Print book pricing for KDP Print is pretty straightforward. The key number to figure out is the cost to manufacture your book. The primary factors that affect costs are these:
· The country where your book is sold
· The number of pages in your book
· Whether you are printing the interior in premium color, standard color, or in black and white
Note that there are three factors that do not impact cost:
The dimensions of your book. It doesn't matter if it is 8.5″ x 11″ or 4.25″ x 6″, the manufacturing cost is the same.
Whether you choose cream paper or white paper. Only color printing matters.
The cover finish of your book. You can choose gloss or matte.
There are 3 ways to calculate your KDP Print printing costs:
Upload your files to KDP Print and their calculator will give you a cost.
Use Amazon’s pricing tables.
Use Amazon's Printing Cost & Royalty Calculator.
Note that uploading your files to KDP Print (number one) is the official cost. The other two options are used for estimating costs. Again, trim size, bleed settings, and cover finish do not affect cost of printing. Scroll down to Resources for links to Amazon help pages that have more details and prices for international marketplaces. Note that not all paperback book dimensions can be printed in hardcover format.
Calculating Amazon paperback-selling commission and your royalty
Now that you have the cost to manufacture your printed book, you can compute the sales commission. This is easy: your royalty is 60% of your list price minus printing costs.
· (list price x 60%) – printing costs = royalty
Returning to the novel, it looks like this:
· Manufacturing cost: (278 PDF pages x $0.012 per page) + $0.85 = $4.19
· Royalty calculation: ($14.95 x 60%) – $4.19 = $4.78
KDP Print minimum and maximum pricing
Of course, you can’t sell a print book for less than it costs to print it, so Amazon calculates that number for you. The formula for this is:
Printing cost / 60% (royalty rate) = minimum list price. As you see above for Trials and Trails, that number is:
· $4.19 / 60% = $6.98.
The maximum price of your print book (paperback or hardcover) must be no more than $250 (no math required!), 250EUR for the European marketplace, or 30,000 yen for Japan.
Selling your book on your website or in other stores
Always keep in mind that your price must not be higher in any other sales channel. For example, if you sell your book on your website it must be the same price you list it for on Amazon. If Amazon discovers the lower price, they can match that price and your royalties will be reduced according to the same formula. Other sales channels include Apple Books, the Barnes & Noble Nook store, Google Play, and Kobo Books, to name just a few.
Expanded distribution royalties are lower
Expanded distribution is when Amazon makes your book available to other online retailers via their relationship with Ingram, the parent company of IngramSpark. This is optional, but it can’t already be distributed by another company (typically, for self-publishers, this is going to be IngramSpark).
The novel, for example, is ineligible because we used IngramSpark to offer the book for pre-order. The book remains there for distribution to other online retailers. Books that are eligible for expanded distribution receive a royalty of 40%. Ingram needs to be compensated for making your book available to their network of retailers (BN.com, for example). Again, this is for print books, not eBooks.
The cost to buy author copies of your book
As an aside, the cost for you to buy copies of your own book is the printing price ($4.19 in this example). These are called “author copies” and you order them via your KDP account. Click Paperback Actions to the right of your book in your KDP account.
What if Amazon is selling my book for less than my list price?
This might be the most common pricing question we get from new self-publishing authors. The answer is your royalty does not change, subject to Amazon’s terms and conditions here on their eBook Digital Pricing Page or here on their Print Pricing Page.
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