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KDP Printing Cost & Royalty Calculator

See what Amazon keeps for printing — and what you keep — before you set a list price.

Paperback or hardcover, black ink or color, regular or large trim, every KDP print marketplace. Includes the 50%/60% royalty cliff and US Expanded Distribution. Estimates only; confirm the figure on your KDP Bookshelf.

Estimate print cost and royalty
Rates follow Amazon’s paperback and hardcover printing-cost help pages

Paperback: 24–828 (standard color 72–600). Hardcover: 75–550. Odd counts are rounded up.

Must cover printing cost. On Amazon.com, $9.99 and above earns 60% royalty; below that is 50%.

Choose your format and click Calculate to see print cost, minimum list price, and royalty.

How KDP print cost works

Amazon prints on demand. You do not pay a setup fee. When a reader buys a copy, KDP subtracts the printing cost from your royalty:

Royalty = (royalty rate × list price) − printing cost

Printing cost is fixed cost + (page count × per-page cost). A 300-page black-ink 6×9 paperback on Amazon.com is $1.00 + (300 × $0.012) = $4.60. At $14.99 (60%): (0.60 × $14.99) − $4.60 = $4.39 per sale.

Short black-ink paperbacks (24–110 pages in most stores; 24–108 in Australia) pay only the fixed cost — $2.30 on Amazon.com for a regular trim. Color and hardcover use different tables. Brazil, India, and Mexico do not support KDP paperback or hardcover distribution.

Why use this calculator?

01 Current marketplace rates

Print cost is not one US number. This calculator uses Amazon’s published fixed and per-page rates for each store, including Poland, Sweden, Japan, and the EU cluster.

02 Paperback and hardcover

Hardcover has a higher fixed cost and a 75–550 page range. Standard color is paperback-only. The form hides options that KDP does not offer for your format and store.

03 Ink, paper, and trim

Black ink, standard color, and premium color cost different amounts. Large trims (wider than 6.12″ or taller than 9″) cost more per page. Groundwood is a few percent cheaper than cream or white.

04 The 50% / 60% cliff

Since June 2025, print books listed below a marketplace threshold (for example $9.99 on Amazon.com) earn 50% instead of 60%. The estimate uses the rate that actually applies to your list price.

05 Expanded Distribution

US paperback Expanded Distribution pays 40% of list minus print cost. The result shows that royalty next to the Amazon royalty so you can see whether the extra channel is worth enabling.

How to use this tool

1

Set format and store

Choose paperback or hardcover, the Amazon marketplace, ink, paper (for black ink), and regular vs large trim.

2

Enter pages and price

Use the page count from KDP’s previewer (even numbers). Type the list price in that store’s currency.

3

Read cost and royalty

You get print cost, the formula, minimum list price, Amazon royalty, and Expanded Distribution where it applies. Download a PNG if you want a snapshot.

Frequently asked questions

Printing cost = fixed cost + (page count × per-page cost). Short black-ink books often pay only the fixed cost. Bleed and matte vs glossy covers do not change print cost. Trim class, ink, paper, page count, and marketplace do.
On June 10, 2025 Amazon cut the standard print royalty from 60% to 50% below a local threshold: $9.99, £7.99, €9.99, CA$13.99, A$13.99, 40 zł, 99 kr, and ¥1,000. Royalty is (rate × list price) − printing cost. Expanded Distribution stays 40% at every price.
Both print on white paper. Standard color uses lighter ink coverage (good for workbooks and charts) and costs less per page; it requires 72–600 pages and is not offered in every marketplace. Premium color starts at 24 pages (75 for hardcover) and suits photo-heavy interiors.
KDP treats a book as large trim when the width is more than 6.12 inches (155.5 mm) or the height is more than 9 inches (228.6 mm). Common large sizes include 7×10, 8×10, and 8.5×11. 5×8, 5.5×8.5, and 6×9 are regular.
No. Black-ink cream and white paper share the same rates. Groundwood (where available) is about 5% cheaper per page and has a slightly lower short-book fixed cost. Color interiors always use white paper.
Hardcover is not a primary marketplace on Amazon.ca, Amazon.com.au, or Amazon.co.jp. You can still sell into Canada and Australia by making the hardcover available on Amazon.com. Japan does not support KDP hardcover.
They follow Amazon’s Paperback Printing Cost and Hardcover Printing Cost help pages (the same formula KDP uses in Rights & Pricing). Amazon can change rates. Always confirm the figure shown in your KDP Bookshelf before you lock a list price.

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