Sell Puzzle Books Everywhere: KDP, Etsy, TPT, Gumroad

Most puzzle book guides stop at Amazon. That leaves money and readers on the table, because the same puzzles that make a 6x9 paperback can also be a printable PDF that a teacher, a party planner or a grandparent downloads tonight.

This guide shows how to sell puzzle books on six platforms from one PuzzlePage Book Studio build: what each platform charges, what you keep per sale, who shops there and how much work each one takes. Every fee comes from a named source checked in September 2026, and where a number is an estimate we say so.

Can you sell the same puzzle book on more than one platform?

Yes. Puzzles you make with PuzzlePage carry a commercial licence that covers KDP, Etsy, Teachers Pay Teachers and your own site, and none of these marketplaces demands exclusivity for a paperback or a PDF. KDP Select, the program that asks for exclusivity, applies to Kindle ebooks, not paperbacks.

The one place to be careful is print distribution. If you publish the same paperback on both KDP and IngramSpark, use your own ISBN on both and never switch on KDP's Expanded Distribution, or the two listings collide. The IngramSpark guide walks through the order to do it in.

Print edition vs printable PDF edition

You are really making two products from one set of puzzles. A print edition is a bound book that someone else manufactures and ships. A printable edition is a PDF the buyer prints at home or at school, as many times as your terms allow.

The printable edition is not just the paperback file renamed. Home printers use Letter or A4 paper, so a 6x9 interior prints small with wide white borders; rebuild it at a full-page size instead. The steps below show how.

Platform comparison: fees and take-home per sale

The table below compares what you keep from one sale on each platform at a stated price. Paperbacks are shown at $9.99 because that is where KDP's higher royalty rate starts, and PDFs at $5, a common price for a puzzle pack.

Sources: KDP printing cost help; Craftybase Etsy fee guide; TPT seller page; Gumroad pricing; PassiveKit Payhip pricing. The Etsy figure includes the $0.20 listing fee but not Offsite Ads; the Payhip estimate assumes typical card processing of 2.9% + $0.30. IngramSpark figures are estimates from a 110-page book.

If you already have your own site, Shopify Basic ($39 a month, or $29 billed annually) with its free Digital Downloads app is another route. It only makes sense once you have steady traffic of your own.

How to sell puzzle books everywhere, step by step

Here is the full workflow, from an empty Studio project to listings on several platforms. Do the KDP edition first; it forces you to finish a clean, proofed interior that every other edition builds on.

Step 1: Build the book in the Studio

Open the Book Studio and start from a template such as Large-Print Word Search for Seniors, Word Fill-In Puzzles or Kids Activity Book, Ages 8 to 12. Then make it yours.

1. Pick the trim: 6x9 for a standard book, 8.5x11 for large print.
2. Swap in your own themes and word lists, so the book fits one reader and is not a copy of the template.
3. Set the puzzle count and difficulty, and keep the answer keys switched on.
4. Check the length with the page count calculator so the book clears KDP's 24-page minimum and suits your price.

Step 2: Preview every page

Page through the whole book, answer keys included, before you download anything. Look for puzzles that repeat a word too often, answer keys on the wrong page and anything that crowds the margins.

Step 3: Download the free proof, then the print files

Download the first 10 pages and the cover free to proof them on paper. The free download is the first 10 pages and the cover with no branding, so it is a test print of your book rather than the whole thing to sell. The full interior and the cover print files come with a Publisher plan (see KDP pricing).

Step 4: Upload the print edition to KDP

1. In KDP, create a new paperback and fill in the title, description and keywords. The Studio's listing helper can draft these for you to edit.
2. Choose a free KDP ISBN, or your own if you plan to use IngramSpark later.
3. Upload the interior PDF and the full-wrap cover PDF, then check KDP's online previewer.
4. Disclose any AI-generated text or images when KDP asks.
5. Set the price at $9.99 or more to get the 60% royalty rate, then order a proof copy if you can.

Step 5: Make the printable edition

Save your book, then make a copy at a full-page trim: 8.5x11 (US Letter) for US and Canadian buyers, and A4 for buyers elsewhere. Preview it again, because a buyer printing at home does not want wasted blank pages.

Split the file if you need to. A puzzles PDF and a separate answer-key PDF is a tidy way to deliver it, and it keeps each file under Etsy's 20MB limit.

Step 6: List the printable edition

• Etsy: a Digital listing with up to 5 files, preview images and 13 tags. See the Etsy guide.
• Teachers Pay Teachers: a resource with a thumbnail, a preview file, grade levels and a resource type such as early finishers. See the TPT guide.
• Gumroad or Payhip: a product page you share with your own audience. See the Gumroad guide.

