How much authors make per book

One book, every channel

Take one example book: 50,000 words of nonfiction, 140 pages in a 6 x 9 paperback (printing cost $2.68 on KDP), a 2 MB ebook file, and about 5.4 hours as an audiobook. Here is what one copy earns in each place it can sell.

Our worked examples using each platform's published formula, checked October 21, 2026. US sales, before income tax.

Two things stand out. Where the copy is sold matters more than the price you pick: the same paperback earns three times as much in your hands as through a bookstore. And the per-copy numbers are small next to what a book costs to make, which is why the break-even guide exists. Put your own prices into the calculator to see per-copy earnings and copies needed for your budget.

KDP paperback and hardcover

Amazon's formula is (royalty rate x list price) - printing cost. On Amazon.com the rate is 60% at list prices of $9.99 and above and 50% at $9.98 and below; through Expanded Distribution, which sells to bookstores and libraries, it is 40% (KDP Paperback Royalty). Printing for a black-ink paperback in a regular trim is $1.00 plus $0.012 a page over 110 pages (KDP Printing Cost).

140-page black-ink paperback, regular trim, printing cost $2.68.

Every $2 of list price adds $1.20 per Amazon copy and $0.80 per Expanded Distribution copy. Every extra 100 pages takes $1.20 away from both. Hardcovers use the same 50% and 60% bands with a higher printing cost, $5.65 plus $0.012 a page, and cannot be enrolled in Expanded Distribution (KDP Hardcover Royalty, Expanded Distribution). The hardcover printing cost guide compares KDP with IngramSpark's jacketed options.

A customer discount does not cut your royalty. KDP pays on your list price even when Amazon sells the hardcover for less in a promotion (KDP).

Kindle ebooks and Kindle+

KDP has two ebook options. The 70% option pays 70% of the list price after VAT and a delivery cost of $0.15 per megabyte on Amazon.com (KDP Digital Book Pricing Page). Since July 7, 2026, it covers prices from $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com; the old ceiling was $9.99 (KDP). Outside that band, and for buyers outside Amazon's list of 70% territories, you get 35% (KDP eBook Royalties).

Two rules decide where to price. One dollar above $12.99 costs you about $4 a copy. And on the 70% option your ebook must be listed at least 20% below the Amazon price of any print edition, so a $14.99 paperback caps the ebook at $11.99 (KDP).

If you enroll the ebook in KDP Select, it joins Kindle+, Amazon's reading subscription (some KDP pages still call it Kindle Unlimited). You are paid from the KDP Select Global Fund for each page a subscriber reads for the first time, measured in Kindle Edition Normalized Pages. Amazon sets the fund monthly, and KDP says "the KENP Rate changes every month," so there is no fixed per-page figure to plan on (KDP, Royalties in Kindle+). KDP Select also requires the ebook to be exclusive to Amazon while enrolled.

IngramSpark and the wholesale discount

IngramSpark pays differently. You set a list price and a wholesale discount, and IngramSpark pays you "the wholesale price less the cost of printing for each book sold." Its user guide (version 3.3, August 24, 2026) says a discount of 53% to 55% with returns allowed "generally allows for the widest availability" through retailers and bookstores, and that the minimum allowed discount is shown on your title setup page and can change (IngramSpark User Guide).

IngramSpark's worked example: $20.00 list, less a 53% discount, is a $9.40 wholesale price; minus a $3.66 print cost, the publisher earns $5.74. At a 55% discount the same book earns $9.00 - $3.66 = $5.34. Since February 1, 2026, books enabled for distribution also pay a 1.875% market access fee (IngramSpark), and returned copies are charged back at the wholesale price (the IngramSpark cost guide works through what a return costs). Payment comes about 90 days after the end of the month of sale.

IngramSpark's print prices are not published as a formula the way KDP's are, so use its publisher compensation calculator for your book rather than our KDP figures. We ran the same 6 x 9 book through KDP, IngramSpark and Lulu in print cost per copy compared.

Copies you sell by hand

Selling your own copies is the highest-margin channel, by a wide margin. You buy author copies from KDP at the printing cost, "the lowest price we can offer" (KDP), and keep the rest. A $16.99 paperback that cost $2.68 leaves $14.31 a copy, before the shipping on your author copy order (KDP publishes no shipping formula) and any card or event fees.

That is why back-of-the-room sales, course bundles and company bulk orders do so much for nonfiction authors. The guide to paying for a book covers presales and bulk orders in detail.

Audiobooks through ACX

Most self-published audiobooks reach Audible, Amazon and Apple Books through ACX. Under Audible's royalty model that began May 26, 2026, rights holders earn 50% on exclusive distribution and 30% non-exclusive; titles still on the legacy model earn 40% and 25% until year end, when the legacy model ends (ACX, ACX, new royalty model).

The per-copy figure is harder to pin down than for print, for three reasons ACX states plainly:

• Audible sets the price. You can suggest one, but Audible "determines your title's price." Retail prices for 5 to 10 hour titles have run $11.15 to $20.65; for 3 to 5 hours, $7.55 to $15.55 (ACX, Suggested price). Our 5.4-hour example falls in the first band.
• Royalties are on net receipts, and member listens are paid from "Member Value," a share of each member's monthly plan. Under the legacy model, ACX's own example was a member sale of a $30 book at 40% coming to about $6.00.
• Royalty share halves it. If a narrator produces the book for a share of royalties instead of a fee, you each get 25% for seven years, and distribution must be exclusive.

So treat 50% of the retail price as a ceiling on a cash sale, not a forecast: about $7.50 on a $15 audiobook at most. The audiobook production guide weighs paying a narrator against royalty share. Amazon is also testing free computer-voiced audiobooks for some KDP ebooks: an invite-only beta that pays 40% on list prices of $3.99 to $14.99 (KDP).

For contrast: traditional royalty rates

A traditional publisher pays for editing, design and printing, and the author earns a smaller share of each copy. The Authors Guild's model trade book contract sets 10% of the retail price on the first 5,000 hardcovers, 12.5% on the next 5,000 and 15% after that; 7.5% of the retail price on trade paperbacks; and 25% of the publisher's net receipts on ebooks, which the Guild calls the current standard while arguing for more (Authors Guild).

In dollars: 10% of a $28.00 hardcover is $2.80; 7.5% of a $16.99 paperback is about $1.27. Those royalties are counted against any advance before the author sees more money. The self-published author earns more per copy and pays every cost upfront; which trade is better depends on the book and the author, not on the per-copy figure alone.

One honest gap: we could not find a current, reliable source for what self-published authors earn in total, so this guide does not guess. What you can control is the per-copy number and the channels you sell through. If you are pricing the whole book, start with the cost of publishing on Amazon KDP.