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KDP royalty calculator
Your exact royalty per sale for Kindle eBooks, paperbacks, and hardcovers on Amazon.com — including delivery fees, real printing costs, and KDP’s current 50%/60% print royalty split. Verified against KDP’s published rate tables.
70% plan royalty
$3.19
70% × $4.99 − $0.30 delivery
35% plan royalty
$1.75
no delivery fee
Better plan
70%
earns $1.45 more per sale
The 70% plan subtracts a delivery fee of $0.15 per MBon Amazon.com; the 35% plan doesn’t. The 70% plan requires a $2.99–$12.99 list price — the band expanded from $9.99 in July 2026. Both rates apply to your list price (the US has no VAT). Your minimum allowed price also depends on file size: $0.99 under 3 MB, $1.99 for 3–10 MB, $2.99 over 10 MB. Sales to countries outside the 70% territories pay 35% even on the 70% plan.
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How KDP royalties actually work
eBooks: you pick a plan per book. The 70% plan pays 70% of list price minus a delivery fee of $0.15 per megabyte, but only for books priced $2.99–$12.99 sold in the 70% territories — the band expanded from $9.99 to $12.99 on July 7, 2026. The 35% plan pays a flat 35% with no delivery fee and allows prices from $0.99 (file-size permitting) to $200. For a normal text-based book the 70% plan pays roughly double.
Print books:royalty = rate × list price − printing cost. The rate is 50% for list prices at or below $9.98 and 60% from $9.99 up — a recent change from the old flat 60%. Printing cost is a fixed base plus a per-page charge that depends on ink, paper, and whether your trim is “large” (wider than 6.12″ or taller than 9″). You never pay printing upfront; it comes out of each sale.
The pricing sweet spots: $12.99 is now the top of the eBook 70% band (up from $9.99 since July 2026), and $9.99 is the bottom of the print 60% band. An eBook at $14.99 earns less than one at $12.99, and a paperback at $9.49 earns dramatically less than one at $9.99. Check both before you commit.
All rates here are Amazon.com (US marketplace). Other marketplaces use the same formulas with local thresholds and printing prices.
Worked example: a 300-page paperback at $14.99
The most common royalty question, worked end to end — a 300-page black-ink paperback, regular trim (6″×9″), listed at $14.99 on Amazon.com:
Step 1 — Printing cost
$1.00 fixed + 300 pages × $0.012 = $4.60
Black ink, regular trim. Bleed and cover finish don't affect this.
Step 2 — Royalty rate
$14.99 ≥ $9.99 → 60%
Priced $9.98 or below, the rate would drop to 50%.
Step 3 — Gross royalty
60% × $14.99 = $8.99
Amazon's cut is the remaining 40% — that covers retailing, not printing.
Step 4 — Your royalty per sale
$8.99 − $4.60 printing = $4.39
1,000 sales ≈ $4,394.00. The minimum list price KDP would accept for this book is $9.20.
Not sure of your page count yet? Estimate it first with the page count calculator, then plug it into the calculator above.
