Book Math Tools

Ebook vs Paperback vs Hardcover Royalty Calculator

Enter your book once and see the royalty per copy for each KDP format side by side, with the printing cost and the share of the price you keep.

Paperback
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Hardcover
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Ebook
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Full KU read
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On the euro stores, enter print prices without VAT, since KDP works out print royalties from the price before VAT. Printed books are zero-rated in the UK.

How each format pays

paperback or hardcover = price × 60% (50% below the threshold) − printing cost
ebook = 70% × (price − VAT − delivery), or 35% × (price − VAT)
full KU read = KENPC (up to 3,000) × KENP rate

The print threshold is $9.99 on Amazon.com and the euro stores and £7.99 on Amazon.co.uk. Printing cost depends on page count, trim and ink, and hardcovers cost more to print than paperbacks of the same length.

Worked example: a 300-page novel

FormatPricePrintingRoyaltyShare of price
Paperback, cream paper$14.99$4.60$4.3929%
Hardcover$24.99$9.25$5.7423%
Kindle ebook, 1.5 MB$4.99–$3.3367%
Full KU read, 400 KENP––$1.80–

The hardcover earns the most per copy, but at $24.99 it sells to far fewer readers. The ebook keeps 67% of its price against 29% for the paperback, so a reader who switches from print to ebook costs you less than the price gap suggests.

Worked example: a color cookbook

A 120-page 8.5" x 11" cookbook in premium color costs $10.60 to print as a paperback and $15.25 as a hardcover. At $24.99 the paperback earns $4.39, and the $34.99 hardcover earns $5.74. The 18 MB ebook at $6.99 earns $3.00 after a $2.70 delivery fee, 43% of its price, against 18% for the paperback. Color printing takes most of the print price, so every dollar of print discount comes straight out of a small royalty: price color print editions up from the printing cost, not down from what similar books charge.

Using the comparison

Price each format for its own readers rather than in proportion to the others. A useful check is that each print edition earns at least as much per copy as the ebook; if a paperback earns less than the ebook, readers who choose print are costing you money and the price is probably too low. If the paperback royalty is close to zero, look at a smaller trim or cream paper, or raise the price past the 60% threshold with the paperback royalty calculator. Then use the blended figure, weighted by how your sales split between formats, in the income goal calculator or the break-even calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Which format earns the most per copy?

For a text book at normal prices, the paperback and hardcover usually earn more dollars per copy than the ebook, but the ebook keeps a much larger share of its price because there is no printing cost. For color books the gap narrows sharply, because color printing is expensive.

Why is the ebook price so much lower?

Readers expect it, and KDP's 70% royalty only applies between $2.99 and $12.99 on Amazon.com. KDP also requires a 70% ebook to be priced at least 20% below the Amazon list price of any physical edition.

Why is there no hardcover result?

KDP hardcovers need 75 to 550 pages and black or premium color ink; standard color isn't available. Leave the hardcover price at 0 to skip it.

Does this include Expanded Distribution?

No, it compares sales on Amazon. Paperbacks sold through Expanded Distribution earn 40% minus printing, which the paperback royalty calculator shows. Hardcovers can't use Expanded Distribution.

Sources

Rates last checked against KDP's help pages on 2026-10-16.

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