The My Puzzle Book Generator Blog

Tips, guides and news for making better activity books.

Word search maker: how to create your own word search puzzles

How a word search generator works, what to set before you make one (grid size, directions, difficulty, word list), and how to turn a single puzzle into a whole printable book. What you can build for free in My Puzzle Book Generator and what needs a licence.

How to make a puzzle book for KDP: the complete guide

The short answer first, then every step in order: niche, puzzle types, page layout, solutions, trim size, PDF, cover, upload and launch. With links to the detailed guides for each step and a realistic idea of how long it takes.

How to write a book description that sells (with examples)

The description is the only sales copy on your Amazon page. A simple structure for puzzle and activity book descriptions, three worked examples you can adapt, the formatting KDP allows, and the mistakes that quietly cost sales.

How to make a colouring book with your own drawings

You have drawings, or you can make them. Here is how to turn them into a colouring book that prints well on KDP: line weight, cleaning up scans, page size and bleed, single-sided pages, the number of pages, and how to add a few puzzles so the book stands out.

Spot the difference books: how to make them and why kids love them

Spot the difference is one of the most loved puzzle types for children and one of the least published, because the pictures are hard to make. Here is how the puzzle works, how many differences to use per age, how to produce the scenes, and how to lay out a book that sells.

How to choose a niche for your puzzle book

The niche decides whether a puzzle book sells before you make a single page. A practical method for finding one: the three-part formula, the Amazon checks that take twenty minutes, niches that keep working, and the ones that look good and are not.

Colour or black and white on KDP: what it really costs

Colour interiors look wonderful and can wipe out your royalty. A clear look at KDP's black ink, standard colour and premium colour printing costs, with worked examples for an 80-page activity book and advice on when colour is worth it.

The best puzzle types for kids' activity books by age

Which puzzles belong in an activity book for a four year old, a seven year old, or a ten year old? A practical guide to twenty puzzle types, sorted by age, with grid sizes, page mixes and the ones to avoid.

From idea to Amazon: publishing your first activity book

The whole road from a first idea to a live activity book on Amazon, in ten steps, with how long each step really takes, what it costs, and the links to the detailed guides for each part. If you have never published a book, start here.

KDP trim sizes for puzzle books explained (8.5 x 11, 6 x 9, 8.5 x 8.5)

Which trim size should your puzzle book be? A plain guide to the KDP sizes that work for word search, sudoku, mazes and activity books, with margins, bleed, page counts and what each size does to your printing cost.

How to make a word search book for Amazon KDP (step by step)

A complete walkthrough for making a word search book and publishing it on Amazon KDP: niche, word lists, grid size, page layout, solutions, trim size, cover and upload, with the mistakes that get books rejected.

Seasonal puzzle books: when to publish for Christmas and Halloween

Seasonal puzzle books sell in a short window. Here is when to publish for Christmas, Halloween, Easter and summer, how much lead time KDP needs, and how to make a holiday book that keeps selling next year.

Mistakes first-time puzzle book publishers make (and the fixes)

The same fifteen mistakes, plus a bonus one, appear in the first books of almost every puzzle author, and every one of them is cheap to avoid once named. Niche mistakes, interior mistakes, listing mistakes and business mistakes, each with the fix and the article that goes deeper, so your first book skips the lessons that usually cost a few months.