How KDP calculates printing cost
Every KDP print book uses one formula: fixed cost + (page count × per-page cost). The fixed cost and per-page rate depend on ink and paper type, and on whether your trim size is regular or large (wider than 6.12″ or taller than 9″). Very short books skip the per-page charge entirely and pay a flat rate. Amazon.com rates:
| Ink & paper | Pages | Regular trim | Large trim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback — black ink | 24–110 | flat $2.30 | flat $2.84 |
| Paperback — black ink | 111–828 | $1.00 + $0.012/page | $1.00 + $0.017/page |
| Paperback — groundwood | 24–112 | flat $2.23 | flat $2.75 |
| Paperback — groundwood | 113–828 | $1.00 + $0.0114/page | $1.00 + $0.0162/page |
| Paperback — standard color | 72–600 | $1.00 + $0.0255/page | $1.00 + $0.0402/page |
| Paperback — premium color | 24–40 | flat $3.60 | flat $4.20 |
| Paperback — premium color | 41–828 | $1.00 + $0.065/page | $1.00 + $0.08/page |
| Hardcover — black ink | 75–108 | flat $6.80 | flat $7.49 |
| Hardcover — black ink | 109–550 | $5.65 + $0.012/page | $5.65 + $0.017/page |
| Hardcover — premium color | 75–550 | $5.65 + $0.065/page | $5.65 + $0.08/page |
What that works out to per copy (regular trim, Amazon.com):
| Pages | B&W paperback | Groundwood paperback | Standard color paperback | Premium color paperback | B&W hardcover |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $2.30 | $2.23 | $3.55 | $7.50 | $6.80 |
| 200 | $3.40 | $3.28 | $6.10 | $14.00 | $8.05 |
| 300 | $4.60 | $4.42 | $8.65 | $20.50 | $9.25 |
| 450 | $6.40 | $6.13 | $12.48 | $30.25 | $11.05 |
| 600 | $8.20 | $7.84 | $16.30 | $40.00 | — |
Printing costs differ by marketplace (each Amazon store prints locally and charges in local currency), but the formula is identical everywhere. The 50%/60% royalty split has its own local thresholds:
| Marketplace | 50% rate at or below | 60% rate from |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com | $9.98 | $9.99 |
| Amazon.co.uk | £7.98 | £7.99 |
| Amazon.de / .fr / .it / .es / .nl / .ie / .com.be | €9.98 | €9.99 |
| Amazon.ca | CAD 13.98 | CAD 13.99 |
| Amazon.com.au | AUD 13.98 | AUD 13.99 |
| Amazon.co.jp | ¥999 | ¥1,000 |
| Amazon.pl | 39 PLN | 40 PLN |
| Amazon.se | 109 SEK | 110 SEK |
Books sold through Expanded Distribution (bookstores, libraries) pay 40% minus printing instead. Verified against KDP’s printing-cost and royalty help pages, September 2026.
35% vs 70%: which eBook plan pays more?
The rules first — eligibility is where most authors get tripped up:
| Rule | 35% plan | 70% plan |
|---|---|---|
| List price | $0.99–$200 (minimum rises with file size: $1.99 from 3 MB, $2.99 from 10 MB) | $2.99–$12.99 (top raised from $9.99 on July 7, 2026) |
| Delivery fee | None | $0.15/MB on Amazon.com (minimum $0.01; file size rounded up to the nearest KB) |
| Where it applies | Sales to any country | 70% territories only — sales outside them pay 35% even on this plan |
| Public domain content | Eligible | Not eligible — in-copyright works only |
| Print edition on Amazon | No restriction | eBook list price must be at least 20% below the print edition's list price |
| KDP Select | Never required | Required only for 70% on sales in Brazil, India, Japan, and Mexico |
And the payouts, for a typical 2 MB novel file ($0.30 delivery fee at $0.15/MB):
| List price | 35% plan | 70% plan | 70% advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1.99 | $0.70 | not eligible | — |
| $2.99 | $1.05 | $1.79 | +$0.75 |
| $4.99 | $1.75 | $3.19 | +$1.45 |
| $6.99 | $2.45 | $4.59 | +$2.15 |
| $9.99 | $3.50 | $6.69 | +$3.20 |
| $12.99 | $4.55 | $8.79 | +$4.25 |
| $14.99 | $5.25 | not eligible | — |
The pattern is blunt: inside the $2.99–$12.99 band, 70% roughly doubles your income at every price point — unless your file is huge. Delivery fees scale with file size, so an image-heavy 40 MB book pays $6.00 in delivery per sale; at low prices that can push the 35% plan ahead. Use the calculator above with your real file size to check.
Common questions
How much royalty does Amazon KDP pay per book?＋
eBooks earn 35% of list price, or 70% minus a delivery fee ($0.15/MB on Amazon.com) if priced $2.99–$12.99. Paperbacks and hardcovers earn 50% of list price minus printing cost when priced at or below $9.98, and 60% minus printing cost from $9.99 up.
