kdp · nonogram books
Nonogram books for KDP, ready to upload
Pick the level, the number of puzzles and the trim size. You get the interior PDF with every answer filled in and named, 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 nonogram book: 500 credits, from $3.30 in the big pack.
The sample book, as delivered
How every nonogram is checked
- Exactly one solution. A separate counter, apart from the steps that make the puzzles, tries every way to fill the grid that fits every row’s and every column’s numbers, and finds exactly one: the picture printed in the answers. The counter was itself tested against every possible 4 × 4 grid.
- Line by line, no guessing. Each puzzle is solved again one line at a time, using only what a row’s or a column’s numbers allow, after it is made and again before it is printed. A grid that line logic cannot finish is never printed, so a solver never has to guess.
- A real picture. Every grid hides a picture: animals, food, vehicles, tools, sports and more. The pictures were drawn by our program from the shapes of an open license picture font and picked by hand, one by one. Easy grids have 128 pictures, medium 180 and hard 135, each in up to four versions, and no picture appears twice in a book.
- Room to read. No row or column has more than 5 numbers, so the numbers stay large and never crowd the page, with a light band behind every other five rows and columns to keep each line’s numbers with it.
- Named answers at the back: each finished picture with its name, 12 to a page (4 or 6 in large print).
What you choose
| Level | Easy (15 × 15 grids), medium (20 × 20) or hard (25 × 25) |
|---|---|
| Puzzles | 17 to 120 on 8.5 × 11 in large print, one puzzle a page; the form shows the range for each size and level |
| Large print | On by default, with the numbers at 16 pt or more. A big grid needs a big page: in large print, easy books come in 7 × 10 in and larger, medium in 8.5 × 11 in and A4, and hard in regular print only. In regular print, easy and medium fit every trim and hard needs 7 × 10 in or larger |
| Trim size | 6 × 9, 7 × 10, 8 × 10, 8.5 × 11 in or A4; white, cream or groundwood paper |
| Title and author | Your title, subtitle and name or imprint, printed on the cover, the spine and the title page |
| Cover color | The kind’s own color, or one of eleven others, so a series of yours looks like no one else’s |
| Cover layout | The puzzle above the title, the title above the puzzle, or the title on a card over the puzzle |
| Seed | The same seed and settings make exactly the same book again; left empty, every book is new |
Questions
What is a nonogram?
A picture puzzle in a grid, also called a Japanese crossword or paint by numbers. The numbers beside each row and above each column give, in order, the runs of filled squares in that line: 3 1 means a run of 3, then at least one empty square, then a run of 1. Fill in the right squares and a picture appears. The book’s how-to page explains the rules with a small worked example.
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, line weight, blank pages, 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 a new mix of pictures and versions. The volumes of a series draw on the same pictures (128 at easy, 180 at medium, 135 at hard), so a picture can come back in a later volume, often moved, resized or mirrored; within one book, never. Pick a cover color and layout for the series on the form, so its covers stand apart from other people’s.
Can nonograms go in a variety book?
Yes. Pick them with any of the other kinds on the form; they get their own page of rules and their own answers section. The grid size follows the book’s level, and the same trim rules apply.
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 · futoshiki books · calcudoku books · kakuro books · variety books · large print puzzle books · KDP cover sizes