Free Author Tool
KDP Royalty Calculator
Estimate Your Ebook, Paperback and Hardcover Earnings
Enter your price, page count, and format to see what Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing would pay you per sale, using the royalty rules and printing costs in effect as of October 2026.
Last reviewed: October 22, 2026. Based on KDP’s published Amazon.com rules.
Amazon KDP Royalty Calculator
Enter your book details, then get your full royalty report by email.
How Are KDP Royalties Calculated?
KDP does not use one flat percentage. The rate depends on the format, the price, and where the book sells. Here is the short version for Amazon.com:
| Format and channel | Royalty rate | What is deducted |
|---|---|---|
| Ebook, 70% option (price $2.99–$12.99) | 70% | Delivery cost, about $0.15 per MB |
| Ebook, 35% option (any other price) | 35% | None |
| Paperback on Amazon, list price $9.99 or more | 60% | Printing cost |
| Paperback on Amazon, list price $9.98 or less | 50% | Printing cost |
| Paperback through Expanded Distribution | 40% | Printing cost |
For print books: (royalty rate × list price) − printing cost = your royalty.
For 70% ebooks: 70% × (list price − delivery cost).
Ready to Turn Your Royalty Math Into More Book Sales?
Now you know what each sale pays. The next question is how to get more of them, and Bookstone Publishers build book marketing plans that put the book in front of the readers most likely to buy it.
Paperback Royalties on KDP, Explained
A paperback is the one format where you pay for manufacturing out of your share. Amazon prints each copy on demand, so you carry no inventory, but every sale has a printing bill attached.
The 50% and 60% royalty rates
On Amazon.com, a paperback priced at $9.99 or more earns 60%. At $9.98 or less it earns 50%. Other Amazon stores use their own cutoffs:
| Store | 50% at or below | 60% at or above |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com | $9.98 | $9.99 |
| Amazon.co.uk | £7.98 | £7.99 |
| Amazon.de, .fr, .it, .es, .nl, .ie | €9.98 | €9.99 |
| Amazon.ca | C$13.98 | C$13.99 |
How KDP calculates printing cost
Printing cost is a fixed amount per book plus a charge per page. It changes with ink type, page count, and trim class. These are the current Amazon.com figures for regular trim:
| Interior | Page range | Printing cost |
|---|---|---|
| Black ink | 24–110 pages | $2.30 flat |
| Black ink | Over 110 pages | $1.00 + $0.012 per page |
| Standard color | 72–600 pages | $1.00 + $0.0255 per page |
| Premium color | 24–40 pages | $3.60 flat |
| Premium color | 42–828 pages | $1.00 + $0.065 per page |
Large trim books cost more. KDP treats a book as large trim when it is wider than 6.12 inches or taller than 9 inches. The black-ink rate for large trim is $1.00 + $0.017 per page, with a $2.84 flat cost for 24–110 pages.
Two details trip people up. First, a short black-ink book costs the same to print whether it has 40 pages or 110, so adding pages inside that range is free. Second, cover finish and bleed settings do not change printing cost.
A worked example
Take a 300-page black-ink paperback in regular trim, priced at $15.
- Printing cost: $1.00 + (300 × $0.012) = $4.60
- Rate: 60%, because $15 is above $9.99
- Royalty: ($15 × 0.60) − $4.60 = $4.40 per sale
The same book sold through Expanded Distribution pays 40%: ($15 × 0.40) − $4.60 = $1.40 per sale.
The $9.99 cutoff can cost you a dollar per sale
Stay with the same 300-page book, now priced for the low end of the market.
| List price | Rate | Printing cost | Your royalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| $9.98 | 50% | $4.60 | $0.39 |
| $9.99 | 60% | $4.60 | $1.39 |
One cent of price changes your royalty by a full dollar. If you are pricing near $10, check both sides of the line before you commit.
Minimum list price
KDP will not let you set a price that fails to cover printing. The minimum is printing cost divided by the royalty rate. For the 300-page example, that is $4.60 ÷ 0.50 = $9.20. Maximum paperback price on Amazon.com is $250.
