Free tool — no signup
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. 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.
Know your numbers. Now get the book out.
publish.ai turns your finished manuscript into a complete KDP launch package — validated EPUB, designed covers, print-ready interior and cover PDFs, Amazon listing copy, and launch graphics. One upload, minutes, from $29.99.
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–$9.99 sold in the 70% territories. 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:$9.99 is the magic number in both directions — it’s the top of the eBook 70% band and the bottom of the print 60% band. An eBook at $12.99 earns less than one at $9.99, 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.
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–$9.99. 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–$9.99 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 $9.99, or when your file is so large (image-heavy) that delivery fees eat the difference.
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.
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%.
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.