Amazon’s Look Inside preview does not ask which pages you would like to show. It opens your interior at page one and walks forward until it hits a limit that changes from book to book and category to category. You control the sample only indirectly, by binding the book in an order that puts your strongest proof pages early.
That proof has four parts, and they are worth stating plainly because every recommendation below serves one of them. A shopper needs to see an unsolved puzzle at true print size, understand how hard the book is, believe a complete answer key exists somewhere in the book, and not waste the short preview on pages that say nothing about the solve. The companion article on puzzle book Look Inside explains what each of those proofs means; this one is the running order and the settings that produce it in Puzzle Maker Pro.
How many pages you are really fighting for
Before you rearrange anything, give yourself a number. Open Look Inside on three or four books already selling in your niche, with a page count close to yours, and count how many interior pages each preview shows. Take the smallest count you see. For many 120- to 200-page adult puzzle books on KDP that number lands between six and ten pages, but your category may differ, so measure rather than guess.
That number is your budget. Everything you place before the first full puzzle page spends part of it. A dedication, a second copyright spread, a long quote page, or a blank left-hand page before puzzle one is not neutral typography at the front of the book. It is one fewer page of grid a shopper can judge.
The front-matter sequence that works on most single-type books
For a standard print puzzle book, this order gets shoppers to a real puzzle quickly while still looking professional.
Page 1 — Title page. Keep it to one page. Skipping it makes the book look unfinished rather than efficient.
Page 2 — Copyright and imprint. Puzzle Maker Pro no longer ships a separate copyright template. Add a front-matter text page, tick Before table of contents on its card, and keep the legal text to one modest page. Everything required, nothing decorative.
Page 3 — Table of contents. Turn on Include a table of contents and List solution sections in Book Settings so the contents names the solutions block and its start page. That line is often the only “peek” at the answer section the preview can show without spoiling puzzles.
Page 4 — How this book works. One text page that states puzzle count, how difficulty runs, and where solutions start. Example sentence you can adapt: “This book has 120 sudoku puzzles in four levels of 30 each, from warm-up to expert. Solutions for all 120 puzzles begin on page 125.” If you keep only one prose page in front of the grids, keep this one.
Page 5 onward — Puzzle one at full print size. One puzzle per page is the usual KDP layout for sudoku and word search at 8.5×11 inches. The first grid should be representative and, if the book ramps in difficulty, it should be one of the easiest puzzles in the book.
Puzzle Maker Pro emits front matter in exactly that sequence: title page, then pages marked Before table of contents, then the contents, then other front-matter text pages, then the puzzle sections. You do not drag title and contents into a custom order; you choose which optional pages exist and what they say.
Worked example: 120-puzzle sudoku book at 8.5×11 inches
Assume a single-type book for adults: 120 classic 9×9 sudoku puzzles, one per page, 8.5×11 inch trim, 0.5 inch margins, and an answer key collated at the back rather than beside each puzzle. That layout matches the page math many sudoku publishers use on KDP.
Difficulty structure. Split the book into four sections of 30 puzzles: Warm-up, Medium, Tough, Expert. Generate 30 puzzles at each difficulty band rather than one mixed batch of 120, so puzzle 1 is genuinely easy and puzzle 120 is genuinely hard. In Time Saver, that is four rows with quantity 30 each and difficulty set per row. In a Puzzle Book Studio project with multiple collections, it is four collections in book order, each holding 30 puzzles at one difficulty.
Which puzzles should appear first in the bound book. Put the Warm-up section first so puzzle 1 is the easiest grid in the book. Do not open on a “showpiece” expert grid to look impressive in the thumbnail; the buyer discovers the mismatch on page 2 of the paperback. Puzzles 1 and 2 in the preview should match the cover promise (“easy to expert” means the sample shows the easy end).
