KDP Price Ladder
Enter your trim, pages, and royalty plan, then slide through 10 price points: per-unit royalty, break-even units, and worst-case monthly revenue, side by side.
Local estimates for the US marketplace — not affiliated with Amazon. Verify final figures in your KDP account before pricing.
1 · Your royalty plan
Shown on the ebook's pricing page. Amazon charges $0.15 / MB delivery against the 70% tier only.
Final interior page count (see the page count on a print preview, not your word count).
Editing, cover design, ads — everything you want the sales ladder to pay back. Leave 0 and break-even is instantly met.
The slow month you can live with. Worst-case monthly revenue = this number × royalty per unit.
2 · Slide the ladder
- Royalty / unit
- $4.09
- Break-even units
- 123
- Worst-case monthly revenue
- $40.90
| # | List price | Tier | Costs | Royalty / unit | Break-even units | Worst-case / month |
|---|
How the math works
Kindle eBooks
Amazon pays 70% of list price for books priced $2.99–$9.99, minus a delivery fee of $0.15 per MB. Outside that window (like $0.99 or $12.99) you get 35% with no delivery fee.
royalty × list − (15¢ × MB) 70% tier
royalty × list 35% tier
Paperback & hardcover
Amazon pays 60% of list on its own store, minus the printing cost: $0.85 + $0.012 per page for a standard black-ink paperback (June 2023 US rates). Expanded distribution pays 40%.
60% × list − printing cost
Break-even
Your upfront costs (editing, cover, ads) divided by royalty per unit, rounded up. That's the number of copies before you've paid yourself back.
break-even units = upfront ÷ royalty
Worst case
Month-in, month-out revenue on your pessimistic unit guess. Plan your marketing on the worst column, celebrate on the best.
worst-case = pessimistic units × royalty