How much authors make per copy
The current Amazon KDP rules for ebooks and paperbacks, the terms a traditional publisher typically offers, and how to work out the royalty per copy you will enter in the calculator. Every rate on this page was checked against the source on October 20, 2026.
What a royalty is
A royalty is the author's share of each sale. Who pays it, and how it is worked out, depends on how the book is published:
- If you publish yourself through Amazon KDP, Amazon pays you a percentage of the list price, minus a delivery cost for ebooks or a printing cost for paperbacks.
- If a traditional publisher publishes the book, the publisher pays you a percentage of the list price or of what it receives, set by your contract, usually after any advance has been earned back.
- If you work with a publishing service, the terms are in that contract. Ask what share of each sale comes to you and who owns the rights.
"List price" is the price you set. "Net receipts" is what the publisher actually receives from the store after the store's discount, which is lower than list price.
Amazon KDP ebook royalties
KDP offers two ebook royalty options. You choose one for each book.
| 35% option | 70% option | |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com list price allowed | $0.99 to $200 for files under 3 MB; $1.99 to $200 for 3 to 10 MB; $2.99 to $200 for 10 MB and larger | $2.99 to $12.99 |
| Delivery cost deducted | None | $0.15 per MB on Amazon.com, minimum $0.01 |
| Formula | 35% × (list price − VAT) | 70% × (list price − VAT − delivery cost) |
| Where it applies | All sales | Sales to customers in the eligible territories; sales elsewhere earn 35% |
Two details matter. First, Amazon raised the top of the 70% band on Amazon.com from $9.99 to $12.99, effective July 7, 2026. Many articles still say $9.99. Second, a book priced above $12.99 can only earn 35%, so raising the price past the band can lower what you earn per copy. Works that are mainly public domain content only qualify for 35%. Amazon's ebook royalty page says average delivery costs are $0.06 per unit sold, though they vary by file size.
Say your ebook file is 2 MB and you sell on Amazon.com, where there is no VAT in the list price.
At $9.99 on the 70% option: delivery cost = 2 × $0.15 = $0.30. Royalty = 70% × ($9.99 − $0.30) = 70% × $9.69 = $6.783, about $6.78.
At $9.99 on the 35% option: 35% × $9.99 = $3.4965, about $3.50.
At $12.99 on the 70% option: 70% × ($12.99 − $0.30) = 70% × $12.69 = $8.883, about $8.88.
At $14.99, which is above the 70% band, so 35% applies: 35% × $14.99 = $5.2465, about $5.25.
The $14.99 book earns $3.63 less per copy than the $12.99 book, even though it costs the reader more.
Sources: KDP eBook Royalties, KDP eBook List Price Requirements and KDP Digital Book Pricing Page, all checked October 20, 2026.
Amazon KDP paperback royalties
For paperbacks sold on Amazon marketplaces, KDP pays a royalty rate that depends on the list price, minus the cost of printing the copy.
- 60% of list price on Amazon.com when the price is $9.99 or more.
- 50% of list price on Amazon.com when the price is $9.98 or less.
- 40% through Expanded Distribution (sales through other bookstores and libraries), also minus printing.
Formula: (royalty rate × list price) − printing cost = royalty.
Printing cost on Amazon.com for a black-ink book on cream or white paper:
| Page count | Regular trim | Large trim |
|---|---|---|
| 24 to 110 pages | $2.30 per book | $2.84 per book |
| 110 to 828 pages | $1.00 + $0.012 per page | $1.00 + $0.017 per page |
Large trim means wider than 6.12 inches or taller than 9 inches. KDP's table lists 110 pages in both rows; use the KDP royalty calculator if your book is exactly 110 pages.
A 250-page paperback, regular trim, priced at $17.99 on Amazon.com.
Printing: $1.00 + (250 × $0.012) = $1.00 + $3.00 = $4.00.
Royalty: (60% × $17.99) − $4.00 = $10.794 − $4.00 = $6.794, about $6.79.
The same copy through Expanded Distribution: (40% × $17.99) − $4.00 = $7.196 − $4.00 = $3.196, about $3.20.
A 120-page paperback priced at $8.99, which falls in the 50% band.
Printing: $1.00 + (120 × $0.012) = $1.00 + $1.44 = $2.44.
Royalty: (50% × $8.99) − $2.44 = $4.495 − $2.44 = $2.055, about $2.06.
The Scribe Method chapter on how to properly price your book makes a related point for business authors: price is also a signal. A business book priced very low can make the author look less valuable, which matters more to the client line than a few dollars of royalty.
Sources: KDP Paperback Royalty and KDP Paperback Printing Cost, checked October 20, 2026.
Traditional publishing royalties
Traditional contracts vary, so the most reliable public reference is the Authors Guild Model Trade Book Contract, which the Guild describes as realistic terms rather than ideal ones:
| Format | Royalty in the model contract |
|---|---|
| Hardcover | 10% of list price on the first 5,000 copies, 12.5% on the next 5,000, 15% after 10,000 |
| Trade paperback | 7.5% of list price |
| Ebook | 25% of the publisher's net receipts, which the Guild says has become the standard rate (and argues is too low) |
Applied to list prices: a $28 hardcover at 10% pays $2.80 a copy. An $18 trade paperback at 7.5% pays $1.35. Most traditional deals also pay an advance, which is money paid up front against future royalties: you receive no further royalty payments until your royalties have added up to more than the advance.
Two Scribe authors have published comparisons from their own books. They are strong results chosen from Scribe's published stories, not typical, and nobody can promise them.
Shaan Patel had published an earlier book with McGraw Hill; his story compares that royalty with the $13 per copy he earns on his Scribe book (read the story). David Goggins turned down a traditional advance and kept ownership of Can't Hurt Me; his story reports 3.5 times the royalties he would have made on a traditional deal, on a book that has sold more than 3 million copies (read the story). For him, the royalty line was the big one. For most business authors it will not be.
Your royalty per copy, across formats
The calculator asks for one royalty per copy. If you expect to sell more than one format, use a weighted average: the royalty for each format times its share of sales.
Say you expect 300 copies a year: 200 paperbacks at $17.99 (royalty $6.79) and 100 ebooks at $4.99 with a 2 MB file (royalty 70% × ($4.99 − $0.30) = $3.283, about $3.28).
Total royalties: (200 × $6.79) + (100 × $3.28) = $1,358 + $328 = $1,686.
Royalty per copy: $1,686 ÷ 300 = $5.62.
Enter 300 copies sold per year and $5.62 royalty per copy in the Book Value Calculator.
Copies you buy yourself to give to prospects are not sales for this line. They are a cost, and they belong in the book cost. Their payoff shows up in the client and talk lines.
What that adds up to in a year
The honest benchmark for copies sold comes from the Scribe Method chapter on realistic and unrealistic expectations for a book: "The average nonfiction book sells less than 250 copies per year." At $6.79 a copy, 250 copies is 250 × $6.79 = $1,697.50 in a year.
Some books sell far more. The same chapter's larger point is that a book can make money in many other ways, and that is the reason this site exists. Enter an honest sales figure, then look at the other lines. If the book is right for your business, those lines are where most of its value will be. The how to value a book page walks through all of them.