Page map with real numbers. With the front-matter sequence above and puzzles collated Puzzles First, Then Solutions (Book Settings → Content Collation), the interior looks like this:
| Pages | What prints |
|---|---|
| 1 | Title page |
| 2 | Copyright text page (Before table of contents) |
| 3 | Table of contents — lists “Warm-up Sudoku” through “Expert Sudoku” and a solutions line |
| 4 | How this book works — 120 puzzles, four levels, solutions start on page 125 |
| 5–34 | Warm-up sudoku 1–30 |
| 35–64 | Medium sudoku 31–60 |
| 65–94 | Tough sudoku 61–90 |
| 95–124 | Expert sudoku 91–120 |
| 125–144 | Solutions, six per page (3 rows × 2 columns on the solutions grid) |
Six solutions per page on 8.5×11 inch paper keeps digits readable for sudoku while holding the key to 20 pages. If you prefer four per page for larger cells, the solutions block grows to 30 pages and solutions start on page 125 still, but the book ends at 154 pages instead of 144. Tick Add Page Numbers so the sentence on page 4 matches what the reader can verify.
What Look Inside is likely to show. If your measured budget is eight pages, the shopper sees title, copyright, contents, how-it-works, and the first four warm-up puzzles — all unsolved, all at print size. They also see the contents line pointing at page 125 for solutions. That is the honest “peek” at the answer section: proof the key exists, without a filled grid.
Optional cross-reference under puzzle 1. In Puzzle Area Settings → Puzzle Footer, tick Show page cross-references. Puzzle 1 then prints a line such as “Solution 1 on page 125” under the grid. The preview can show that footer without showing the answer itself. Turn the same setting on for the solutions pages if you want “Puzzle 1 on page 5” under each key.
Which module to use. Sudoku puzzles come from the Sudoku module. Assemble the book with Instant Puzzle Books when one collection and a straight export is enough, or with Puzzle Book Studio when you want to hide individual puzzles, adjust titles, or preview page by page before render. Studio’s page-by-page preview is the fastest way to run the eight-page budget test described later.
Worked example: 120-puzzle word search at the same trim size
The same front matter and back-of-book key work for word search. The differences are puzzle layout and solution density.
Use the Standard Word Search module. A common KDP layout is one 15×15 grid per page at 8.5×11 inches with the word list placed below or beside the grid. Split 120 puzzles into four themed sections of 30 (for example Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) so the contents page tells a story and puzzle 1 stays approachable.
Word search solutions are harder to read when squeezed, so plan four solutions per page (2×2 on the solutions grid) unless the grids are small. For 120 puzzles that is 30 solution pages. With the same four front-matter pages, puzzles occupy pages 5–124 and solutions start on page 125, for a 154-page book. Mention both the puzzle count and the solution start page on the how-it-works page, and list the solutions section in the contents.
If the book includes a how-to-play page for word search, add it through Add page → How-to-play page on the first word-search set in Studio, or define a tutorial page in the book layout for Instant Puzzle Books. That page prints once, immediately before the first word-search section, after front matter. It is useful for beginners, but it costs one preview page, so keep it to one screen of rules and put the detailed policy on the how-this-book-works page instead.
Setting the order in Instant Puzzle Books
Instant Puzzle Books is the settings-then-build path. Every paid Puzzle Maker Pro edition includes it. Open Book Settings from the Instant Puzzle Books window before you build.
Content Pages (Pages to include). Tick Include a title page, Include a table of contents, and List solution sections. Use Add text page to create the copyright page and the how-it-works page. Select each text page in the book tree after rebuild, tick In table of contents where you want it listed, and tick Before table of contents only on the copyright page.
Collation and solutions. Under Content Collation, choose Puzzles First, Then Solutions so Look Inside does not open on filled grids. On the Grid Layouts tab, set puzzles to 1 row × 1 column. Untick Use Puzzles Layout for Solutions and set the solutions grid to match your density (2×2 for four per page, 3×2 for six, 3×3 for nine).
