How to Make a Cryptogram Book for Amazon KDP

A cryptogram book is a good first puzzle book because each puzzle is one sentence and one page: no large grid to check, and the content can be themed. This article explains how to make a cryptogram book for Amazon KDP with LogikLand, how to count its pages before you create it, and which Amazon requirements apply to a page of coded letters. Every statement about KDP links to the official KDP Help page it comes from.

What is inside a cryptogram book

In the Cryptogram assistant, reached after you create a free account, a book has this order: a title page, an optional page that explains how to solve a cryptogram, one cryptogram per page, a page headed Solutions, and then the solutions at one, two or three to a page. The explanation can be a detailed guide with drawn examples, a single short page, or nothing.

You choose the levels: easy gives 4 letters, medium gives 2, hard gives none, and expert uses the numbers 1 to 26 as codes. The sentences come from 28 themes, such as Nature, Family, Music and Christmas, or you can type your own, one per line. A themed book is easier to describe on a sales page than a general one. Our suggestion, not a KDP rule: choose one or two themes per book.

Counting your pages

The assistant adds up the pages like this: 1 title page, the pages of the guide, one page per cryptogram, 1 Solutions page, and the solution pages. With the detailed guide in 8.5 x 11 (two pages) and three solutions to a page, these are the largest books each plan can make. The page limit per book is 50, 100 and 200 pages for the free, PRO and EXPERT plans.

The minimum page count of a KDP paperback is 24 pages, and KDP rounds the count up to an even number if needed. (source: KDP Help, Paperback Submission Guidelines) Any of the books above is well over 24 pages. A 20-puzzle book with a two-page guide and two solutions per page has 34 pages. Remember that to sell a book you need the PRO or EXPERT plan: the pricing page says commercial rights are included in the paid plans.

The KDP requirements that touch a cryptogram page

Three requirements from the Paperback Submission Guidelines are relevant to a page of lines and letters:

• Line thickness. Lines need a minimum thickness of 0.75 point. (source: KDP Help, Paperback Submission Guidelines) In a LogikLand cryptogram, the lines under the letters are 1 point and the borders of the 26-letter table are 0.75 point.
• Grey fills. For grey backgrounds printed with black ink, Amazon recommends a grayscale fill of at least 10 %. (source: KDP Help, Paperback Submission Guidelines) The shaded top row of the letter table is a very light grey of about 7 %, below that recommendation. It is only a recommendation, and the boxes are outlined, so the puzzle stays readable if the grey prints faintly.
• Fonts and images. Fonts must be embedded in the file. (source: KDP Help, Paperback Submission Guidelines) A cryptogram page has no images, so only the fonts matter.

Margins: the top, bottom and outside margins must be at least 0.25 inch for a book without bleed, and the inside margin is 0.375 inch up to 150 pages. (source: KDP Help, Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins) The assistant proposes margins of 0.75 inch, which satisfies both. See KDP margins and trim sizes for puzzle books for the full table.

Title, ISBN and the low-content question

Amazon says the title field must contain only the actual title of the book, as it appears on the cover, and that the title and subtitle together must be fewer than 200 characters. (source: KDP Help, Metadata Guidelines for Books) Its examples of prohibited content include repeating generic keywords, unauthorized references to other titles or authors, and references to sales rank. (source: KDP Help, Metadata Guidelines for Books) The title that the assistant proposes is only a starting point: edit it.

On the low-content question, KDP defines a low-content book as one with minimal or no content on the interior pages, and states that this does not typically include activity books such as puzzle books. (source: KDP Help, Low-Content Books) A cryptogram book has different content on each page, so it is a puzzle book in that sense.

The steps in order

1. Create a free account and open the Cryptogram assistant. Choose the language, the page size and the title.
2. Choose the levels and the themes, and ask for as many puzzles as your plan allows. The estimated page count is shown on screen.
3. Create the book and read it in the editor. You can change any text, and you can download the PDF or an editable PPTX file.
4. Create the cover. KDP accepts either a single PDF with the back cover, the spine and the front cover, or a cover made with its Cover Creator tool. (source: KDP Help, Create a Paperback Cover) The free KDP cover calculator gives the spine width and a template.
5. Enter the details on KDP, and order a proof copy if you want to see the printed book. A proof copy is not mandatory. (source: KDP Help, Create a Book)

The free cryptogram maker makes a single puzzle and is useful for testing a sentence. When you are ready for the book, create a free account. To write your own sentences, see how to make a cryptogram from your own quote, and for a larger-print edition see cryptograms for seniors.

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