Should I choose the 35% or 70% eBook royalty plan?＋
If your book is priced $2.99–$12.99 and has a normal file size, 70% almost always wins — a $4.99 novel earns about $3.19 at 70% vs $1.75 at 35%. Choose 35% only when you want a price below $2.99 or above $12.99, when your book is mostly public domain (which disqualifies it from 70%), or when your file is so large (image-heavy) that delivery fees eat the difference.
What changed with KDP's 70% royalty price band in 2026?＋
Effective July 7, 2026, KDP raised the top of the 70% price band on Amazon.com from $9.99 to $12.99, with equivalent changes in other marketplaces. A $12.99 novel with a 2 MB file now earns about $8.79 per sale at 70% instead of $4.55 at 35%. The $2.99 minimum and the 35% option are unchanged — and nothing switches automatically, so books sitting on 35% at $10–$12.99 have to be moved to 70% manually.
How is KDP paperback royalty calculated?＋
Royalty = (royalty rate × list price) − printing cost. For a 300-page black-ink paperback on Amazon.com, printing is $1.00 + 300 × $0.012 = $4.60, so at $14.99 list you earn 0.60 × 14.99 − 4.60 = $4.39 per sale.
What does it cost to print a book on KDP?＋
On Amazon.com: black-ink paperbacks up to 110 pages cost a flat $2.30; longer books cost $1.00 plus $0.012 per page ($0.017 for large trims). Premium color runs $1.00 plus $0.065/page. Hardcovers start at $5.65 fixed plus the same per-page rates. You never pay this upfront — it's deducted from each sale.
How much does KDP printing cost per page?＋
On Amazon.com, black ink costs $0.012 per page ($0.017 for large trims — wider than 6.12″ or taller than 9″) on top of a $1.00 fixed cost per paperback. Groundwood paper is about 5% cheaper at $0.0114 per page, standard color is $0.0255, and premium color is $0.065. Hardcovers use the same per-page rates with a $5.65 fixed cost. Bleed and cover finish don't change the price.
How much does it cost to print a hardcover on KDP?＋
On Amazon.com, a black-ink hardcover costs $5.65 plus $0.012 per page — $9.25 for 300 pages — and short hardcovers (75–108 pages) are a flat $6.80. Premium color runs $5.65 plus $0.065 per page. Hardcover royalty uses the same formula as paperback: 50% or 60% of list price minus printing. KDP hardcovers must be 75–550 pages.
Why did my royalty rate change from 60% to 50%?＋
KDP moved from a flat 60% print royalty to a split rate: 50% for list prices at or below $9.98 and 60% at or above $9.99 (thresholds vary by marketplace). If your paperback is priced under $9.99, raising it to $9.99 switches you to the 60% rate — which often pays more per sale than prices well above it at 50%.
Is there an official Amazon KDP royalty calculator?＋
Yes — KDP has a Printing Cost & Royalty Calculator on kdp.amazon.com, and your estimated royalty also appears on the Pricing tab during title setup. The calculator on this page uses KDP's same published rate tables, but lets you compare 35% vs 70% plans, formats, and price points side by side without logging in.
Does it cost money to publish on Amazon KDP?＋
No — publishing on KDP is free, with no upfront fees and no inventory. Amazon prints on demand and deducts the printing cost from each sale's royalty; on the 70% eBook plan it also deducts a small delivery fee. If nothing sells, you owe nothing. Your only real costs are optional ones before upload: editing, cover design, and formatting.
Does Kindle Unlimited pay the same as a sale?＋
No. KU pages read are paid from the KDP Select Global Fund at a per-page rate (historically around $0.004–$0.005 per page read), separate from the 35%/70% sale royalties. A full read of a 300-page book earns roughly $1.20–$1.50.
Related tools: cover size calculator, page count estimator, self-publishing cost calculator, Kindle Unlimited calculator, book spine calculator.