Break-even: copies to earn your money back
Break-even is what you spent divided by what one copy earns. A $16.99, 140-page paperback earns about $7.51 a copy on Amazon, so a book that cost $7,970 to make needs about 1,061 sales to pay for itself. The numbers below come from Amazon KDP's published royalty rules, worked out so you can check them.
The formula
Copies to break even = total cost / earnings per copy, rounded up.
Total cost is everything you paid to make the book: editing, design, registration, the copies you bought. Earnings per copy depends on the format and where it sells. The rest of this guide is about that second number, because it is smaller than most authors expect and it moves a lot with price.
What a paperback earns
KDP's paperback royalty on Amazon.com is (royalty rate x list price) minus printing cost. The rate is 60% at list prices of $9.99 and above and 50% at $9.98 and below. KDP's own example: a $15 list price on a 333-page book that costs $5.00 to print earns 0.60 x $15 - $5.00 = $4.00. Through Expanded Distribution, to other retailers, the rate falls to 40%, so the same book earns $1.00.
Printing cost comes from KDP's formula: $1.00 plus $0.012 a page for a black-ink, regular-trim book over 108 pages (KDP). Put together:
| List price | Rate | 140 pages ($2.68) | 200 pages ($3.40) | 300 pages ($4.60) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $9.98 | 50% | $2.31 | $1.59 | $0.39 |
| $9.99 | 60% | $3.31 | $2.59 | $1.39 |
| $14.99 | 60% | $6.31 | $5.59 | $4.39 |
| $16.99 | 60% | $7.51 | $6.79 | $5.59 |
| $19.99 | 60% | $9.31 | $8.59 | $7.39 |
Royalty per copy sold on Amazon.com, black ink, regular trim. Checked October 20, 2026.
The $9.98 row is there to show the cliff: one cent less costs about a dollar a copy. And page count matters more than people expect. Every extra 100 pages costs $1.20 a copy in printing, which comes straight out of your royalty.
If you also distribute through IngramSpark, your earnings there depend on the wholesale discount you set, less printing and a 1.875% market access fee on distributed books (IngramSpark). Use its compensation calculator for your exact figure.
What an ebook earns
KDP offers two ebook royalty options. The 70% option applies to list prices from $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com, a band that was widened from $9.99 on July 7, 2026 (KDP). It pays 70% of the price after a delivery cost of $0.15 per megabyte, with a $0.01 minimum (KDP pricing page). Outside the band, you earn 35% of the price with no delivery charge. KDP says delivery costs average $0.06 a sale (KDP). The tables here assume 2 MB to be cautious; the calculator lets you enter your real file size.
| Ebook list price | Option | Math (2 MB file) | Per copy |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.99 | 35% | 0.35 x $0.99 | $0.35 |
| $2.99 | 70% | 0.70 x ($2.99 - $0.30) | $1.88 |
| $4.99 | 70% | 0.70 x ($4.99 - $0.30) | $3.28 |
| $7.99 | 70% | 0.70 x ($7.99 - $0.30) | $5.38 |
| $9.99 | 70% | 0.70 x ($9.99 - $0.30) | $6.78 |
| $12.99 | 70% | 0.70 x ($12.99 - $0.30) | $8.88 |
| $14.99 | 35% | 0.35 x $14.99 | $5.25 |
The last row is the trap: pricing an ebook above $12.99 on Amazon.com drops you to 35% and earns less per copy than $9.99.
Copies you sell yourself
When you buy author copies at print cost and sell them at a talk or through your own site, you keep the difference: $16.99 - $2.68 = $14.31 for a 140-page paperback, before shipping and card fees. That is nearly twice the Amazon royalty, which is why hand sales and direct orders do so much of the work in many nonfiction authors' break-even. The guide to paying for a book covers presales and bulk orders.
Copies needed, worked out
Three budgets from the calculator for a 50,000-word book: the do-it-yourself example ($1,895), the freelancer example ($7,970), and, for comparison, the published price of Scribe Publishing ($29,000; Scribe Media makes this site):
| Sold as | Per copy | $1,895 | $7,970 | $29,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback on Amazon, $16.99 | $7.51 | 253 | 1,061 | 3,860 |
| Kindle ebook, $7.99 | $5.38 | 353 | 1,481 | 5,388 |
| Sold by hand, $16.99 | $14.31 | 133 | 557 | 2,027 |
Per-copy figures rounded for display; copy counts use the unrounded amounts and round up.
Real sales come in a mix. Suppose half your sales are Amazon paperbacks, 30% ebooks and 20% hand sales. The average copy then earns 0.5 x $7.51 + 0.3 x $5.38 + 0.2 x $14.31, about $8.23, and the $7,970 book breaks even at about 968 copies. The calculator shows each format separately so you can apply your own mix.
Breaking even without royalties
For most nonfiction authors, the book's job is not to sell copies. It is to bring in clients, speaking invitations or credibility, and that is where the money comes back. The formula still works; only the denominator changes:
Results to break even = total cost / what one result is worth to you.
If one new client is worth $5,000 in profit to your business, a $7,970 book breaks even on its second client, whatever its sales. Two examples from Scribe Media's own authors, each one person's result and not a typical outcome:
- Paul Zak: "1 month" "To book more paid talks than the book cost" (his story).
- Chad Willardson: "3x+" "investment returned in 10 months" (his story).
Both are published by Scribe, which made their books and makes this site, so read them as examples of how authors count returns rather than evidence of what yours will be. Plenty of books never recover their costs in any currency. Knowing the number you need before you spend is the point of doing this math.
Put in your own costs and prices in the calculator and it shows the copies needed for each format, with the math written out.
Common questions
How much does an author make per book on Amazon?
For a paperback, 60% of a list price of $9.99 or more (50% below that) minus the printing cost: a $16.99, 140-page paperback earns about $7.51. For an ebook priced $2.99 to $12.99, 70% of the price after a delivery fee of $0.15 per megabyte: $7.99 with a 2 MB file earns about $5.38.
How many books do I need to sell to break even?
Divide what you spent by what one copy earns. At $7.51 a paperback, a $1,895 do-it-yourself book needs 253 sales and a $7,970 freelance-built book needs 1,061.
Why does $9.99 matter for a paperback?
On Amazon.com, KDP pays 60% at list prices of $9.99 and above and 50% at $9.98 and below. One cent of price changes your royalty by about a dollar a copy.
Is it better to price an ebook at $14.99 or $9.99?
On Amazon.com, $9.99 usually earns more per copy. Since July 7, 2026 the 70% option covers $2.99 to $12.99; above that the 35% rate applies, so $14.99 earns about $5.25 against about $6.78 at $9.99 with a 2 MB file.
Do most authors earn back their costs from royalties?
Many nonfiction authors do not rely on royalties. They count the clients, speaking fees or bulk sales the book brings in. The math for that is the same: cost divided by what each result is worth.
Sources, checked October 20, 2026: Amazon KDP help: Paperback Royalty, Paperback Printing Cost, eBook Royalties, eBook List Price Requirements, Digital Book Pricing Page; IngramSpark; scribemedia.com/pricing; Scribe Media success stories for Paul Zak and Chad Willardson. Published by Scribe Media.