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The Independent Author's Financial Reference

How Much Will Your Book Earn?

Free Royalty Calculation Tool For Every Publishing Path.

Calculate Your Book Royalties
$9.99
500 copies/month
Estimated Royalties
$6.93
Per Copy
$3,465
Monthly
$41,580
Annual

Platform Royalty Comparison

PlatformFormatYour CutOn $9.99Notes
Amazon KDPEbook70%$6.93Requires $2.99–$9.99 pricing
Amazon KDPEbook35%$3.50Outside 70% price range
Amazon KDPPrint60% − print cost$3.14–$3.84After printing fee (selected tier)
Apple BooksEbook70%$6.93Via D2D or direct
IngramSparkPrint45–55%~$3.50Wholesale discount applies
Draft2DigitalEbook60% net~$5.99After D2D 10% fee; 40+ retailers
Lulu DirectPrintup to 80%$7.99Direct sales to your audience
TraditionalBoth8–15%$0.80–$1.50Of cover price; after advance recoup
Note: Royalty calculations are estimates based on published platform rates as of 2026. Actual earnings vary based on delivery costs (Amazon charges for large file ebooks), promotional pricing, returns, and currency conversion. KDP's 70% rate applies to qualifying territories; 35% applies elsewhere. Consult current platform terms for exact rates.

Quick Reference

Quick Answer
A $9.99 KDP ebook earns $6.93 per sale
Amazon takes 30%. You keep 70% — about $6,930 on 1,000 sales.

Frequently Asked Questions

Earnings vary dramatically. The median self-published author earns under $1,000/year. However, authors with multiple books and effective marketing regularly earn $30,000–$100,000+. Successful indie authors typically have 5–15 books and run ongoing advertising campaigns on Amazon Ads and Facebook.
Publish both. Ebooks have zero printing cost and higher margins — you earn $6.93 on a $9.99 ebook. Print expands your audience and enables bookstore distribution. The incremental effort is small and combined sales typically exceed either format alone.
Self-publishing pays 4–7× more per copy than traditional publishing. Traditional pays 8–15% of cover price; self-publishing pays 70% (ebook). However, traditional publishers provide advances, wider retail distribution, and prestige that can lead to larger overall audiences. The right choice depends on your goals, not just royalty rates.
$2.99–$9.99 qualifies for 70% KDP royalties. Genre matters: romance typically sells well at $3.99–$4.99; non-fiction commands $9.99–$14.99. Pricing above $9.99 drops to 35% royalties on KDP. Many authors test multiple price points and find $5.99–$7.99 often maximizes total revenue for fiction.
Amazon KDP pays monthly, approximately 60 days after the month of sale (January sales paid in March). Draft2Digital pays monthly after reaching a $10 minimum. IngramSpark pays quarterly. Traditional publishers typically pay twice yearly. Direct sales through your own store pay immediately.
KDP pays 70% royalty on ebooks priced $2.99-$9.99 (minus delivery costs). Books outside that range earn 35%. For print, 60% of list minus printing costs -- a 300-page paperback at $12.99 nets approximately $4-5 per sale.
KDP pays approximately 60 days after the month sales occurred. January sales pay at end of March. Minimum threshold: $100 for checks, $10 for US direct deposit. Kindle Unlimited pays monthly at approximately $0.004-0.005 per page read.
Sources
KDP Royalty Guide IngramSpark Pricing Draft2Digital Royalties Publishers Weekly Indie Data Author Earnings Reports

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