Amazon KDP pays authors royalties on every sale, but the rate you earn depends on format, pricing, and territory. Ebook royalties work differently from paperback royalties — and getting your pricing wrong can cost you thousands over the life of a book. This guide breaks down exactly how KDP royalties work for each format.
KDP offers two royalty tiers for Kindle ebooks:
| Tier | Price range (USD) | Markets | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70% | $2.99 – $9.99 | US, UK, CA, AU, DE, FR, IT, ES, JP, IN, BR, MX | Must be enrolled in KDP Select, or priced within range |
| 35% | $0.99 – $200 | All markets | Any price outside the 70% range automatically drops to 35% |
Note: KDP also deducts a delivery charge from the 70% tier based on file size. For most text-based books this is a few cents, but image-heavy books (cookbooks, children's books, illustrated guides) can see meaningful delivery costs.
For paperback books, KDP pays a flat 60% royalty on the list price minus the printing cost. Printing costs depend on page count and ink type.
Printing costs for the most common configurations (USD, US marketplace):
| Ink type | Fixed cost | Per page cost | Example: 200 pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black & White | $0.85 | $0.012/page | $0.85 + $2.40 = $3.25 |
| Standard Color | $0.85 | $0.07/page | $0.85 + $14.00 = $14.85 |
| Premium Color | $0.85 | $0.10/page | $0.85 + $20.00 = $20.85 |
At a $14.99 list price on a 200-page B&W paperback: (14.99 × 0.60) − 3.25 = $5.74 royalty. At $9.99: (9.99 × 0.60) − 3.25 = $2.74 royalty. Pricing matters significantly for paperbacks.
The most common reason KDP royalties look lower than expected is the expanded distribution channel. When you opt into expanded distribution (Ingram, bookstores), KDP applies a 40% royalty rate instead of 60% to compensate for the larger wholesale discount given to retailers. You can see the per-channel breakdown in your KDP Pricing page for each book.
Another common issue: KDP calculates royalties on the VAT-exclusive price in VAT-applicable countries (UK, EU). If your UK price is £4.99 and VAT is 20%, Amazon bases your royalty on approximately £4.16, not £4.99.
Enter your page count, trim size, and list price to instantly calculate your exact per-unit royalty — for B&W, Standard Color, and Premium Color.
Try the Royalty Calculator →Paperback: Set your price at a point where your royalty covers at least $2–3 margin after printing. For B&W books, $12.99–$16.99 tends to hit the sweet spot between buyer conversion and author earnings. Very thin margins at $9.99 are common mistakes for new authors.
Kindle: Test prices in the $3.99–$6.99 range for non-fiction. Fiction often performs well at $4.99. Pricing below $2.99 halves your royalty rate with minimal conversion uplift.
KDP Select: Enrolling in KDP Select makes you eligible for Kindle Unlimited page reads (KENP). You earn roughly $0.004–0.005 per page read, which can exceed sale royalties for longer books with an engaged readership.