If you’re planning to self-publish your book, you’d probably like to know just how royalties will be calculated and how much you can expect to earn for your hard work.
We’ve done the research and will show you exactly how publishers and distributors calculate author royalties for eBook sales.
How Do Self-Published Authors Make Money?
In this article, we’ll discuss how eBook royalties are calculated for self-published authors. In Parts 2 and 3, we’ll discuss how royalties are calculated for self-published paperback books and audiobooks as well.
First, you have to learn how to self-publish your book.
The vast majority of self-published books are sold via Amazon.com, so most self-published authors prefer to publish on Amazon, since Amazon will generally sell more books for self published authors than all other online book distributors combined.
The other major eBook distributors are:
iBooks
Nook / Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
Kobo
Google Play
Amazon’s market share for eBook sales in the US is likely at least 60% and at least 78% in the UK, according to sales figures from a recent Hachette investor presentation.
Once your book has been published and you generate sales, here’s how self-published authors get paid.
eBook Sales and Royalties
For eBook sales, the author gets paid a royalty percentage based on the sales price (not counting taxes) minus an electronic file delivery fee.
eBook Royalties Calculation
The formula to calculate your eBook royalties looks like this:
Royalty Rate x (Retail Price – Delivery Costs) = Royalty Earned
The royalty rate you get paid from Amazon for eBooks is 70% of the retail price if the price of your eBook is between $2.99 and $9.99. If your book is priced between $0.01 and $2.98 or greater than $9.99, you get paid 35% royalties. Thus, most self-published authors prefer to price their eBooks between $2.99 and $9.99 on Amazon to receive a higher share of royalties.
Also, for eBook sales to certain countries, Amazon will only pay 35% royalties unless the author enrolls the book in the KDP Select Program (KDP stands for Kindle Direct Publishing and the website is www.kdp.amazon.com).
Ebook Delivery Costs
Amazon also charges an electronic delivery cost for books with the 70% royalty rate option.
Here are the fees Amazon charges in different countries for eBooks with the 70% royalty rate option based on file size (MB stands for Megabyte):
Amazon.com: US $0.15/MB
Amazon.in: INR ₹7/MB
Amazon.ca: CAD $0.15/MB
Amazon.com.br: BRL R$0.30/MB
Amazon.co.uk: UK £0.10/MB
Amazon.de: €0,12/MB
Amazon.fr: €0,12/MB
Amazon.es: €0,12/MB
Amazon.it: €0,12/MB
Amazon.nl: €0,12/MB
Amazon.co.jp: ¥1/MB
Amazon.com.mx: MXN $1/MB
Amazon.com.au: AUD $0.15/MB
Calculating eBook Royalties
Okay, let’s do the math.
For this exercise, let’s assume your self-published eBook is priced at $2.99 on Amazon.com and the file size is 1 MB (which is much larger than the average eBook, unless it has numerous high-resolution pictures and diagrams). Furthermore, your eBook is being purchased by a US customer on the Amazon.com website.
Recall the royalty payment formula Amazon uses:
Royalty Rate x (Retail Price – Delivery Costs) = Royalty Earned
Therefore, we would get this calculation:
70% x ($2.99 – $0.15) = $1.988
Thus, your royalty earned per book would be $1.99, or just under $2.
Again, remember that sometimes your sales might be at the 35% royalty rate for international sales in certain countries, so not every sale would be at the 70% royalty rate.
Downloading Amazon Royalty Reports
Amazon provides detailed royalty reports for all sales during the previous month on the 15th of each month. In other words, on January 15, 2015, all KDP authors will receive a royalty report for all sales during December 2014.
In the report, authors will be able to see how many sales for each book were at the 70% royalty rate and 35% royalty rate, as well as any books borrowed from the Kindle Unlimited or KOLL programs, and any books downloaded for free from a KDP Select Free Promotion.
All KDP authors can download their reports by going to https://kdp.amazon.com/reports and then clicking “Prior Months’ Royalties.” Amazon also has live sales reporting as well for eBook sales, but these sales do not include detailed royalty calculations.
Kindle Unlimited and Borrows
Self-published authors may also enroll in Amazon’s KDP Select program and Kindle Unlimited program to receive extra payments from eBooks borrowed or rented by Amazon customers.
When an author’s book is enrolled in KDP Select, any Amazon Prime member can borrow one book a month for free. In return, Amazon pays the author out of the KOLL (Kindle Owner’s Lending Library) pool. The amount of money in the pool varies every month, and recently Amazon has been adding more bonuses to the pool because of the huge success of the Kindle Unlimited program among Amazon’s customers.
Until recently, an author would get paid over $2 each time a customer borrowed their book. Lately, this number has fallen to around $1.31 causing some self-published authors to want to leave the KDP Select and/or Kindle Unlimited program for fear that Amazon’s payments for borrows might continue to decline.
However, in my experience helping to publish thousands of self-published eBooks over the last three years, all the other eBook distribution platforms combined don’t even come close to generating the kinds of sales and royalties that Amazon can for a self-published author.
For example, a few months ago we did a major launch for a nonfiction eBook bundle (edited: link no longer works) on all major platforms (except iBooks, because their review process and customer support is abominable) with several authors and generating over $20,000 in sales. Over 98% of those sales came from Amazon.