Puzzle order. Instant Puzzle Books prints puzzles in generation order within each collection. Generate easy sections before hard ones, or build separate collections in the order you want them bound. If you later open the same project in Puzzle Book Studio, that order becomes the starting layout for finer edits.
Under Content Pages, turn on Include a title page, Include a table of contents, and List solution sections, then add your copyright and how-it-works pages with Add text page. Close Book Settings and wait for the rebuild to finish before you select those pages in the book tree.
Setting the order in Puzzle Book Studio
Puzzle Book Studio is for when you need to see the assembled book before export. Puzzle Book Studio Creative covers a single puzzle collection with full layout control; Puzzle Book Studio Productivity is required to combine multiple collections (for example four sudoku difficulty bands) in one book. See the editions page for which tier you have.
Front matter. The same Book Settings → Content Pages toggles apply. After Rebuild Book, open the Book Structure tree. Front matter appears under Front Matter in emission order. Select each text page to edit title and body; use the page card’s ↑ / ↓ arrows to reorder pages within front matter if you added more than one text page after the contents (rare for Look Inside).
Puzzle sections. Collections appear in the Collections tree in assembly order. Multi-collection books follow that order section by section. Within a set, puzzles follow generation order unless you use Shuffle → Within Sets or Shuffle → Entire Book. Avoid shuffling after you have tuned Look Inside, or use Restore Original Order and put easy puzzles first again.
Hiding and sampling. Select a puzzle in the book tree and tick Hide in puzzle book on the puzzle card to drop it from the interior without deleting the file. That is useful for replacing a weak puzzle 1 without regenerating the whole batch. Limit puzzle count on a collection trims how many puzzles from that set print, which helps when you generated extras for choice.
Preview check. Expand Front Matter and the first puzzle section in the Book Structure tree, click page 1 in the preview strip, and walk forward through your measured budget. Confirm you see a full unsolved grid, no answer pages, and the contents plus how-it-works lines that mention the key.
What to cut from the front of the book
Some pages are fine later in a series or a gift book but hurt a Look Inside sample when they sit before puzzle one.
A dedication speaks to you, not to a stranger judging cell size. A two-page introduction belongs on the how-it-works page or in the listing, not in the preview window. Blank recto pages before puzzle one still count as pages. A pull quote page costs the same as a puzzle page with none of the proof.
Do not place solutions before the last puzzle page. If the preview reaches filled cells before empty ones, the shopper sees a spoiler and loses the chance to test your grid. Keep Puzzles First, Then Solutions for KDP samples unless you are deliberately selling a workbook where instant feedback matters more than a spoiler-free preview.
The page-through check (use your measured budget)
Open your assembled PDF or Studio preview at page 1. Advance page by page until you reach the budget you measured from competing books. Then answer three questions.
First, have you seen at least one complete unsolved puzzle at the size it will print? If not, trim or move front matter until puzzle one lands inside the budget.
Second, have you seen any filled answer grids? If yes, move the solutions section or change collation. The preview should not open on the key.
Third, could you state the difficulty range and the solution start page from what you read? If not, strengthen the how-it-works page and the contents lines.
Fix what failed and run the walk again. Rebuilding the book costs only render time, which is why this check belongs before you order a proof copy.
When to show a second puzzle in the sample
Add a second puzzle to the early interior only when the first puzzle cannot represent the book. A mixed book with several grid sizes might need two examples. A single-type sudoku or word search book does not; one clear warm-up grid at print size beats two half-visible grids fighting for the same preview space.
Other puzzles you might like
If you are building a mixed interior rather than a single-type book, the mixed puzzle book guide walks through section order when more than one puzzle type shares one volume.
When the question is only where the answer key sits and how many solutions fit on a page, read puzzle book answer keys for packaging and readability. Trim size and puzzles-per-page drive total page count; the trim size and page count article helps you sanity-check a 154-page interior before upload.
Commercial rights for the books you generate are part of the Puzzle Maker Pro license, as stated on the homepage. This is general publishing guidance, not legal advice.