Free tool

KDP paperback royalty calculator

Amazon pays paperback royalties of 50% under $9.99 and 60% at $9.99 or above, minus the printing cost (about $0.85 plus $0.012 per page for black & white). Enter your page count and drag the price to see exactly what lands in your pocket per sale.

How the math works

Your royalty is list price × royalty rate − printing cost. Two things trip up most first-time publishers: the printing cost scales with page count, so a 300-page book earns much less than a 120-page book at the same price — and the royalty rate jumps from 50% to 60% at exactly $9.99, which means a $9.99 book often out-earns a $8.99 one by a wide margin.

Is Expanded Distribution worth it?

Expanded Distribution (ED) lists your paperback with wholesalers so bookstores, libraries, and other retailers can order it. Sales through that channel pay 40% of list minus printing — noticeably less than Amazon's 50–60% — and, more importantly, enabling ED raises your minimum allowed list price to printing cost ÷ 0.40. For many books that forces a price hike on Amazon too, which is ED's hidden cost. Tick "Compare with Expanded Distribution" in the calculator above to see both numbers for your exact page count.

Rule of thumb: if your list price already clears the ED minimum, turning it on is free upside — extra availability, no downside on Amazon sales. If it would force your price up, skip it; realistically, almost all indie paperback sales happen on Amazon anyway, and a worse Amazon price to enable a channel that rarely orders is a bad trade.

Publishing an ebook instead? Use our Kindle royalty calculator. Thinking about running Amazon Ads? The ads break-even calculator tells you whether this royalty can afford the clicks.