- Print cost
- $4.60
- Royalty
- $3.19
- Tier
- 60%
- Min price
- $9.20
300 pages · 6 × 9 · rates checked 2026-11-10 · check on KDP ↗
Amazon KDP · 2026-11-10
KDP royalty calculator — what you actually earn per copy
Pick a format and a price and see what lands in your account: printing cost first, then the royalty rate that applies. The 50% / 60% cliff is marked on the curve, because one cent of price can cost you a dollar of royalty.
Royalty per copy · 60% tier · US
$3.19USD
vs expanded distribution $0.60
6 × 9 · 300 pages · black & white · white paper · list price $12.99 · Printing cost table ↗ / Paperback royalty rates ↗
- Printing cost
- $4.60
- Min viable price
- $9.20
- At 50% tier
- $0.39
Your book
24–828
Drag to compare prices
Price ladder
Where your price sits between "loses money", the 50% tier and the 60% tier.
Current price $12.99 — the marker follows the input above.
Rates for Amazon.com, checked 2026-11-10. Paperback royalty rate: 50% at or below $9.98, 60% above it.
All marketplaces
The same 300-page book, every marketplace
Printing cost, the minimum price that does not lose money, and where the 60% tier starts. Currency differs by marketplace, so compare within a row, not across.
- Cheapest to print
- UK
- Most expensive
- JP
- US royalty at 60% start
- $1.39
- US min list price
- $9.20
£3.85
¥806
300 pages, $9.99
royalty = 0
Royalty at the 60% tier
Same 300-page book, each marketplace, own currency
| Marketplace | Printing cost | Min list price | 60% tier starts | Royalty at 60% start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com | $4.60 | $9.20 | $9.99 | $1.39 |
| Amazon.ca | CA$6.06 | CA$12.12 | CA$13.99 | CA$2.33 |
| Amazon.co.uk | £3.85 | £7.70 | £7.99 | £0.94 |
| Amazon.de/es/fr/it/nl/ie/com.be | €4.35 | €8.70 | €9.99 | €1.64 |
| Amazon.pl | PLN 20.31 | PLN 39.01 | PLN 39.01 | PLN 3.10 |
| Amazon.se | SEK 48.57 | SEK 97.14 | SEK 109.01 | SEK 16.84 |
| Amazon.com.au | A$9.02 | A$15.04 | A$13.99 | -A$0.63 |
| Amazon.co.jp | ¥806 | ¥1,344 | ¥999.01 | -¥206.59 |
Computed from KDP's published rate tables, checked 2026-11-10. The calculator above uses your own page count and trim.
How the number is built
Three steps, in the order KDP applies them
First KDP works out the printing cost — a fixed charge plus a per-page charge, or just the fixed charge when the interior is 110 pages or fewer in the US. The fixed charge depends on the marketplace, the ink and paper, and whether the trim counts as large (wider than 6.12 inches or taller than 9). A 300-page 6×9 black-and-white paperback in the US is $1.00 plus 300 × $0.012, which is $4.60.
Then it applies the royalty rate to your list price — not to the profit. The rate is 60% at or above the marketplace threshold and 50% below it, and the thresholds are local: $9.99 in the US, £7.99 in the UK, €9.99 in the eurozone, 39 zł in Poland, 999 yen in Japan. This is why a price change of one cent can move the royalty by a dollar.
Finally it subtracts the printing cost. That is the whole formula: rate × price − cost. It also means two books with the same page count but different trims can earn differently, because the large-trim rate kicks in once either dimension passes the limit. Expanded distribution uses a flat 40% with the same subtraction, which is why it usually pays less than the standard rate for a book priced above the threshold.
Questions
Royalty questions people actually ask
Royalty = royalty rate × list price − printing cost. Not (list price − printing cost) × rate. The rate is 60% when your list price is at or above the marketplace threshold ($9.99 in the US) and 50% below it, so a paperback priced at $12.99 in the US keeps 0.60 × $12.99 − $4.60 = $3.19.
Because the rate drops from 60% to 50% at the threshold. A 300-page US paperback priced $9.99 earns $1.39 a copy; the same book at $9.98 earns $0.39. One cent of price costs you a dollar of royalty. The 60% tier always wins once the price is high enough to cover printing.
No. Delivery fees apply to ebooks only, where the 70% tier is charged per megabyte delivered. Paperbacks are charged printing cost, which already includes the fixed cost and the per-page cost for the trim and ink type you picked.
The lowest price that keeps the royalty at zero or above. For a 300-page 6×9 black-and-white paperback in the US that is $9.20 at the 50% rate — but because the 60% tier starts at $9.99, $9.99 earns more than $9.98 despite the higher price. The calculator shows both numbers.
Expanded distribution puts the book in other retailers and libraries, but the rate is a flat 40% with printing cost still deducted. On the same 300-page $12.99 book that is $0.60 a copy instead of $3.19, so most authors keep it off until they have a reason to be in those catalogues.
They come from Amazon KDP's published printing cost and royalty pages, last checked 2026-11-10. The rate table is versioned in code and re-checked monthly; if KDP changes a number, the page changes with it rather than drifting.
Next numbers to work out
Royalty is one of six; the others decide whether the book is worth printing at all.