How to Price a KDP Book: Paperback and eBook Pricing Explained

What decides a KDP book's price

Pricing a KDP book is a balance between three things: what the book costs Amazon to produce and deliver, what royalty rate the price unlocks, and what readers in your genre expect to pay. The first two are arithmetic. The third is research. A good price respects all three.

Paperbacks and hardcovers carry a printing cost that Amazon deducts from your share of every sale. eBooks have no printing cost, but on the 70% option Amazon deducts a small delivery cost based on file size. Because the costs and rules differ, it helps to price each format on its own terms rather than copying one price across all of them.

Paperback pricing: the minimum list price

For print books, your royalty is the list price multiplied by the royalty rate, minus the printing cost. KDP will not let you publish at a price where that result is negative. That gives a simple rule for the lowest price you can set:

Royalty = (List price × Royalty rate) − Printing cost

Minimum list price = Printing cost ÷ Royalty rate

The printing cost depends on ink type, trim size, page count, and marketplace. On Amazon.com, a black ink paperback at a regular trim size (up to 6.12 by 9 inches) with 110 to 828 pages costs a $1.00 fixed charge plus $0.012 per page. Books with 24 to 108 pages pay a flat $2.30. Larger trims and color interiors cost more.

At the minimum price your royalty is zero, so it is a floor, not a target. Most authors price well above it so that each sale earns something worthwhile and leaves room for advertising.

The 50% and 60% threshold around $9.99

Paperback and hardcover royalties on Amazon.com use two tiers. List prices at or below $9.98 earn 50%, and list prices of $9.99 and above earn 60%. Other marketplaces have their own thresholds, such as £7.98 in the UK and €9.98 in euro markets. Books in Expanded Distribution earn 40% on those sales regardless of price.

The tier change creates a jump. Moving from $9.98 to $9.99 adds one cent to the price but raises the rate from 50% to 60%, which can add about a dollar to your royalty. If your printing cost puts your price near $10, it is almost always worth crossing the line.

Worked example: a 6 x 9, 300-page black ink paperback

Take a 6 x 9 inch paperback with 300 pages, black ink on white paper, sold on Amazon.com. The printing cost is $1.00 + (300 × $0.012) = $4.60.

1. Minimum list price: $4.60 ÷ 0.50 = $9.20. That price sits under the $9.98 threshold, so the 50% rate applies and the royalty is $0.00.
2. At $9.98: (9.98 × 0.50) − 4.60 = $0.39 per copy.
3. At $9.99: (9.99 × 0.60) − 4.60 = $1.39 per copy, because the 60% rate now applies.
4. Target of $3.00 per copy: (4.60 + 3.00) ÷ 0.60 = $12.67, which rounds up to a charm price of $12.99 and earns $3.19.

Each extra dollar of list price above the threshold adds $0.60 of royalty. The Paperback Pricing Calculator produces this same table for your own trim size, page count, and marketplace.

eBook pricing and the 70% band

Kindle eBooks offer two royalty options. The 70% option is available only when the list price falls inside a band, which on Amazon.com is $2.99 to $12.99. Below or above that band, the 35% rate applies. Other marketplaces have their own bands, for example £1.77 to £12.99 in the UK.

70% royalty = 0.70 × (List price − Delivery cost)

35% royalty = 0.35 × List price

Delivery cost is charged only on the 70% option and depends on file size. The site's calculators use $0.15 per MB on Amazon.com as a configurable assumption. For a 1 MB file priced at $4.99, the 70% option pays about $3.39 while 35% would pay about $1.75. At $13.99 the book falls outside the band and earns 35%, about $4.90, which is less than the roughly $8.99 the same file would earn at $12.99.

• Image-heavy eBooks have larger files, so check that delivery costs do not erase the benefit of 70%.
• Prices that include VAT in some marketplaces reduce the amount the royalty is calculated on.
• Use the Kindle Royalty Calculator to compare both options for your file size and marketplace.

Charm pricing and comparing with genre peers

Most book prices end in .99, such as $12.99 or $4.99. This is charm pricing, and it is the convention readers are used to seeing. The site's pricing tools round a calculated price up to the next .99 so that you never fall below your target royalty. There is no rule that you must use .99, but an unusual ending can look out of place on a search results page full of .99 prices.

Costs tell you the lowest price that works for you. They do not tell you what readers will pay. To set the upper bound, look at 10 to 20 books that are close to yours in genre, length, format, and trim size, and note their prices.

1. Search for your main keywords and open the top results in your category.
2. Record each book's format, page count, and list price. Ignore temporary promotions where you can tell.
3. Find the typical range. Pricing far above it needs a clear reason, such as a larger trim, color interior, or a much longer book.
4. Pick a charm price inside that range that also clears your target royalty.

If your target royalty forces a price well above your peers, consider whether the format is right. A smaller trim, fewer pages, or black ink instead of color can lower printing cost. The KDP Pricing Calculator can also work backwards from a desired profit and any ad cost per sale.

A simple pricing checklist

• Calculate printing cost for your exact trim size, ink, page count, and marketplace.
• Find the minimum list price and the price that hits your target royalty.
• For print, check whether you are near the $9.99 tier change on Amazon.com, or the equivalent elsewhere.
• For eBooks, stay inside the 70% band unless you have a specific reason not to.
• Compare with genre peers and choose a charm price inside the typical range.
• Re-check every number on KDP's pricing page before you publish, since Amazon can change rules and costs.

For a full breakdown of how royalties are calculated, read How KDP Royalties Work. Pricing tools give estimates. They cannot predict sales, and no price guarantees earnings.