The ebook pricing optimizer calculates your Amazon KDP royalties at different price points and helps you find the price that maximizes total monthly revenue. It accounts for Amazon's 35% and 70% royalty tiers, file delivery costs, and KDP Select Kindle Unlimited page reads.
Typical text ebook: 0.3-1MB. Illustrated: 2-10MB
Used for KDP Select page-read estimate
Across paid sales (not KU borrows)
Leave 0 if not in KDP Select
How to Optimize Your Ebook Price on Amazon KDP
The ebook pricing optimizer removes the guesswork from self-publishing pricing by showing you the exact royalty you earn at every price point. The Amazon KDP royalty structure has a major jump between the 35% and 70% tiers that most authors should optimize around.
The 35% vs 70% Royalty Cliff
The most important pricing rule in Amazon KDP: books priced $2.99-$9.99 earn 70% royalty; everything else earns 35%. A book priced at $2.99 earns $2.07/sale. The same book at $2.98 earns just $1.04/sale. Pricing at $2.99 makes you 2x more per sale than $2.98. This makes $2.99 the absolute floor for any serious self-publishing strategy.
File Size and Delivery Costs
At 70% royalty, Amazon deducts a "delivery cost" of approximately $0.06/MB for US sales. A 0.5MB text ebook has a $0.03 delivery cost — negligible. But a 5MB illustrated ebook has a $0.30 delivery cost. At $3.99 with $0.30 delivery: you earn 70% × $3.99 − $0.30 = $2.49/sale. Keep your ebook file lean to maximize the percentage of your royalty that reaches your pocket.
KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited
KDP Select pays you for page reads from Kindle Unlimited subscribers. At approximately $0.0045/page, a 300-page book fully read earns $1.35/borrow. If you get 100 borrows/month with 50% completion, that's $67.50/month extra. For authors with high reader engagement and loyal audiences, KU can double or triple income — but requires giving Amazon exclusivity.
Wide vs. Exclusive Distribution
Going "wide" (non-exclusive, sell on Apple, Kobo, B&N, etc.) works best for authors with existing audiences on those platforms or in countries where Amazon has less market share. KDP Select exclusivity is generally better for authors just starting out or targeting Amazon's large Kindle Unlimited subscriber base. Use this calculator to model both scenarios and choose based on where your readers are.
FAQ
Is this ebook pricing calculator free?
Yes, completely free with no signup required. Enter your ebook file size, page count, and estimated sales at different price points to see your optimal Amazon KDP price. All calculations run locally in your browser.
What is the Amazon KDP 70% royalty threshold?
Amazon KDP pays 70% royalties for ebooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99 in major marketplaces (US, UK, DE, CA, FR, ES, IT, JP, BR, MX, AU, IN). Books priced below $2.99 or above $9.99 receive only 35% royalty. The delivery cost (approximately $0.06-0.15 per MB) is subtracted from 70% royalty earnings.
What is the KDP delivery cost?
Amazon charges a delivery cost for 70% royalty titles based on file size: approximately $0.06 per MB in the US. A typical 300KB ebook has a delivery cost of about $0.02-0.05. A heavily illustrated ebook at 3MB might cost $0.18 in delivery fees. This is why keeping your ebook file size lean maximizes your royalty.
Should I price my ebook at $0.99 or $2.99?
Almost always $2.99 earns more money than $0.99, even though it seems counterintuitive. At $0.99 you earn $0.35 (35% royalty). At $2.99 you earn about $2.07 (70% royalty). You'd need to sell 6x more books at $0.99 to match $2.99 earnings. The only reason for $0.99 is a deliberate loss-leader strategy to build readership or reviews.
What is KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited?
KDP Select is an exclusivity program where you make your ebook available only on Amazon for 90-day periods. In exchange, your book is included in Kindle Unlimited (KU), where subscribers can borrow it for free. You earn page-read royalties from a shared monthly fund. KU page read rates are typically $0.004-0.005 per page read. A 200-page book fully read earns $0.80-1.00. High page counts and engaged KU audiences can make Select very lucrative.
Is my ebook revenue data safe using this tool?
Yes, all calculations run entirely in your browser. No book data, revenue figures, or publishing information are sent to any server or stored anywhere. The tool is completely private.
What price range sells the most ebooks on Amazon?
Studies of Amazon bestseller pricing show $2.99-5.99 is the sweet spot for self-published fiction and non-fiction. Above $6.99, volume drops significantly for self-published authors without large platforms. Below $2.99 you sacrifice royalty rate. For non-fiction with proven demand or a large author platform, $7.99-9.99 can outperform — you lose some volume but gain royalty per sale.