KDP Royalty Calculator (2026): Paperback, Hardcover and Kindle

How KDP Royalties Work

For a print book sold on Amazon, KDP's formula is:

(royalty rate x list price) - printing cost = royalty

The rate is 60% at or above a step price in each marketplace and 50% below it. The step is not a currency conversion; each marketplace has its own:

Expanded Distribution (bookstores, libraries, other retailers) pays a flat 40% of list price minus the same printing cost, with no step.

What Printing Costs

Printing is a fixed cost per book plus a cost per page, and both depend on the marketplace, the ink and the trim size. Short books pay a single flat price: on Amazon.com a black-ink paperback of 24 to 110 pages costs $2.30 at standard trim. Above that it's $1.00 plus $0.012 a page. Premium colour is $1.00 plus $0.065 a page from 42 pages.

Trim size is the one most people get wrong. KDP calls anything wider than 6.12 inches or taller than 9 inches large trim, and large trim costs more in every band. Every 8.5 x 11 colouring or activity book is large trim. Pricing one as standard trim understates printing by about a third.

Kindle eBook Royalties

eBooks have two options. 70% applies only inside a price band and subtracts a delivery cost for every megabyte of the file. 35% applies outside the band, with no delivery cost. The calculator works out both and shows the better one, because a large file priced low can earn more at 35%.

Outside the US, KDP applies the rate to the price without VAT, and VAT depends on where the reader lives, so those figures are before VAT.

Worked Examples

• KDP's own example: a 333-page black-ink paperback at $15 on Amazon.com costs $5.00 to print and pays $4.00 a copy, or $1.00 through Expanded Distribution.
• An 8.5 x 11 premium-colour workbook, 100 pages at $12.99: printing costs $9.00, so every copy loses $1.21. It only breaks even at $15.00, which is why colour books are priced well above $12.99.
• A 120-page large-trim journal at $7.99: below the $9.99 step it earns 50%, so it pays $0.96 a copy after $3.04 of printing. Priced at $9.99 it would earn 60%.

What a Calculator Can't Tell You

A royalty per copy is half the answer. The other half is how many copies a book in your niche actually sells, and no calculator knows that. You can estimate it from the books already selling: their sales rank, price and page count are on their Amazon pages.

I built BookPeek, a free Chrome extension, to do that on Amazon itself: it reads the books on a search page, estimates their sales as a range from their sales rank, and shows what each one earns its author using these same tables. Disclosure: it's mine. Get BookPeek on the Chrome Web Store.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does KDP pay per paperback?

Amazon pays 60% of the list price (50% if the price is below a marketplace's step, such as $9.99 on Amazon.com), minus the printing cost. A 333-page black-ink paperback at $15 costs $5.00 to print on Amazon.com, so it pays 0.60 x $15 - $5.00 = $4.00 a copy.

Why does my royalty drop when I price under $9.99?

KDP pays 60% on paperbacks only at or above a step price in each marketplace: $9.99 on Amazon.com, £7.99 on Amazon.co.uk, €9.99 in Europe and C$13.99 on Amazon.ca, for example. Below the step the rate is 50%, so a price one cent under the step can pay noticeably less than the step itself.

Is an 8.5 x 11 book large trim?

Yes. KDP counts any book wider than 6.12 inches (155.5 mm) or taller than 9 inches (228.6 mm) as large trim, which costs more to print in every band. Every 8.5 x 11 colouring, activity and workbook is large trim.

How are Kindle eBook royalties calculated?

The 70% option applies only inside a price band (for example $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com) and subtracts a delivery cost per megabyte of file size ($0.15 per MB on Amazon.com). Outside the band, or if you choose it, the royalty is 35% with no delivery cost. Outside the US, KDP works the royalty out on the price without VAT.

What is Expanded Distribution royalty?

Paperbacks sold through Expanded Distribution (bookstores, libraries and other retailers) pay a flat 40% of the list price minus the same printing cost, with no 50/60 step. A book needs a higher price to earn anything there: the 333-page $15 example pays $1.00 a copy instead of $4.00.

Figures from KDP's help pages for paperback and hardcover printing costs, paperback royalties, eBook royalties and list price requirements, checked cell by cell on November 4, 2026. KDP changes these tables from time to time; if something looks off, KDP's own printing cost page is the final word. Not affiliated with Amazon. Amazon and Kindle Direct Publishing are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc.