Puzzle book ideas for 2026, and how to test them

Build a niche from three parts

Twenty ideas to test

1. Large print Sudoku, Easy, one per page, 8.5 x 11 in.
2. Killer Sudoku for Sudoku fans, Hard only.
3. Anti-Knight Sudoku: "Sudoku with a twist" for experienced solvers.
4. Kakuro for beginners: Easy level, 6 x 6 grids.
5. Nonogram book on 8.5 x 11 in with 15 x 15 grids.
6. Slitherlink, progressive from 5 x 5 to 9 x 9.
7. Masyu and Slitherlink loop puzzle book.
8. Star Battle: quick puzzles for a coffee break.
9. Bridges for all ages, Easy level.
10. Number Paths as a first logic book for older children.
11. Mixed logic sampler: five types, 20 of each.
12. Large print word search by theme: birds, garden, kitchen.
13. Travel-themed word search plus Sudoku, 6 x 9 in.
14. Winter holidays word search book.
15. Baking and kitchen word search.
16. Sudoku and Killer Sudoku together, progressive.
17. A Challenge-only Sudoku book, honestly labelled: some puzzles may need a what-if step.
18. Kindle Scribe Sudoku PDF with tap-through contents, sold on Etsy.
19. reMarkable logic puzzle PDF, page sized to the screen.
20. A monthly puzzle series: one volume per month with new puzzles.

Every idea on this list uses puzzle types, levels and layouts the Gridbinder studio has today. That is not proof any of them sells. Test the shelf first, as below.

Check the shelf before you make the book

1. Search Amazon the way a buyer would, for example "killer sudoku large print". Look at the first two pages of results.
2. For the top books, note page count, trim size, number of puzzles, price and how many reviews they have.
3. Read the one, two and three star reviews. Complaints about small print, wrong answers, mislabelled levels or puzzles needing guesses are openings for a better book.
4. If the top results all have thousands of reviews, pick a narrower reader. If there are almost no books, check that people search for it at all: type the phrase into Amazon's search bar and see whether it suggests it.

What the market says, and what it does not

The KDP forum has threads from publishers whose puzzle books do not sell, and a common question in 2026 is whether the market is saturated. Generic books made from the same free puzzles compete only on price. Books for a clear reader, with sound puzzles and a layout that fits that reader, have a reason to be chosen. Nobody can promise sales, and we do not.

Plan a series, but with new puzzles

KDP allows up to two new titles per format per week, and KDP's content quality guide treats content that is excessively reused across books as disappointing. A series therefore needs new puzzles in every volume. In Gridbinder, each book code gives a new set of puzzles, and the same code rebuilds the same book for a reprint. See puzzle generators and duplicate content.