When Does Amazon Pay Royalties?
Amazon pays royalties only on eBooks, print books, and audiobooks that are sold and NOT refunded by customers.
For eBook royalties, Amazon pays the author or publisher 60 days after the end of each month’s sales.
For example, if you earn $1,000 in royalties from book sales in January, Amazon will send your royalty payments 60 days after the end of that month’s sales. So you would receive royalty payments for your January eBook sales on April 1.
Paperback Sales and Royalties for Self-Published Authors
Now that you’re familiar with the payment process for eBooks, learn more about paperback publishing royalties for self-published authors in Part 2.
Also be sure to check out all of our resources specifically for self-published authors, from making an audiobook to designing a book cover.
Did you find this article helpful? If so, you’ll love these related articles:
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- 50 Best Writing Jobs: How to Get Paid to Write Online and Offline
- Complete Guide to Paid Writing Jobs: Writing Markets, Places to Sell Your Work, and How To Avoid Writing Scams
Tom Corson-Knowles is the founder of TCK Publishing, and the bestselling author of 27 books including Secrets of the Six-Figure author. He is also the host of the Publishing Profits Podcast show where we interview successful authors and publishing industry experts to share their tips for creating a successful writing career.
I have self published my book titled MILES BENEATH THE CHALICE series on Amazon but how can I track my sales since Amazon has not published any sales record on report
You can see our sales in the Reports dashboard in your Amazon KDP account. The only other way to get an estimate of your sales would be to use our Amazon sales calculator: https://tckpublishing.com/calculator
Hi!
Thx for info. Was wondering if you know if any european (writing from Sweden) authors have received payment for royalties via Paypal or similar? Writing a check or wiring isn’t a viable payment method so, wondering how international sales are sorted.
Regards,
Claire
I believe Amazon uses ACH bank transfers for European payments. You can contact Amazon support to verify that.
Hi,
I want to publish an e-book on Amazon.com, but i don’t know the medium through which i will be receiving my due royalties. Any help, please?
Hi Umar, KDP pays royalties through direct deposit, wire transfer, or check :)
How do you contact KDP about royalties?
Hi Sarah, you should be able to contact them by logging in to your Author Central profile (you may have to sign up if you haven’t already). They also offer an option to have someone call you on the phone
I recently saw that my book, published by CreateSpace, is listed for sale on Walmart’s site. How did they get my book? How do I get paid royalties by Walmart, as they have not sent me any checks?
CreateSpace doesn’t exist anymore, so I’m guessing you mean KDP? (CreateSpace was merged with KDP in 2018).
They have an Expanded Distribution program which distributes your books to other retailers, so that’s why Walmart lists your book for sale. If you are not extensively marketing your book, it’s most likely that you haven’t sold any copies on Walmart.com. But if you did, all those sales will be reported and paid to you through KDP (they will not tell you which retailer sold the book for you though).
I noticed my book The Struggle of the young inheritors is on Amazon. I dont know how it got there but thats ok. How do I arrange to get commision on the sales of the book? I have two other books with my editor what would you suggest I go with on these? Thanks, Albert
Hi Albert,
I don’t know. I feel like if you’re an author you should 100% know exactly why your book is being listed for sale. Did you self-publish it? Did you have a publisher publish it for you? You need to know.
You can always contact KDP support to ask.
In terms of how you should go about publishing your book, you should definitely read our detailed guide: https://www.tckpublishing.com/how-to-publish-a-book/
My ebook “true meaning of hinduim”.is in circulation but i wish to know how many ve been sold since im not receiving any royalty.
Hi Ambika, did you self-publish or work with a publisher?
My ebook is on sale on Amazon Kindle and kindle unlimited.My publisher gets the sales report and royalty.I am getting only 53%royslty as against promised 70%.how can I cross check?
Hi Pallatt,
Are you talking about eBook or Paperback sales?
Even for eBooks, you won’t earn a flat 70% royalty across every country because the Amazon companies in some countries pay 35% royalties depending on the pricing in those countries, or depending on other modifications Amazon makes to royalties when they sell books.
You also have to take into account the delivery cost of the eBook, so if you have a large eBook file and you sell a $2.99 eBook, you may lose $0.10 or more per sale in royalties due to the eBook delivery fee, which could potentially take your effective royalty from 70% of the retail price to 53%.
I don’t know how you can cross-check your publisher’s numbers, but I would say that you should only do business with people you trust to report numbers and pay you accurately.
I hope that helps!
I have a serious complaint I am the author of “English digest for senior secondary schools” The ASIN# of the book is BO78 L9Q9NRI gave this book to Amazon on December 22 2017 By December 29 2017 Amazon had completed the publishing and started distribution As at March 2020 Amazon had sold more than 7000000 copies all over the world But it has refused to pay my royalties even a cent or a farthing since I introduced the book Curiously since March it locked my account It presently owes me more than $10000000 in royalties and here I am in Lagos Nigeria being buffeted by hunger with my family I am distressed I need help from you to collect my money from Amazon
Hi Bukola,
What data do you have to conclude that Amazon has sold 7 million copies of your book? That sounds unlikely to me given how rare it is for books to sell that many copies in a two-year time period.
Please share a screenshot.
You can always contact KDP Support to ask for help.