Ebook Royalty Calculator: What You Earn on Each Platform

Royalty rates look simple until you notice the price bands, delivery fees, transaction fees and yearly plans. The calculator handles those for you, using each platform's published terms as checked in September 2026. Below it, you will find how each figure is worked out, and example tables at common prices.

Try the calculator

Change the price to see price bands in action: KDP and Kobo drop from 70% to a lower rate outside $2.99 to $12.99, while Barnes & Noble and the direct stores don't.

How each platform calculates your royalty

Sources are listed at the end of this guide. Card processing is modelled at a typical 2.9% + $0.30.

Earnings per sale at common prices

Here is what a single sale earns at five common ebook prices, assuming a 1 MB file for KDP.

Before taxes and plan fees. Draft2Digital figures assume about 60% of list reaches the author.

What the numbers tell you

Price bands matter enormously

At $14.99, KDP and Kobo pay less than at $9.99, because $14.99 falls outside their 70% bands. If you price above $12.99, the stores without bands pay far more per sale.

Very cheap ebooks earn little on fee-based stores

At $0.99, a fixed per-sale fee eats most of the price on Gumroad. Flat-plan stores and percentage retailers handle low prices better.

Aggregators cost convenience money

Draft2Digital's share is the price of uploading once and reaching many stores. Going direct to Kobo and B&N pays about 10 points more, in exchange for more accounts to manage.

100% is only 100% of the sales you make

Per-sale earnings aren't the whole story. A retailer with millions of shoppers may sell more copies. The strongest strategy combines retailers for reach with a direct or flat-fee store for margin.

A monthly example: 20 sales at $4.99

Example calculations. Books.by and BooksOasis yearly figures subtract their yearly plan fees ($299 and $29.99).

KDP's 70% option in detail

Amazon's 70% option is the most searched royalty in self-publishing, and the most misunderstood. Three details decide what you actually receive:

• The price band. On Amazon.com, the 70% option requires a list price from $2.99 to $12.99, widened from $9.99 in July 2026. Other Amazon marketplaces have their own bands in local currency.
• Delivery costs. Amazon deducts a delivery cost based on file size: $0.15 per megabyte on Amazon.com. A 1 MB novel costs $0.15; a 10 MB illustrated book costs $1.50 per sale.
• Territories. The 70% rate applies to sales to customers in eligible territories; sales elsewhere are paid at 35%.

Enter your file size in the calculator to see the delivery cost's effect. For picture-heavy books, the 35% option can occasionally pay more, because it has no delivery cost.

Kobo and Barnes & Noble: the key differences

Both pay 70%, but in different ways. Kobo applies 70% only within $2.99 to $12.99 in US dollars (with local thresholds in other currencies) and 45% outside it. Barnes & Noble Press pays 70% on any ebook priced at $0.99 or more, with no upper limit, which makes it unusually generous for both very cheap and premium-priced ebooks.

What an aggregator really costs

Draft2Digital keeps roughly 10% of the list price, so a retailer paying 70% becomes about 60% for you. On a $4.99 ebook, that is about 50 cents a sale. Across a year of steady sales, it adds up, but so does the time saved: one upload, one set of reports and one payment instead of a dozen accounts.

Many authors go direct with the stores that sell most for them, and use an aggregator for the long tail of smaller stores and libraries.

Payment processing, explained

When a reader pays by card, the card network and processor charge a fee, typically around 2.9% plus 30 cents in the US. Retailers absorb this inside their share. Direct stores often pass it on to you, which is why Books.by, Payhip and Gumroad deduct it.

On BooksOasis, no processing cut is applied to your ebook royalty: the reader's ebook price is what you earn.

Taxes and currencies

The calculator shows earnings before tax. In practice:

• Sales taxes and VAT are usually handled by the store, and royalties are calculated on the price excluding them.
• Income tax on your royalties depends on where you live; keep records of every payout.
• Currency conversion affects authors paid in a currency different from the sale's, and some payout methods add fees.

For record-keeping basics, see records every self-published author should keep.

Thinking in lifetime earnings

A book isn't a one-month product. Small per-sale differences compound over years. A book that sells 20 copies a month for five years sells 1,200 copies; at $1.50 more per sale, that is $1,800 more over its life, from one book.

That is the case for listing on a flat-fee store alongside retailers: every sale you win there keeps its full value, year after year, for the price of a small yearly plan.

Royalties during promotions

When you run a sale, your royalty is worked out from the sale price, not the regular price. That changes the maths in two ways:

• Price bands can shift. Discounting a $3.99 KDP ebook to $1.99 drops it below $2.99, so the royalty falls from 70% to 35% for the promotion.
• Fixed fees bite harder. On stores with per-sale fees, a deep discount can leave very little per copy.

On BooksOasis, you set a promotional price with a start and end date from your dashboard. Readers see your regular price struck through beside the promo price, and your earnings on each copy are the full promo price.

Before any promotion, run the sale price through the calculator to make sure each copy still earns what you expect.

Common royalty mistakes

• Pricing just outside a band, such as $13.99 on KDP, and halving the royalty.
• Ignoring delivery costs on large, image-heavy ebooks.
• Using very low prices on fee-based stores, where fixed fees swallow the sale.
• Comparing rates without comparing reach, and choosing a store with no readers.
• Trusting old figures; rates and bands changed several times in 2026.

When you get paid

Royalty rates tell you how much; payment terms tell you when. Retailers usually pay monthly, some weeks after the month ends, and many have a minimum balance before they pay. Kobo Writing Life, for example, pays 45 days after the end of each month once you reach its minimum. Books.by advertises daily payouts.

BooksOasis records every sale in your earnings ledger as it happens. You can add bank transfer or PayPal details at any time; international payouts go by wire once your balance passes a minimum, so a fixed wire fee doesn't eat a small payment.

Print royalties work differently

This calculator covers ebooks. Print earnings subtract the cost of printing each copy, which depends on page count, trim size and whether the book is paperback or hardcover.

• KDP paperbacks pay 60% of list price minus printing at $9.99 and above on Amazon.com, 50% below.
• IngramSpark pays list price minus your wholesale discount, printing and a 1.875% market access fee.
• BooksOasis takes the printing cost plus a handling fee of 30% of that cost, and the rest is yours; readers pay shipping.

For more, see print on demand costs explained.

Choosing a price with the calculator

1. Start with your genre's typical price.Readers compare you with similar books.
2. Check the bands.Keep KDP and Kobo prices between $2.99 and $12.99 if those stores matter to you.
3. Compare per-sale earnings.See how much more you keep on direct and flat-fee stores.
4. Estimate volume honestly.Use realistic monthly sales, not hopes.
5. Plan for promotions.Discounts are part of selling; make sure discounted prices still earn you something.

Read how to price an ebook for a fuller approach.

Where BooksOasis fits

Sources

Checked September 2026: KDP list price requirements; KDP delivery costs; Kobo Writing Life earnings; B&N Press ebook pricing; Draft2Digital royalty rates; Books.by pricing; Payhip pricing; Gumroad fees (Checkout Page).

In short

Royalty rates are only meaningful once you apply them to your actual price and sales. Use the calculator to see where the price bands bite, how much fees take at low prices, and how much more you keep on flat-fee stores. Then choose a mix of platforms that balances reach and margin.