Expanded Distribution
Expanded Distribution makes your paperback available to bookstores, libraries, and other retailers outside Amazon. The royalty rate is 40% of the list price, minus printing cost. Many books at lower prices do not clear the minimum under that rate, so use the calculator before you switch it on.
Know Your Royalties? It's Time to Publish Your Book!
Now that you know how much you could earn from your book, take the next step toward becoming a published author. Turn your manuscript into a book and start your publishing journey today!
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Kindle Ebook Royalties, Explained
Ebooks have no printing cost, but there are two royalty options and one deduction to understand.
35% versus 70%
The 70% option is available when your Amazon.com list price is between $2.99 and $12.99. Outside that band, the 35% option applies. The 35% option has no delivery deduction.
Updated in 2026
Effective July 7, 2026, KDP raised the top of the 70% band from $9.99 to $12.99. The change is not automatic. If you have a book priced between $10 and $12.99 that is still on 35%, open Rights & Pricing and check which option is selected.
Delivery cost
On the 70% option, Amazon.com deducts about $0.15 per megabyte of the converted file, with a small minimum. A text-only novel at 1 MB loses about 15 cents. An image-heavy cookbook at 20 MB loses about $3.00, which can make the 35% option pay more.
Worked examples (1 MB file)
| List price | 70% option | 35% option |
|---|---|---|
| $4.99 | $3.39 | $1.75 |
| $9.99 | $6.89 | $3.50 |
| $12.99 | $8.99 | $4.55 |
| $13.00 | Not available | $4.55 |
Notice the last row. Going from $12.99 to $13.00 leaves you with the same royalty and a higher price for readers. Staying at or under $12.99 is almost always the better choice when the 70% option is open to you.
Other eligibility conditions apply, including territory rights and how your ebook price compares with print editions. KDP shows the final option on the Rights & Pricing page.
What This Estimate Leaves Out
The calculator gives you a clean per-sale figure for planning. It does not account for:
- Sales tax and VAT, which vary by store and by country
- Tax withholding on your KDP account
- Refunds and returned copies
- Advertising spend
- Kindle Unlimited earnings (see below)
- Hardcover royalties, which use a separate printing cost table
- Sales outside Amazon.com
Your KDP reports are the source of truth after launch. Use the calculator before you publish and when you test a new price.
How to Choose a Price Once You Know the Royalty
Royalty math tells you the floor. It does not tell you what readers will pay. A good price sits where three things meet.
The market: Look at five to ten bestselling books in your subcategory with similar length and format. If they cluster at $14.99 and you list at $21.99, you need a very strong cover, description, and review base to compete.
The margin: Calculate your royalty at two or three realistic prices, not one. The $9.99 cutoff for paperbacks and the $12.99 ceiling for ebooks both create steps that a simple percentage hides.
The purpose: A launch price can be lower than the long-term price. A business book that supports consulting leads may accept a thin margin. A series starter may be priced to bring readers into book two.
Do not set a price from royalty alone. Price also tells readers what kind of book this is.
How Many Copies Do You Need to Sell to Break Even?
A royalty is not profit until your production costs are covered. Use this:
Total publishing cost ÷ royalty per sale = break-even copies
If editing, cover design, formatting, an ISBN, and proof copies add up to $1,500 and your paperback earns $4.40 per sale, you need about 341 sales to break even. Advertising, if you use it, pushes that number up.
This is why production quality matters to the math. A cover and interior that convert browsers into buyers can move the sales number more than a small price change can.
A Note on Kindle Unlimited
If your ebook is enrolled in KDP Select, readers can borrow it through Kindle Unlimited. Those earnings do not follow the list-price formulas above. KDP pays from a monthly global fund based on pages read, so they vary month to month. Treat them as a separate income line, and check your KENP report for actual figures.
Where Bookstone Publishers Fits In
A calculator shows you the margin. Several of the numbers inside it, such as page count, trim size, ink type, and file size, are set during production. Getting them right early protects your royalty later.
