How Much Does It Cost to Self-Publish on Amazon KDP?

You can publish a book on Amazon for free. Amazon’s self-publishing service is called KDP, short for Kindle Direct Publishing. KDP doesn’t charge you to sign up. It doesn’t charge you to publish an ebook, a paperback, or a hardcover either.

KDP earns its money when your book sells. Each time a reader buys a copy, KDP keeps part of the price. The part you keep is called your royalty.

Is it free to publish a book on Amazon?

Yes. KDP’s help page Start publishing with KDP says KDP lets you “self-publish eBooks, paperbacks, and hardcover books for free.”

Paperbacks and hardcovers use print on demand, which means KDP prints each copy only after someone orders it. You don’t pay for printing up front. You don’t have to store any books either. Instead, KDP takes what it costs to print each copy out of the sale. KDP calls this the printing cost.

Free to publish doesn’t mean free to read. The price you set for your book before tax is called its list price. KDP doesn’t let you set an ebook’s list price to free.

How much does KDP take from each paperback sale?

On Amazon.com, your royalty is 60% of your list price minus the printing cost. That rate applies when your list price is $9.99 or more. Below $9.99, the rate is 50%. KDP keeps the rest of the price. KDP writes this as (royalty rate × list price) − printing cost = royalty.

The printing cost depends on your page count, ink, paper, and book size. It also depends on the Amazon store where the reader buys your book. It’s a fixed cost for each copy plus a cost for each page. KDP’s formula is fixed cost + (page count × per-page cost) = printing cost.

These are KDP’s costs on Amazon.com for paperbacks printed in black ink on white or cream paper.

A per-page cost of $0.012 is 1.2 cents a page. A book counts as large size if it’s more than 6.12 inches wide or more than 9 inches tall. Color ink, groundwood paper, hardcovers, and other Amazon stores each have their own costs.

What does a $15 paperback earn on Amazon.com?

Say your paperback is 6 × 9 inches and has 300 pages printed in black ink. You set a list price of $15.00 on Amazon.com.

1. Find the printing cost. Your book is regular size and has more than 110 pages. Its printing cost is $1.00 + (300 × $0.012) = $1.00 + $3.60 = $4.60.
2. Find your royalty rate. Your list price of $15.00 is more than $9.99. Your rate is 60%.
3. Calculate your royalty. That’s (0.60 × $15.00) − $4.60 = $9.00 − $4.60 = $4.40.

You earn $4.40 for each copy sold on Amazon.com. Of the $15.00 price, $4.60 pays for printing. Amazon keeps the other $15.00 − $4.60 − $4.40 = $6.00.

KDP’s pages disagree about trim size, meaning your book’s width and height. The Paperback Royalty page first says printing cost depends on trim size. Further down, it says trim size doesn’t affect printing cost. The Paperback Printing Cost page charges more per page for large sizes. This guide follows that page’s cost tables.

KDP won’t accept a list price too low to cover your printing cost. Our free KDP royalty calculator calculates your printing cost, royalty, and lowest allowed list price in each Amazon store.

How much does KDP take from each ebook sale?

Ebooks have no printing cost. Instead, you choose one of two royalty options for each ebook.

• With the 35% option, you get 35% of your list price.
• With the 70% option, KDP first subtracts a fee for sending the file to the reader, called the delivery cost. You get 70% of what’s left.

On Amazon.com, the delivery cost is $0.15 for each megabyte (MB), a unit of file size. KDP’s eBook Royalties page says the average delivery cost is $0.06 a sale. Pictures make a file bigger and raise the cost.

Say your ebook’s list price is $4.99 and its file is 2 MB. A reader in the United States buys it on Amazon.com.

• 70% option. The delivery cost is 2 × $0.15 = $0.30. Your royalty is 0.70 × ($4.99 − $0.30) = 0.70 × $4.69 = $3.28.
• 35% option. Your royalty is 0.35 × $4.99 = $1.75.

KDP rounds each royalty to the cent. In countries with a sales tax called VAT, KDP takes the VAT out of the price first.

The 70% option has two limits.

• On Amazon.com, your list price must be from $2.99 to $12.99. KDP raised the top of this range from $9.99 on July 7, 2026.
• It pays 70% only on sales to readers in the countries listed on KDP’s Digital Book Pricing Page. The United States is one of them. Other sales earn 35%.

What does Amazon give you for free?

Each of these costs nothing.

• A KDP account. You can sign in with your Amazon account or create a new one.
• A free ISBN. An ISBN, or International Standard Book Number, is the number that identifies your book. KDP gives one free to paperbacks and hardcovers. You can use it only to publish with KDP. Your book’s publisher name, called the imprint, shows as “Independently published.” Ebooks don’t need an ISBN on KDP.
• Cover Creator. Cover Creator is KDP’s free tool for designing a cover from ready-made layouts. It adds your ISBN barcode to the back cover. You can’t download a Cover Creator cover to use outside KDP.
• Kindle Create. Kindle Create is Amazon’s free app for formatting a book. It turns your manuscript, the file of your book’s text, into an ebook. It can also prepare a paperback.
• Kindle Previewer. Kindle Previewer is a free app that shows how your ebook will look on Kindle e-readers, tablets, and phones.
• KDP Select. KDP Select is a free 90-day program for Kindle ebooks only. It puts your ebook in Kindle Unlimited, a monthly subscription that lets readers borrow Kindle ebooks. KDP pays you from a monthly fund, based on how many of your pages these readers read for the first time.
• Expanded Distribution. Expanded Distribution is a free option that offers your paperback to bookstores, online stores, libraries, and schools outside Amazon. KDP lists your book with large distributors, the companies that supply those buyers.

