity books, such as puzzle books or coloring books, which generally do not feature repetitive content on each page.”

KDP help · Low-Content Books

So leave the Low-content box unticked. That keeps three things low-content books give up: KDP’s own ISBN, the Look Inside preview (KDP calls it Read Sample) and series pages. The box is locked once the book is published. KDP adds that “there can be exceptions” and does not say when.

step 2 of 8

Pick the trim size and the page count

The trim size is the size of the printed page. KDP rounds the page count up to an even number, and the fewest it prints is 24. The most depends on the size and the paper:

These are the five sizes vøiddo makes; KDP prints eleven more. On cream paper the most is a little lower.

A large trim is one more than 6.12 in wide or more than 9 in high, and it costs more to print (step 6). That is about paper, not type: KDP’s help pages set no size for large print type, only a 7 pt minimum for any text. Large print puzzle books usually set their text at 16 pt or more.

step 3 of 8

Make the puzzles

A printed sudoku needs exactly one solution. A solver that stops at the first answer will not tell you whether there is a second, so count the solutions and stop at two. Grade the levels by the steps a solver needs as well as by the number of given digits: a grid with few givens can still fall to the simplest steps.

Two rules in KDP’s content guidelines matter here. Puzzles copied from the web are out:

“We will not accept content under copyright that is freely available on the web unless it’s provided by the owner of the copyright.”

KDP help · Content Guidelines

And the guidelines point to a list of content that disappoints customers, which includes “Content that is excessively reused, recycled, or repeated within or across books.” Give every book its own puzzles; do not reprint the same grids in a second volume.

step 4 of 8

Lay out the interior PDF

page size

The trim size itself: a 6 × 9 in page for a 6 × 9 in book. A sudoku book needs no bleed unless something prints to the edge of the page; with bleed the page grows 0.125 in wider and 0.25 in taller.

margins

At least 0.25 in at the top, bottom and outside edge (0.375 in with bleed), and an inside margin that grows with the page count, below

type

7 pt or more, every font embedded

lines

0.75 pt or more, the thin lines between the squares too

grey

fills of 10% or darker, KDP recommends

pages

Single pages, not spreads; even page numbers on the left; no more than 4 blank pages in a row at the start or in the middle, or 10 at the end

Sudoku layouts break the line rule easily, because the thin lines inside each 3 × 3 box are tempting to draw very thin. KDP’s wording:

“If your book contains lines (i.e., a chart, table or graphic element), give the lines a minimum thickness/weight of 0.75 point or 0.01″ (0.3 mm).”

KDP help · Paperback Submission Guidelines

Put the solutions at the back, in puzzle order, and save the file as a PDF.

step 5 of 8

Make the cover

The cover is one PDF: back cover, spine and front cover side by side, with 0.125 in of bleed on every outside edge. Its width is bleed + back + spine + front + bleed, and the spine width comes from the page count:

spine

pages × 0.002252 in on white paper, × 0.0025 in on cream

spine text

only from 80 pages: KDP’s cover page says both “at least 79” and “more than 79”, and 80 meets both

text

at least 0.125 in inside the trim, 7 pt or more

barcode

KDP prints one on the back cover if yours has none, so keep the lower right corner of the back clear

words

title, subtitle and author exactly as you type them into the book details

For example, 120 pages on white paper make a 0.2702 in spine; the full cover is 12.520 × 9.250 in at 6 × 9 in and 17.520 × 11.250 in at 8.5 × 11 in. The cover size pages work this out for every trim and page count and draw a cover guide as a PDF.

One more rule from KDP’s metadata guidelines:

“Covers that may be misleading because they closely resemble another book’s layout, color scheme, fonts and/or images aren’t allowed.”

KDP help · Metadata Guidelines for Books

step 6 of 8

Work out the print cost and the price

Black ink on white or cream paper, sold on Amazon.com, costs this to print:

Your royalty is the rate times the list price, minus the print cost. The rate is 60% at $9.99 and above, 50% at $9.98 and below, so one cent moves it by ten points. KDP’s own example, a book that costs $4.60 to print:

“(0.60 x $9.99) - $4.60 = $1.39” and “(0.50 x $9.98) - $4.60 = $0.39.”

KDP help · Print Book Pricing Page

The same sum for four sudoku books at $9.99, our arithmetic from KDP’s figures:

Up to 110 pages the print cost does not change, so a book of 100 pages costs no more to print than one of 24. KDP pays royalties about 60 days after the end of the month of the sale.

step 7 of 8

Fill in the book details

title

Title and subtitle together under 200 characters. KDP bars titles that repeat generic words such as “notebook”, “journal”, “gifts” or “books”.

keywords

Up to seven. KDP suggests phrases of 2 to 3 words and asks you to leave out words already in the title or categories, claims of quality and words like “new”.

categories

Up to three. KDP may move a book it finds in an unrelated one.

description

No web, email or mail addresses, no phone numbers, no requests for reviews, no reviews or quotes.

low content

Unticked (step 1).

distribution

Leave Expanded Distribution unticked. KDP’s page on it lists sudoku, puzzle books, word search, crossword and maze books among the content other stores do not currently accept. Sales on Amazon are not affected.

KDP also asks whether the book holds AI-generated content, which it defines as “text, images, or translations created by an AI-based tool”, cover and interior images included; using such tools only to edit or check your own work does not count. Its pages say nothing about puzzles made by ordinary programs that follow fixed rules, so read the definition and answer for your book. A cover picture made with an image generator does count.

Skip the Kindle eBook. KDP’s guide to Kindle content names “Puzzle books” first among the books not suited to the Kindle format, which “may be rejected upon submission or removed from sale”.

step 8 of 8

Submit, order a proof, wait

“Submission limit: Up to 2 new titles per book format each week, counted the first time you submit a title for publication.”

KDP help · Create a Book

The limit resets every Sunday at 00:00 UTC, counts paperbacks and hardcovers apart, and does not count updates to books already submitted. A second limit, also two a week per format, applies to creating new titles. Plan a series around them: two new paperbacks a week.

review

up to 3 business days; the detail page on Amazon.com within 72 hours of going live; up to 6 days for a first book on a new account

look inside

9 to 10 business days after the book is live

proof

optional: approve the book in the Print Previewer, then order up to 5 copies at print cost plus shipping, each marked “Not for Resale”

if refused

the book goes back to Draft and KDP emails what to fix

Steps 3 to 5 from vøiddo, in under a minute

• The puzzles, each checked by a second, separate program for exactly one solution, graded by the steps a solver needs, new for every new book.
• The interior PDF with the inside margin for its page count, embedded fonts, no line under 0.75 pt and the solutions at the back.
• The wrap cover with the spine for that page count and the barcode corner kept clear.
• listing.txt with a title, subtitle, description, seven keyword ideas, and which boxes on KDP to tick and which to leave, Expanded Distribution included.
• A signed check of both files against KDP’s paperback specs. If KDP still rejects the files within 30 days, the book’s credits come back.

One sudoku book is 500 credits, from $3.30 in the big pack. The puzzles come from rule-following programs and the cover is typeset from the book’s own puzzles; no image generator is involved.