How to Price an Ebook: Royalty Rates and What You Actually Earn
By Svetlana Gruzdova — author (12 books under her own name and more than 100 written for other authors), literary editor, and PR specialist. Updated: July 16, 2026. Topic: ebook pricing. This is not financial advice.
For most authors, the optimal ebook price is $2.99–$5.99 (roughly 250–550 rubles at purchasing-power parity). That's because the $2.99–$9.99 band is exactly where platforms like Amazon KDP pay 70% royalties — below it or above it, you get 35% (kdpeasy.com, theauthorcentral.com). A book priced under $0.99 earns you about $0.35 per sale. Priced at $4.99, it earns about $3.49.
What a royalty threshold is
A royalty threshold is the price range inside which a platform pays the higher rate. On Amazon KDP that range is $2.99–$9.99: inside it, the author gets 70% minus a small delivery fee based on file size; outside it, 35%. The threshold turns pricing from a matter of taste into a matter of arithmetic.
The rate doubles at the edge of the band
A book priced at $2.99 earns twice as much per sale as one priced at $2.49. Why? $2.99 lands inside the 70% band; $2.49 sits in the 35% zone. According to kdpeasy.com, at $2.49 the author takes home about $0.87; at $2.99, about $2.00. Dropping your price below $2.99 in the hope of "selling more" is almost always a losing move — you're giving up half your rate.
Pricing too high kills the rate too
An ebook priced above $9.99 falls back to 35% royalties. The ceiling of the band is every bit as hard as the floor. Kdp.amazon.com states plainly that anything outside the $2.99–$9.99 range earns 35%. Going above $9.99 makes sense only in rare niche cases — specialized nonfiction, mostly. Otherwise you lose both the rate and the buyer.
The ebook has to cost less than the paperback
Keep the ebook 30–50% below the print price. Readers expect a "file" to cost less than a physical volume. Blog.chapter.pub warns that if the ebook is $12.99 and the paperback is $11.99, the buyer gets confused and buys neither. Set the print price first, then set the ebook noticeably lower — that way both editions sell instead of competing.
Kindle Unlimited pays for pages read
In the Kindle Unlimited subscription program, you're paid not per purchase but per page read, and the payout comes out of a shared fund that fluctuates month to month. According to kindlepreneur.com, the US rate hovers around $0.40–$0.50 per 100 pages read. For long books and authors with a loyal following, the subscription pool can beat one-off sales — but the income is far less predictable.
Checklist: before you set a price
Your price falls inside the higher-rate band (for KDP, $2.99–$9.99).
The ebook is at least 30% cheaper than the print edition.
You compared your price against 3–5 similar books in your genre instead of pulling a number out of thin air.
You calculated earnings per sale, not just the percentage.
You have a launch plan: start low, then raise — or the reverse.
You accounted for the delivery fee (higher for illustrated books).
You decided whether the book goes into the subscription program (KU) and how that affects income.
Exercise: find your price in three steps
Find 5 books in your genre and length on your sales platform and write down their prices.
Calculate the median of those prices — that's your market benchmark.
Check whether the median falls inside the higher-rate band; if it doesn't, pull it to the nearest edge inside the band.
Calculate earnings per sale at that price: price times rate, minus the fee.
Multiply by a realistic monthly sales volume and decide whether the result works for you.
Price, rate, and earnings per sale
Ebook price | Royalty rate | Earnings per sale |
$0.99 | 35% | ~$0.35 |
$1.99 | 35% | ~$0.70 |
$2.99 | 70% | ~$2.00 |
$4.99 | 70% | ~$3.49 |
$9.99 | 70% | ~$6.99 |
$12.99 | 35% | ~$4.55 |
The paradox: a book priced at $12.99 earns the author less than one priced at $9.99 — because at the edge of the band, the rate drops from 70% to 35%. A higher price turns into a smaller check on every single sale.
Where this applies — and where it doesn't
The numbers and bands here apply to Amazon KDP and the English-language market. On Litres and Ozon (major Russian ebook and marketplace platforms) and other Russian retailers, the commissions and rules are different and need to be checked separately. Your optimal price also depends on genre, length, how well known you are, and your launch strategy. The rates above are benchmarks, not guarantees.
About the author
Svetlana Gruzdova is an author: 12 books under her own name and more than 100 written for other authors. Literary editor, content manager, and PR director. Through her Submission Package service, she helps authors assemble a book so that its price works for income and the blurb and design work for sales.
What to do next
If you're preparing a book for publication, start with the exercise above: pull five competitors' prices and calculate your own profitable price. From there, fold that logic into a full launch plan — cover, blurb, and channels. You can build that submission package and pricing strategy on the services page, and see examples of published books in the books section.
Mini-FAQ
Why can't I just set the lowest possible price? Below $2.99 the royalty rate drops from 70% to 35%, and you lose half your income on every sale. A low price is only justified as a temporary launch promotion.
What's the best price for a first-time author? Usually $2.99–$4.99 (or the Russian-market equivalent): inside the higher-rate band and not off-putting to a reader who doesn't know you yet.
Should I put my book into a subscription program? If the book is long and you have loyal readers, subscription can pay more than one-off sales. But the income is less predictable and depends on pages read.
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