KDP Select has one catch. Your ebook must be exclusive to the Kindle Store for each 90-day period. You can’t sell it in other ebook stores or on your own website. You can still sell your paperback and audiobook anywhere. Your enrollment renews every 90 days unless you turn renewal off.

Expanded Distribution pays 40% of your list price minus the printing cost. For the $15.00 paperback above, that’s (0.40 × $15.00) − $4.60 = $6.00 − $4.60 = $1.40. Hardcovers can’t join. Enrolling also doesn’t promise that any store will stock or order your book.

Which self-publishing costs are optional?

You can publish without paying for anything in this section.

Proof copies and author copies

A proof copy is a test print of your book. You order it before you publish to see how your book looks in print. An author copy is a printed copy of your published book. You can sell it or give it away.

For both kinds, you pay your book’s printing cost for each copy, plus shipping. Five proofs of the 300-page book above cost 5 × $4.60 = $23.00, plus shipping. Our guide to KDP proof copies and author copies explains how to order each one.

Your own ISBN

You can buy your own ISBN from an ISBN agency, such as Bowker in the United States. Your own ISBN lets you publish the same book with other services too. Your book also shows the imprint name you choose. Our guide to how much an ISBN costs explains the prices.

Formatting software

Formatting means laying out your text as a book. You can format a book with free tools, such as Kindle Create. Some other apps cost money. Our comparison of book formatting software covers free and paid options.

We make Proselis, a browser app for writing and formatting books. Writing and formatting in Proselis are free. A one-time $20 Publish One Book pass lets you save one book as an EPUB, a common ebook file. Proselis can’t make a print-ready PDF yet. That’s the file of a paperback’s pages that KDP prints from.

Cover design and editing

Cover Creator is free. You can also hire a cover designer. KDP doesn’t edit your book. Its Online Previewer, which shows your ebook on screen inside KDP, can flag spelling mistakes in English ebooks. For a full edit, you can hire an editor. Designers and editors set their own prices.

Advertising

Amazon Ads are paid ads that show your book to shoppers on Amazon. With Sponsored Products ads, you pay only when a shopper clicks. You set your own budget. Adding a card places a temporary $50 hold on it. Your bank releases the hold within 3 to 7 business days.

How do you publish a book on Amazon for free?

These steps are for a paperback. An ebook needs no ISBN or print options. Otherwise, it follows the same steps.

1. Create your KDP account. Go to kdp.amazon.com and click Sign up. Click Create your KDP account. Then enter your name, email address, and a password.
2. Add your account details. Enter your legal name, not a pen name. Then, under Getting Paid, click Add a bank account.
3. Enter your tax information. Go to Your Account and select Tax Information. Click Complete Tax Profile. This opens the tax interview, a set of questions about who you are for tax purposes. KDP must check your answers before you can publish.
4. Start a new book. Go to your Bookshelf, the page in your KDP account that lists your books. Click + Create. Choose what you’re publishing, such as a paperback.
5. Enter your book details. On the Paperback Details page, add your title, author name, description, keywords, and categories. Your title and author name must match the ones in your manuscript.
6. Choose your ISBN and print options. On the Paperback Content page, choose Get free KDP ISBN and click Assign ISBN. Under Print Options, choose your ink, paper, and trim size. Our word count to pages calculator estimates your page count from your word count. Our KDP copyright page generator shows how to word your copyright page with a free KDP ISBN.
7. Upload your files. Click Upload paperback manuscript and choose your file. In the Book Cover section, upload your cover or click Launch Cover Creator. Our KDP cover calculator gives the exact cover size for your book. If your cover has no barcode, KDP adds one to the back. To place it yourself, our ISBN barcode generator makes one.
8. Preview your book. In the Book Preview section, click Launch Previewer. Print Previewer shows your pages as they’ll print. It also lists problems you must fix before you can publish. Then click Save and Continue.
9. Set your price. On the Paperback Rights & Pricing page, confirm where you hold the rights to sell your book. Enter your list price. KDP shows your printing cost and royalty for each Amazon store. To reach stores outside Amazon, check the Expanded Distribution box.
10. Publish. Click Publish Your Paperback Book at the bottom of the page. For an ebook, the button is Publish Your Kindle eBook. KDP then checks your files before your book goes on sale.

What does self-publishing on Amazon cost, item by item?

When does KDP pay you?

KDP pays royalties every month. Each payment comes about 60 days after the end of the month of the sale. For example, royalties for January sales are paid at the end of March. Expanded Distribution sales take longer, about 90 days.

KDP sets no minimum for direct deposit. Wire transfers and checks from Amazon.com wait until you’ve earned at least $100.

Does KDP take taxes out of your royalties?

KDP’s Tax Information page says you do have to pay taxes on your KDP sales. KDP may also hold back part of each payment for taxes. This is called withholding.

• If you’re a US citizen or US resident, KDP takes out no US tax once you’ve given valid tax information.
• If you’re not a US citizen or US resident, KDP withholds 30% of royalties from ebook sales on Amazon.com. It does the same for print sales on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com.au, and Amazon.co.jp. A tax treaty, an agreement between your country and the United States, may lower this rate. You claim the lower rate in your tax interview.