On Amazon.com, print books earn 60% of the list price from $9.99 (50% below) minus the printing cost, and KDP’s minimum price is where that royalty covers the printing cost. Kindle eBooks earn 70% from $2.99 to $12.99, minus $0.15 per MB for delivery, and 35% outside that band.
The rules that set a KDP price
KDP doesn’t tell you what to charge, but it fixes the floor, the ceiling and the royalty bands. On Amazon.com:
| Rule | Print (paperback, hardcover) | Kindle eBook |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty rate | 60% from $9.99, 50% at $9.98 and below | 70% from $2.99 to $12.99; 35% at any price |
| Deducted | The printing cost of each copy | On 70% only: a delivery cost of $0.15 per MB of the converted file |
| Minimum price | Where the royalty covers the printing cost | $0.99, $1.99 or $2.99 at 35%, by file size (under 3 MB, 3 to 10 MB, 10 MB and more); $2.99 at 70% |
| Maximum price | $250.00 | $200.00 at 35%; $12.99 at 70% |
| Other conditions | Expanded Distribution (paperback only): 40% minus printing cost | For 70%: at least 20% below the print list price, no public-domain works, and KDP Select for sales in Japan, India, Brazil and Mexico |
Print: from printing cost to minimum price
KDP’s formula is royalty = rate × list price − printing cost. The printing cost depends on the ink, the trim and the page count. On Amazon.com a black-and-white paperback costs a flat $2.30 up to 108 pages, then $1.00 + $0.012 per page; premium color costs a flat $3.60 up to 40 pages, then $1.00 + $0.065 per page. Those are regular-trim rates; large trims cost more. The premium vs standard color guide has the full tables.
The minimum list price is the lowest price at which the royalty isn’t negative. In practice:
- If twice the printing cost is $9.98 or less, the minimum is twice the printing cost (royalty 50%).
- If the printing cost is between about $5.00 and $5.99, the minimum is $9.99 itself.
- Above that, the minimum is the printing cost divided by 0.6 (royalty 60%).
The minimum is a floor, not a recommendation: at the minimum you earn nothing per copy. The printing cost is the same for every copy, however many you sell, so the levers are the price, the page count and the ink.
The $9.99 threshold
The rate change makes one price point stand out. Moving from $9.98 to $9.99 adds about $1.00 to the royalty on every copy, because 60% now applies to the whole price. A book priced at $9.99 earns what it would earn at about $11.99 if the 50% rate still applied. Prices just under $9.99 therefore earn noticeably less than $9.99 itself, as the table below shows. Other currencies have their own threshold (see other marketplaces).
Three worked examples
Three paperbacks in the default trim and ink of a kdpbook book type, sold on Amazon.com. Printing costs come from KDP’s printing cost tables; minimum prices and royalties (per copy) follow KDP’s royalty formula.
| Book | Trim, ink, pages | Printing cost | Minimum price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Picture book | 8.5 × 8.5 in, premium color · white paper, 32 pages | $4.20 | $8.40 |
| Guided journal | 6 × 9 in, black & white · white paper, 120 pages | $2.44 | $4.88 |
| Novel | 5.5 × 8.5 in, black & white · cream paper, 300 pages | $4.60 | $9.20 |
Royalty per copy on Amazon.com at common list prices:
| List price | Picture book | Guided journal | Novel |
|---|---|---|---|
| $7.99 | Below minimum | $1.56 | Below minimum |
| $8.99 | $0.30 | $2.06 | Below minimum |
| $9.98 | $0.79 | $2.55 | $0.39 |
| $9.99 | $1.79 | $3.55 | $1.39 |
| $12.99 | $3.59 | $5.35 | $3.19 |
| $14.99 | $4.79 | $6.55 | $4.39 |
| $19.99 | $7.79 | $9.55 | $7.39 |
32-page picture book
Premium color costs a flat $4.20 on this large trim up to 40 pages, so 24, 32 and 40 pages cost the same. The minimum is $8.40, and at $9.99 the book earns $1.79 per copy against $0.79 one cent lower. A hardcover isn’t an option at this length: KDP hardcovers need 75 pages or more. Expanded Distribution is offered on this trim and ink, but KDP excludes paperbacks whose interior pages require a high concentration of ink to print, which can include full-page color art.
The Kindle edition is a fixed-layout eBook, and picture-book files are large. Assuming a 12 MB file at $4.99, 70% pays $2.23 after a $1.80 delivery cost and 35% pays $1.75. With the paperback at $9.99, the eBook must stay at $7.99 or less to keep 70%. See fixed-layout Kindle picture books.
120-page guided journal
In black & white on white paper, past 108 pages the cost uses the per-page formula: $1.00 + 120 × $0.012 = $2.44. The minimum is $4.88, so every price up to $9.98 falls in the 50% band: $2.55 at $9.98, then $3.55 at $9.99.
