Large Print Puzzle Books: Checklist Before KDP Publishing

A large print puzzle book is easy to get slightly wrong: the puzzles look big on the screen and then the printed page is cramped, or the instructions stay in small type. This checklist goes through what to verify before you publish, in the order you can fix it. It uses the real numbers of the LogikLand Seniors assistants and only the Amazon facts that are sourced on this blog.

What "large print" means in LogikLand

In the Seniors tab of the dashboard, the puzzles that have a large print version are built differently. It is not a copy of the normal assistant with a bigger font: the layout changes. For example, the large print Sudoku puts one grid on each page by default, uses margins of 0.75 inch to start with, and offers 9x9 grids at three levels, Easy (37 digits given), Medium (34) and Hard (29).

1. Choose the page size first

The Seniors assistants offer 8.5 x 11 and 6 x 9 inches. In 6 x 9 the letters are smaller than in 8.5 x 11, and the assistants say that 8.5 x 11 is the recommended size for large print. The size also decides the page limit: with black ink and white paper, an 8.5 x 11 inch paperback can have 24 to 590 pages and a 6 x 9 inch paperback 24 to 828. (source: KDP Help, Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins) A large print book needs more pages for the same number of puzzles, so check the limit before you fix the number of puzzles.

2. Check the size of what the reader must read

The size of the characters the reader must find is what counts. LogikLand gives these sizes for the letters of the puzzles themselves, measured in points on the page:

Use these numbers as a warning light. A cryptogram at 11 points in 6 x 9 is still readable for most adults, but it is not what most readers expect from a large print book. If you want a true large print edition, choose 8.5 x 11.

3. Word lists and clues

• Word search. The large print assistant limits the grid to 20 x 20, starts the word list at 18 pt in bold on four columns, and allows 25 words at most per grid. A smaller grid with fewer words is easier on the eyes.
• Crosswords. The clue size starts at 17 pt and can be moved between 10 and 24 pt, and the default grid is 13 x 13. Look at the clue pages in the editor before you publish: a larger clue size takes more room.
• Word Scramble. The senior version has no Expert level: words of 8 to 12 letters are too small for a large print page.

4. Instructions and titles

A reader who cannot read the rules will not play. The short senior "how to play" page uses a 30 point title and 20 point text, and the text can shrink to 16 points when the page is full, never lower. Puzzle titles are 28 points in the grid assistants, and the Sudoku title is 20 points when there is one grid on the page. Keep the explanations short and put one idea per paragraph.

For the puzzle types with a longer explanation, the detailed guide in the assistants has between three and five pages for seniors, with larger type than the standard guide. See cryptograms for seniors, Sudoku X for seniors and crosswords for seniors for the details of each type.

5. Answer pages

The answers can stay smaller than the puzzles, because they are only checked, not solved. The large print Sudoku assistant puts four solutions on a page by default and the grid assistants put two, with 1, 2 or 4 as choices. Read the solution pages at the end: a solution that is too small to check is the one that produces complaints.

6. Checks that come from KDP

• The inside margin depends on the page count: 0.375 inch up to 150 pages, 0.5 inch from 151 to 300 pages. (source: KDP Help, Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins) A large print book is thick, so look at the row for your page count.
• Lines of a grid must be at least 0.75 point (0.01 inch, 0.3 mm) thick. (source: KDP Help, Paperback Submission Guidelines)
• For gray backgrounds printed with black ink, Amazon recommends a minimum fill of 10%. (source: KDP Help, Paperback Submission Guidelines)
• The minimum page count is 24, and KDP rounds up an odd page count to an even one. (source: KDP Help, Paperback Submission Guidelines)

The full margin table is in KDP margins and trim sizes for puzzle books. Once the page count is final, calculate the cover with the KDP cover calculator.

7. The words "large print" in your listing

The title of the book must match the cover, and Amazon's metadata guidelines list what is not allowed in a title, such as generic keywords repeated and references to sales rank. (source: KDP Help, Metadata Guidelines for Books)

Ordering a proof

Ordering a proof copy is not mandatory, but it lets you see the printed book before you publish. (source: KDP Help, Create a Book)For a large print book it is the only reliable way to judge the size of the type.

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