Step 7 (optional): Add IngramSpark for bookstores

Once a KDP title is selling, you can add it to IngramSpark with your own ISBN and the Amazon channel switched off. Returns and wholesale discounts make the margins thin, so treat it as reach rather than income. The IngramSpark guide covers the setup.

Which platform should you start with?

Start where your reader already shops. The platform with the biggest audience is not always the right one for your book.

• You are making gift or senior puzzle books

  Start with KDP. Buyers of large-print word search and sudoku books shop for paperbacks on Amazon, and a $9.99 book earns $3.69 a sale.

• You are a teacher or make classroom puzzles

  Start with Teachers Pay Teachers. Word search and puzzle bundles for early finishers and morning work are what sell there.

• You make themed or holiday printables

  Start with Etsy. Party, holiday and travel puzzle packs fit how Etsy shoppers search, but expect competition.

• You already have an audience

  Add Gumroad or Payhip. With an email list or a social following, you keep more per sale and own the customer relationship.

Licensing: can you sell what you make?

Yes, with a few rules. Every puzzle you generate with PuzzlePage, free or paid, can be sold commercially with no royalty and no attribution required; the plain-English terms are on the licence page.

Anything you add from elsewhere needs its own licence. Fonts and clip art in your listing images or cover must allow commercial use, and Teachers Pay Teachers requires that every part of a resource is yours or commercially licensed.

KDP has its own rule: disclose AI-generated text or images when you publish. If you use AI artwork or AI-written sections from the Studio, tick the box.

What to expect on each platform

None of these platforms is a sure thing, and the honest numbers are modest. Here is what the public data says, platform by platform.

• KDP: public reports range from $7.89 in a first month to large catalogs earning thousands; most titles earn little. The KDP income guide has the full breakdown.
• Etsy: gross sales on Etsy fell 5.3% to $11.9 billion in fiscal 2025 (Etsy 10-K, February 2026), and puzzle PDFs are a commodity category with an estimated 4.5 million digital listings to compete with.
• Teachers Pay Teachers: TPT reports more than $2 billion paid to sellers, but an EdSurge 2022 report put the average seller in the low single-digit thousands a year, and one 2026 model estimates a typical seller at about $27 a month.
• Gumroad: one pay-what-you-want test drew 964 sales for $101 in total, with the traffic coming from the seller's YouTube channel. Without an audience, there are few buyers.
• IngramSpark: one published example shows 12 copies sold, 3 returned and $4.77 earned. Bookstore reach is real, but margins are thin.

Selling in several places does not multiply demand by itself. It lets the right edition reach the reader who was already looking for it.

Platform guides

Each guide below goes deeper on one platform: the upload steps, the fee math at several prices and what sells there.

• How much KDP puzzle books make: income reports, royalty math and BSR estimates.
• How to sell puzzle books on Etsy: a numbered listing walkthrough and the Creativity Standards.
• How to sell puzzle books on Teachers Pay Teachers: seller tiers, bundles and classroom resource types.
• How to sell puzzle books on Gumroad: direct sales, Discover fees and audience building.
• How to sell puzzle books on IngramSpark: ISBNs, wholesale discounts and running it alongside KDP.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I sell puzzle books besides Amazon KDP?

Printed puzzle books can also go to IngramSpark for bookstores and libraries. Printable PDF editions sell on Etsy, Teachers Pay Teachers, Gumroad and Payhip, or on your own Shopify store with a digital downloads app.

Can I sell the same puzzle book on KDP and Etsy?

Yes. A paperback on KDP and a printable PDF on Etsy are separate products, and neither platform requires exclusivity for them. On Etsy the listing must reflect your own design under its June 2025 Creativity Standards.

Which platform pays the most per puzzle book sale?

For a $5 PDF, Payhip's free plan keeps an estimated $4.31, Etsy about $4.08, TPT Premium $4.00, Gumroad direct about $3.56 and TPT Basic $2.45. A $9.99, 100-page KDP paperback earns $3.69 after printing.

What is the difference between a print and a printable puzzle book?

A print edition is a bound book that Amazon or IngramSpark prints on demand from your interior and cover PDFs. A printable edition is a PDF the buyer prints at home, usually at US Letter or A4 size.

Can I use KDP and IngramSpark for the same puzzle book?

Yes, if you use your own ISBN on both, never enable KDP Expanded Distribution, and publish on KDP first before adding IngramSpark with its Amazon channel turned off.

Do I need a licence to sell puzzles I made with PuzzlePage?

No separate licence is needed. Every puzzle you generate with PuzzlePage, free or paid, can be sold commercially on KDP, Etsy, Teachers Pay Teachers or your own site with no royalty and no attribution required.

Is Gumroad good for selling puzzle books?

Gumroad works when you bring your own audience, such as an email list or YouTube channel. It charges 10% plus $0.50 on direct sales and 30% on sales through its Discover marketplace, and it has few shoppers of its own.