A journal is print only: KDP’s Kindle content guide lists books whose main purpose is to be written or colored in as better suited to print. Expanded Distribution excludes paperbacks with frequent lined or blank pages such as journals, so plan on Amazon sales only. A hardcover edition would cost $7.09 to print, for a minimum of $11.82.
300-page novel
On 5.5 × 8.5 in cream paper, the novel costs $4.60 to print and has a minimum of $9.20. Between that minimum and $9.98 it earns at most $0.39; at $9.99 it earns $1.39, and at $14.99 $4.39. Through Expanded Distribution the same copy at $14.99 would earn $1.40 (40% minus printing cost).
A 2 MB Kindle edition at $4.99 earns $3.28 at 70% (delivery $0.30) or $1.75 at 35%. With the paperback at $14.99, 70% allows up to $11.99. The top of the band matters: at $12.99 the eBook earns $8.88, but at $13.99 it drops to 35% and earns $4.90.
Kindle eBook prices
On Amazon.com, the 70% option covers list prices from $2.99 to $12.99; KDP raised the ceiling from $9.99 on July 7, 2026. It pays 70% of the price without VAT minus the delivery cost: $0.15 per MB of the converted file, rounded up to the kilobyte. The 35% option has no delivery cost. So 70% pays more only while the list price is more than 2 times the delivery cost, which is why large, image-heavy eBooks sometimes earn more at 35%.
| List price | 35% | 70%, 2 MB file | 70%, 12 MB file | 35% pays more for files over |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2.99 | $1.05 | $1.88 | $0.83 | about 10 MB |
| $4.99 | $1.75 | $3.28 | $2.23 | about 16.6 MB |
| $7.99 | $2.80 | $5.38 | $4.33 | about 26.6 MB |
| $9.99 | $3.50 | $6.78 | $5.73 | about 33.3 MB |
| $12.99 | $4.55 | $8.88 | $7.83 | about 43.3 MB |
- The 20% rule. For 70%, KDP asks that the eBook’s list price be at least 20% below the Amazon list price of any physical edition. A $9.99 paperback caps the 70% eBook at $7.99.
- Public domain. Works in the public domain, or made mostly of public-domain content, only earn 35%.
- Price matching. KDP says Amazon may sell your eBook below your list price, for example to match another store’s price.
KDP Select basics
KDP Select is a free, optional program for Kindle eBooks only. It trades the right to sell the eBook elsewhere for Amazon’s subscription and promotion tools:
- Exclusivity. For each 90-day term, the eBook must be exclusive to the Kindle Store. Print, audio and other formats can still be sold anywhere. Terms renew automatically unless you opt out.
- Kindle Unlimited. Enrolled eBooks are included in Kindle Unlimited, and you earn a share of the monthly KDP Select Global Fund based on pages read the first time (up to 3,000 normalized pages per title per customer). The rate per page isn’t fixed: KDP sets the fund each month.
- Promotions. One type per 90-day term: either up to 5 free days (no royalty while free) or a Kindle Countdown Deal, a time-limited discount on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
- 70% in Japan, India, Brazil and Mexico. Sales to these countries earn 70% only if the book is enrolled and priced within the band.
Whether Select pays off depends on your readers, not on the rules: it makes sense if you only planned to sell the eBook on Amazon anyway, and costs you the other eBook stores if not.
Other marketplaces and VAT
Each marketplace has its own printing costs, thresholds and minimums. In the UK and EU you enter print prices without VAT; Amazon adds VAT at checkout and KDP calculates the royalty on the VAT-exclusive price. Minimum list prices of the three examples:
| Marketplace | 60% from | Picture book | Guided journal | Novel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com | $9.99 | $8.40 | $4.88 | $9.20 |
| Amazon.co.uk | £7.99 | £6.48 | £4.10 | £7.70 |
| Amazon.de | €9.99 | €7.22 | €4.38 | €8.70 |
| Amazon.ca | CA$13.99 | CA$10.52 | CA$6.36 | CA$12.12 |
| Amazon.com.au | A$13.99 | A$12.84 | A$10.12 | A$15.03 |
Check any trim, ink, page count and marketplace with the printing cost calculator and the royalty calculator.
A pricing routine
- Fix the format first. Trim, ink and page count set the printing cost, and trim and ink are locked once the paperback is published. They move the minimum price more than anything else.
- Find the minimum for each format and marketplace you’ll sell in.
- Look at comparable books in your category on Amazon: same format, similar length. That part is your judgment; KDP’s rules only set the limits.
- Mind the threshold. If your price lands just under $9.99, compare it with $9.99 itself.
- Price the eBook under the print edition, at least 20% lower if you want 70%, and check the delivery cost for image-heavy files.
- Decide on KDP Select for the eBook before you publish it elsewhere.
kdpbook.io builds the print and Kindle files; the price stays your decision. If you’re still choosing the format, compare paperback and hardcover, or see the default trim and ink of each book type on the book types page.