Bookstone Publishers helps authors with:
- Print-ready interior formatting that hits the page count and trim you planned for
- Cover design built for Amazon thumbnails and print spine specs
- Ebook conversion with clean files that keep delivery cost under control
- Publishing setup including KDP account, categories, keywords, and pricing review
- Guidance on pricing and formats before you lock in your numbers
If you already have a manuscript and want a second set of eyes on your pricing and production choices, we are happy to talk it through. There is no obligation to hire us to use the calculator.
How We Built This Calculator
The formulas come directly from KDP’s published help pages for ebook pricing, paperback royalties, and paperback printing cost. We review them against those pages and update this tool when Amazon changes its rules. Our last review was October 22, 2026.
A few limits worth knowing. The tool covers Amazon.com, .co.uk, .de, .fr, .it, .es, .ca and .co.jp, each in its own currency, using list prices excluding VAT. Amazon can change rates, thresholds, and printing costs at any time. If your estimate and your KDP screen disagree, trust KDP’s number and tell us so we can check.
Official sources: KDP Paperback Royalty, KDP Paperback Printing Cost, KDP eBook Royalties, and KDP’s own Printing Cost & Royalty Calculator.
KDP Royalty Calculator FAQs
How much does Amazon KDP pay per book sold?
It depends on format and price. Ebooks pay 70% (minus delivery cost) at $2.99–$12.99 or 35% outside that band. Paperbacks pay 60% of list price at $9.99 or more and 50% below that, minus printing cost. Expanded Distribution pays 40% minus printing cost.
What is the KDP royalty rate for paperbacks?
On Amazon.com, 60% when the list price is $9.99 or higher and 50% when it is $9.98 or lower. Printing cost is subtracted after the percentage is applied.
What is the KDP royalty rate for ebooks?
There are two options: 35% and 70%. The 70% option applies to Amazon.com list prices from $2.99 to $12.99 and subtracts a delivery cost of about $0.15 per MB. The 35% option has no delivery deduction.
Did the 70% ebook price range change in 2026?
Yes. Effective July 7, 2026, the Amazon.com 70% band expanded from $2.99–$9.99 to $2.99–$12.99. Existing books do not switch on their own, so check the royalty option on each title.
Why is my KDP royalty lower than 60% of the price?
Because printing cost comes out after the percentage. A $14.99 paperback at 60% is $8.99 before printing, and a 300-page black-ink book then loses $4.60, leaving about $4.39. The effective share is closer to 29%.
How does KDP calculate printing cost?
Fixed cost plus a per-page charge. For a black-ink paperback in regular trim over 110 pages on Amazon.com, it is $1.00 + $0.012 per page. Color ink and large trim cost more.
What is the minimum price I can set for a paperback?
Printing cost divided by the royalty rate. A book that costs $4.60 to print has a $9.20 minimum, because it falls in the 50% tier.
Does trim size affect printing cost?
On Amazon.com, yes. Books wider than 6.12 inches or taller than 9 inches use the higher large-trim rates.
Is Expanded Distribution worth turning on?
It can be, if you want bookstore and library availability, but it pays 40% instead of 50–60%. Run the numbers first. If the royalty at 40% is too thin, you may prefer to leave it off.
Do hardcovers pay the same as paperbacks?
The royalty split follows the same structure, but hardcover printing costs are higher and use a separate table. Use KDP’s own calculator for an exact hardcover figure.
When does KDP pay royalties?
Approximately 60 days after the end of the month in which the sales were reported. Your KDP payment options page shows the details for your account.
Does this calculator include taxes or Kindle Unlimited?
No. It estimates the base royalty per sale. Taxes, refunds, ad spend, and KENP earnings are separate.
How can I earn more per book on KDP?
Check both sides of the price thresholds, keep ebook file size lean, choose black ink unless color is essential, and avoid large trim unless the book needs it. Then pair the right price with a cover and description that convert.
Not Sure Your Numbers Add Up?
Send us your trim size, page count, and target price. We will review the production choices behind your royalty and tell you plainly where you could keep more per sale.