Pricing an ebook on KDP: the 35% and 70% royalty options

KDP gives every Kindle ebook two royalty options, 35% and 70%, and which one applies depends mostly on your list price. In July 2026, Amazon widened the 70% band on Amazon.com for the first time since 2007, raising its ceiling from $9.99 to $12.99. That changes the math for longer books and nonfiction, and it’s a good moment to understand exactly how the two options work.

The figures below are for Amazon.com unless noted, and they were current when this was written. Check KDP’s pricing pages before you set a price, because Amazon does update them.

The two options

70% royalty

• Price range: $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com, effective July 7, 2026. The previous ceiling was $9.99.
• Formula: 70% × (list price − applicable VAT − delivery cost)
• Delivery cost: $0.15 per megabyte on Amazon.com, based on the size of the converted file, with a minimum of $0.01
• Print price rule: the ebook’s list price must be at least 20% below the list price of any print edition on Amazon
• Territories: available for sales in many countries but not all; sales in Brazil, Japan, Mexico, and India earn 70% only if the book is enrolled in KDP Select
• Content: books made up mainly of public domain material are limited to 35%

35% royalty

• Price range: from $0.99 for files under 3 MB, $1.99 for files of 3 to 10 MB, or $2.99 for files of 10 MB or more, up to $200
• Formula: 35% × (list price − applicable VAT)
• Delivery cost: none

Other marketplaces have their own bands in local currency. After the July 2026 change, the 70% ceiling in the UK and euro stores is also 12.99 in local currency. KDP’s list price requirements page has the full table.

Worked examples

For a typical novel with a 2 MB file, the delivery cost at 70% is about $0.30:

The step from $12.99 to $13.99 cuts the royalty almost in half, because the book leaves the 70% band. To match the $8.88 earned at $12.99, a book on the 35% option would need a list price above $25.

When 35% is the right choice

Very low prices

A $0.99 launch price or a limited-time promotion at that level can only use 35%. That’s fine when the goal is visibility, or bringing readers into a series, rather than income per copy. Decide in advance how long the low price will last and what it will return to, so the promotion has a clear end.

Prices above $12.99

Some nonfiction, professional, and reference books are priced above the band. If your readers expect a higher price and will pay it, 35% of that price can be the right result. Run the numbers first: as the table shows, the price has to be much higher to match what 70% pays at $12.99.

Very large files

Delivery costs grow with file size and apply only at 70%, so for image-heavy books there’s a point where 35% pays more. The two options pay the same when the file size in megabytes is about 3.3 times the list price in dollars. At $9.99, that’s around 33 MB; at $4.99, around 17 MB. Above that size, 35% pays more. If your file is anywhere near those sizes, compress the images before you decide, because a smaller file may keep the 70% option worthwhile.

Things that can move you between options

• Price matching. If Amazon matches a lower price from another store, your royalty is calculated on Amazon’s price. If that price falls below $2.99, the sale earns 35%.
• Your print price. Raising the ebook price, or lowering the paperback price, can break the 20% rule. Set the print price first, then price the ebook below it.
• Existing books. The July 2026 change didn’t switch anything automatically. If your ebook is priced between $10 and $12.99 on the 35% option, you have to change the royalty option yourself in the book’s pricing settings.

How to choose your price

The royalty table tells you what you’ll earn per sale, not how many copies you’ll sell. To choose a price:

1. Look at comparable books. Check the prices of recent, similar books in your categories. Readers compare, and a price far outside the norm for your genre needs a reason.
2. Consider length. A 25,000-word novella and a 120,000-word epic usually sit at different prices in the same genre.
3. Think in series. Many authors price the first book lower to bring readers in, and the later books at full price.
4. Account for Kindle Unlimited. If your book is in KDP Select, borrows are paid by pages read rather than by your list price, so your list price mainly affects purchases.
5. Change one thing at a time. If you test a new price, give it time, and don’t change your ads, cover, and description in the same week.

Promotions and price changes

Price changes on KDP aren’t instant and can take up to 72 hours to appear, so make a promotion’s price change a few days before it starts. If you’re enrolled in KDP Select, Kindle Countdown Deals let you run a time-limited discount while keeping the royalty rate you had at the regular price, under conditions KDP sets out in its help pages. Outside Select, a promotional price is simply a price change, and the royalty follows the normal rules for that price.

When a promotion ends, check that the price went back to what you intended in every marketplace. It’s easy to fix the US price and forget the UK or Canada.

Setting prices in other marketplaces

KDP can convert your US price into other currencies automatically, but converted prices land on odd numbers and sometimes fall outside a marketplace’s 70% band. Set the major marketplaces yourself:

• Use local price points. Readers in each store are used to their own conventions, such as prices ending in .99 or .49.
• Check each band. A price that qualifies for 70% in the US may not qualify elsewhere after conversion. The Australian store, for example, uses its own range in Australian dollars.
• Remember the print rule everywhere. The ebook has to be at least 20% below the print edition’s price in each marketplace where both are sold.

A quick way to sanity-check a price

Before you publish, look at your price from three angles. Compared with similar books in your category, does it look normal, low, or high, and is that deliberate? At this price, which royalty option applies, and what does each sale earn after delivery costs? And if you plan to discount later, will the regular price leave room for a promotion that still feels like a deal?

A note on VAT

In marketplaces with VAT, such as the UK and the EU, the list price you set includes VAT, and your royalty is calculated on the price after VAT is removed. The same list price therefore earns less there than on Amazon.com, before any currency conversion.

Pricing checklist

• File size checked, with images compressed if the file is large
• Print edition priced first, and the ebook at least 20% below it for 70%
• Price between $2.99 and $12.99 for 70%, or a deliberate choice of 35%
• Prices set for each marketplace, rounded to local conventions
• Comparable books’ prices reviewed
• KDP’s royalty preview checked before you publish
• Older books priced between $10 and $12.99 switched to 70% if eligible

AIBookWriter’s free KDP Royalty Calculator runs in your browser with no limit on runs. Enter a list price, marketplace, and file size to compare both options side by side, then confirm the final numbers in KDP’s own pricing step.