kdp · killer sudoku books
Killer sudoku books for KDP, ready to upload
Pick the level, the number of puzzles and the trim size. You get the interior PDF with every solution, the full wrap cover with the spine sized to the page count, and a signed check of both files against KDP’s paperback specs. One price for any killer sudoku book: 500 credits, from $3.30 in the big pack.
The sample book, as delivered
How every killer sudoku is checked
- Exactly one solution. A second program, written apart from the one that makes the puzzles, tries every way to fill every cage from its total and finds exactly one finished grid: the one printed in the answers.
- Logic alone, no guessing. Each puzzle is solved again step by step from the cage totals alone, with no starting digits. Easy puzzles need only the cages and the usual sudoku steps. Medium ones may use the rule of 45 on a row, column or box. Every hard one needs more than the basics, and about a third need the rule of 45 on several rows, columns or boxes at once. A hard puzzle the basic steps can finish is never printed.
- Clean cages. Every cage is one connected group of up to 5 squares with no digit twice, and a puzzle has at most two one-square cages (one at medium and hard), so the grid never hands out digits.
- Full solutions at the back, each cage outlined in light grey so a solver can check one cage at a glance.
What you choose
| Level | Easy (mostly cages of 2 and 3 squares), medium (more cages of 3 to 5) or hard (more cages of 4 and 5; every puzzle needs more than the basic steps) |
|---|---|
| Puzzles | 16 to 150 on 8.5 × 11 in large print (up to 120 at hard); the form shows the range for each size and level |
| Large print | On by default: one puzzle to a page, cage totals of 16 pt. Regular print puts two on a page 8 in wide or more |
| Trim size | 6 × 9, 7 × 10, 8 × 10, 8.5 × 11 in or A4; white or cream paper |
| Title and author | Your title, subtitle and name or imprint, printed on the cover, the spine and the title page |
| Seed | The same seed and settings make exactly the same book again; left empty, every book is new |
Questions
What is killer sudoku?
A sudoku with no starting digits. Dashed lines cut the grid into cages, and the digits in a cage add up to the small number in its corner, with no digit used twice in a cage. Every row, column and 3 × 3 box still holds the digits 1 to 9 once. The book’s how-to page explains the rules and the rule of 45: every row, column and box adds up to 45.
Will KDP accept the files?
Each book passes our check against KDP’s published paperback specs before you can download it: page size, page count, embedded fonts, margins and gutter for the page count, cover size and spine. If KDP still rejects the files within 30 days, the book’s 500 credits go back to your key.
Can I make a series?
Yes. One book per level with your series name in the title, or the same level with new puzzles in each volume: every book without a seed gets new puzzles.
Can killer sudoku go in a variety book?
Yes. Pick it with any of the other kinds on the form; it gets its own page of rules and its own answers section.
What goes in the listing?
listing.txt in the ZIP has a title, subtitle, description, seven keyword ideas and the print options to pick on KDP. The preview folder has six images of real pages for your listing.
Also: sudoku books · kakuro books · variety books · large print puzzle books · KDP cover sizes