Amazon KDP Royalties and Pricing Guide (2026)

Published July 26, 2026 · 12 min read

A book's list price is not the amount an author receives. Amazon KDP applies a royalty rate, then may subtract delivery or printing costs. The right price therefore depends on format, file size, page count, marketplace, reader expectations, and your publishing goal—not on a universal “sweet spot.”

This guide reflects Amazon's official Digital Book Pricing, eBook List Price Requirements, and Print Book Pricing pages reviewed July 26, 2026. Rules and currency thresholds can change, so confirm the estimate shown in your KDP Bookshelf before publishing.

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How much does KDP pay per book?

These percentages are not profit margins. Editing, cover design, advertising, software, taxes, refunds, and business expenses sit outside the KDP formula. Evaluate the whole project rather than treating the royalty estimate as net income.

35% vs. 70% eBook royalties

The 70% option often pays more per sale, but it is not automatically available at every price or for every sale. On Amazon.com, an eligible eBook must now be priced from $2.99 through $12.99 for the 70% option. The 35% option permits a broader range, with its U.S. minimum tied to file size: $0.99 below 3 MB, $1.99 from 3 MB to under 10 MB, and $2.99 at 10 MB or more. The U.S. maximum is $200.

For the 70% option, KDP subtracts a delivery charge based on the eBook file size and marketplace. A text-focused novel usually has a smaller delivery cost than an image-heavy cookbook or children's book. The 35% formula does not subtract delivery cost, so authors with very large files should compare the actual estimates rather than choosing by percentage alone.

Other 70% eligibility details authors miss

• Customer location matters: a sale to a customer outside a 70%-eligible territory earns at the 35% rate, even when the title uses the 70% option.
• Some territories add a Select condition: sales in Brazil, Japan, Mexico, and India require KDP Select enrollment to qualify for 70%, along with the applicable price rules.
• The eBook must undercut the physical edition: KDP says its list price must be at least 20% below the Amazon list price of any physical edition.
• Public-domain restrictions apply: books consisting primarily of public-domain content are limited to the 35% option.
• Price matching can change the result: if Amazon price-matches below the eligible minimum, the sale may earn 35%.

Simple eBook royalty examples

Suppose a U.S. eBook has a $4.99 list price, no applicable VAT for the example sale, and a $0.12 delivery cost. Its estimated 70% royalty is:

0.70 × ($4.99 − $0.12) = $3.41

At the 35% option, with no delivery deduction, the estimate is:

0.35 × $4.99 = $1.75

These are illustrations, not promised payouts. Taxes, customer territory, price matching, refunds, and KDP's rounding rules can affect reported royalties.

Paperback and hardcover royalty calculations

KDP print books use print-on-demand. You do not pay a print bill upfront for each retail order; KDP deducts the printing cost from that sale's royalty. Printing cost depends on marketplace, page count, trim size, and ink type. Hardcover and color printing generally cost more than a regular-trim black-ink paperback.

For standard Amazon sales, KDP now applies either a 50% or 60% royalty tier based on the tax-exclusive list price and marketplace. On Amazon.com, KDP's current example places a $9.99 paperback in the 60% tier and a $9.98 paperback in the 50% tier. Always check the current threshold in the marketplace where you set your primary price.

KDP's 300-page paperback example

Amazon's official print-pricing page uses a 300-page, black-ink paperback with a $4.60 U.S. printing cost:

• At $9.99 and 60%: (0.60 × $9.99) − $4.60 = $1.39
• At $9.98 and 50%: (0.50 × $9.98) − $4.60 = $0.39

A one-cent price change crosses the illustrated U.S. tier boundary and changes the royalty by one dollar. This is why authors should recalculate after changing page count, trim, ink, or list price. Use KDP's Printing Cost & Royalty Calculator for the current book specifications.

What does Expanded Distribution pay?

Eligible paperbacks enrolled in Expanded Distribution use a 40% royalty rate minus printing cost. The lower rate gives distributors room to supply bookstores and libraries, but listing does not guarantee that a store will order or stock the book. Hardcover books are not eligible.

Because the minimum list price can differ when Expanded Distribution is enabled, calculate the economics before opting in. A long or color-heavy paperback may need a higher price to leave any royalty at all.

How Kindle Unlimited royalties work

Kindle Unlimited does not pay a fixed percentage of your eBook list price. An eBook enrolled in KDP Select can earn a share of the monthly KDP Select Global Fund based on qualifying pages that customers read for the first time. KDP uses its normalized page-count system, KENPC, to measure those reads.

The effective amount per page varies because the fund and total pages read change monthly. Do not build a forecast around a guaranteed per-page rate. Model KU income separately from unit sales and remember that KDP Select requires digital exclusivity for the enrolled eBook during each term.

How to choose a KDP price

1. Start with comparable books. Review recent books serving the same reader, genre, format, length, and quality level. Ignore outliers and temporary promotions.
2. Calculate the royalty floor. Enter the final page count, trim, ink, file size, and marketplace in KDP. Ensure the print price clears both the minimum and your target contribution per sale.
3. Match the reader's expected value. A concise genre novella, illustrated workbook, specialist handbook, and 500-page hardcover solve different problems and should not share one pricing rule.
4. Keep format prices coherent. The eBook should satisfy KDP's 70% physical-price relationship if you want that option, while paperback and hardcover prices should reflect their higher production cost.
5. Test deliberately. Record the date, price, traffic, conversion, royalties, and promotion activity. Change one major variable at a time and allow enough sales volume before drawing conclusions.
6. Review by marketplace. Currency conversion can create awkward prices. Manually set important markets when a locally appropriate price matters.

Pricing mistakes that reduce author earnings

• Using an outdated 70% ceiling: the U.S. maximum increased to $12.99 on July 7, 2026.
• Assuming all print books earn 60%: standard print now has 50% and 60% tiers based on price and marketplace.
• Ignoring file size: image-heavy eBooks can incur meaningful delivery charges under the 70% option.
• Pricing before final formatting: a changed page count can alter printing cost and minimum price.
• Equating revenue with profit: royalties do not account for every production, marketing, or tax expense.
• Copying another genre's price: reader expectations and production costs differ.
• Changing prices without records: without clean before-and-after data, you cannot tell whether the test helped.