2026-11-14 · all guides

Why Is My Kindle Ebook Only Paying a 35% Royalty?

How to tell which rate a sale paid

The two Kindle royalty options are easy to tell apart once you do the arithmetic.

• 70% option: 70% of the list price without VAT or GST, minus a delivery fee based on the file size. In the US store the fee is 0.15 per MB.
• 35% option: 35% of the list price without VAT or GST. There is no delivery fee.

So a 9.99 ebook with a 1 MB file earns about 6.89 at 70% in the US store (70% of 9.84), and 3.50 at 35%. In Australia, where the list price includes 10% GST, a AU$9.99 ebook is AU$9.08 before tax. That pays about AU$6.20 at 70% after the AU$0.15 per MB delivery fee, and about AU$3.18 at 35%.

If your earnings per sale are close to the second number, the sale was paid at 35%. Work out which of the reasons below applies before you change anything.

1. The 35% option is the one ticked

Open the Kindle edition on your KDP Bookshelf, go to the pricing page, and look at the royalty option. New publishers sometimes leave 35% selected, or pick it without realizing the difference. If it says 35% and your price is inside the 70% band, switch it to 70% and save the change.

2. The price is outside the 70% band

The 70% option only applies while the list price sits inside a set range for each store. KDP raised the US band on July 7, 2026. It is now 2.99 to 12.99 in the US store, up from 9.99 at the top. KDP's list price page says other stores changed by equivalent amounts. The Australian store, for example, shows AU$3.99 to AU$15.99.

A price below the minimum or above the maximum earns 35% in that store, even when 70% is selected. If you sell in several stores, check each one. A price that converts neatly in the US can land outside the band somewhere else.

3. The buyer is outside the 70% territories

The 70% rate applies to sales to customers in KDP's list of 70% territories. Sales to customers outside that list are paid at 35%, whatever you selected. That is why some authors see a mix of 70% and 35% sales for the same book in the same month.

Four countries have an extra condition: for sales to customers in Brazil, Japan, Mexico and India, the ebook must also be enrolled in KDP Select to earn 70%. You do not need to live in a 70% country yourself to receive the 70% rate.

4. A price match pushed it below the minimum

Amazon can match a lower price it finds elsewhere, for example on another ebook store. Under the 70% option, a match keeps the same formula at the lower price. But if the matched price falls below the 70% minimum for that store, the sale pays 35%. If you sell the ebook in other stores too, keep their prices at or above your KDP price.

5. The ebook is not priced below the paperback

KDP requires the ebook list price to be at least 20% below the list price of any physical edition of the same book on Amazon. A book that breaks this rule no longer meets the 70% requirements, and KDP pays it at 35%. KDP's terms also say it can adjust royalties already reported when that happens. A 14.99 paperback with a 12.99 ebook is a common way to trip this.

6. The book is mostly public domain

Books that consist mainly of public domain content can only use the 35% option, whatever the price.

What to do next

1. Check the royalty option on the pricing page.
2. Check the list price in every store against that store's 70% band.
3. Compare your Kindle price with your paperback price. The ebook should be at least 20% cheaper.
4. Look at where the 35% sales came from. If they are from countries outside the 70% list, nothing is wrong with your settings.

Run your own numbers through the Kindle royalty calculator to see what a price change does per copy. If the paperback price is part of the problem, the paperback royalty calculator shows the lowest price your printing cost allows.

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