KDP royalty calculator
The KDP royalty calculator is a free tool that estimates your per-sale royalty, printing cost, and projected monthly and yearly revenue for a coloring book on Amazon KDP. Enter a list price, an interior page count, and an expected sales pace, and it returns what you keep on each sale using Amazon's 2026 formula for black-ink paperbacks: royalty = (rate x list price) - printing cost.
Last updated: September 2026
210 printed pages (100 designs, 100 blank backs, 10 front and back matter)
Large trim: KDP charges more to print it
Printing cost
$4.57
Royalty per sale
$1.42
Monthly revenue
$128
at 3 sales/day
Yearly revenue
$1559
Based on KDP's US marketplace 2026 pricing (black ink, paperback). Actual costs may vary by marketplace and paper type. Print cost at this trim: $2.84 flat for 24-110 pages, $1.00 + $0.017/page for 112-828 pages. Royalty rate at this list price: 60% (standard distribution uses 50% under $9.99 and 60% at $9.99 or above; expanded distribution is flat 40%).
How to use the royalty calculator
- Enter your list price. If you have not chosen one, start at $9.99, the first price that earns the 60% royalty rate.
- Enter your interior page count. Count both the design pages and any blank backs on single-sided books.
- Enter a conservative daily sales figure per book (1 to 3 per day is realistic for a new title).
- Read the per-sale royalty, then the projected monthly and yearly revenue at that pace.
- Adjust the price up or down to see how the $9.99 royalty cliff changes the number you keep.
How KDP royalties are calculated
Amazon KDP pays you a royalty on each sale equal to your royalty rate times the list price, minus the printing cost. Two things drive the result. First, the royalty rate depends on distribution: 60% for standard distribution (Amazon only) at a list price of $9.99 or above, 50% for standard distribution at $9.98 or below, and a flat 40% for expanded distribution to bookstores and other retailers. Second, the printing cost depends on page count and trim: for an 8.5 x 11 book, a flat $2.84 for 24 to 110 interior pages, then $1.00 plus $0.017 per page from 112 to 828 pages. Smaller regular trims such as 6 x 9 cost $2.30 flat, then $1.00 plus $0.012 per page.
The order of operations matters. Amazon applies the rate to the full list price first, then subtracts the print cost. A 50-design 8.5 x 11 book at $9.99 earns (0.60 x $9.99) - $2.84 = $3.15 per sale, not 60% of the amount left after print cost. Getting this order wrong overstates royalty by close to a dollar per sale, which is why every pricing surface on this site uses the (rate x list) - print form.
Royalty by list price at a glance
Per-sale royalty for a standard-distribution 8.5 x 11 coloring book with a $2.84 print cost (any interior of 24 to 110 pages). The rate jumps from 50% to 60% at the $9.99 line, which is why one cent between $9.98 and $9.99 is worth a full dollar more per sale.
| List price | Royalty rate | Royalty per sale |
|---|---|---|
| $6.99 | 50% | $0.66 |
| $7.99 | 50% | $1.16 |
| $8.99 | 50% | $1.66 |
| $9.98 | 50% | $2.15 |
| $9.99 | 60% | $3.15 |
| $10.99 | 60% | $3.75 |
| $11.99 | 60% | $4.35 |
Standard vs expanded distribution royalty
Expanded distribution pays a flat 40% instead of 60%, and the print cost comes off the smaller number, so the gap widens as the interior grows. At a $9.99 list price, the per-sale royalty for a coloring book at 3 interior page counts:
| Interior | Print cost | Standard (60%) | Expanded (40%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 pages | $2.84 | $3.15 | $1.16 |
| 150 pages | $3.55 | $2.44 | $0.45 |
| 200 pages | $4.40 | $1.59 | Below print cost |
A 50-design single-sided 8.5 x 11 book is a 100-page interior and keeps $1.16 per expanded sale at $9.99. Push it to 100 designs single-sided (a 200-page interior) and 40% of $9.99 no longer covers the $4.40 print cost, so the book cannot go into expanded distribution at that price. Switch the calculator to expanded distribution to run your own price and page count. For yearly income at common sales paces, see the profit margins guide.
Why the $9.99 royalty cliff matters
Amazon KDP does not pay royalty on a smooth curve. It pays 50% at or below $9.98 and 60% at or above $9.99, so the payout jumps discontinuously at a single price point. Because the rate applies to the full list price, that one-cent step is worth about $1.00 more per sale whatever the print cost. Any price you might set between $9.50 and $9.98 loses to $9.99 on royalty, which makes that band a dead zone worth avoiding.
For the full breakdown, including non-US price thresholds (£7.98 GBP, $13.99 CAD/AUD), the Kindle versus paperback bracket differences, and the one-cent annual cost framing, see the $9.99 royalty cliff explainer.
Profit calculator vs pricing wizard: which to use when
The two tools answer different questions. The pricing wizard answers what to charge: it triangulates page count, niche, and competitor Best Sellers Rank (BSR) to recommend one of four price tiers. This profit calculator answers what you keep: it takes any price you type and projects royalty and revenue. Run the wizard first to pick a tier, then use this calculator to project monthly and yearly income at that price before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
- How does Amazon KDP calculate printing costs for coloring books?
- KDP uses a two-tier formula for US black-ink paperbacks, and the rates depend on trim size. For an 8.5 x 11 coloring book (a large trim), 24 to 110 interior pages cost a flat $2.84, and 112 to 828 pages cost $1.00 plus $0.017 per page. Regular trims such as 6 x 9 cost $2.30 flat, then $1.00 plus $0.012 per page. Most coloring books fall in the flat tier. Single-sided coloring books count both the design page and the blank back as separate interior pages, so a 50-design single-sided book is a 100-page interior for print-cost purposes.
- What is the difference between standard and expanded distribution royalties?
- Standard distribution (Amazon.com only) has a $9.99 price cliff: 50% royalty for list prices at or below $9.98, and 60% for prices at or above $9.99. Amazon applies the rate to the full list price, then subtracts the printing cost: royalty = (rate x list price) - printing cost. Expanded distribution (bookstores, libraries, online retailers) is a flat 40% regardless of price. For most coloring book publishers, standard distribution at $9.99 or above produces the best per-sale royalty.
- What is a good list price for a KDP coloring book?
- Most KDP coloring books sell between $6.99 and $12.99, and $9.99 is the common sweet spot for a 50-page book because it is the first price that earns the 60% royalty rate. Price below $9.99 and your rate drops to 50%; price too high and unit sales fall. To pick a tier from your page count, niche, and competitor demand rather than guessing, run the pricing wizard, then confirm the per-sale math here.
- How many coloring books can I realistically sell per day on Amazon?
- New publishers typically sell 1 to 3 copies per day per book. Established publishers with strong covers, keywords, and reviews sell 5 to 15 copies per day. Top sellers in popular niches exceed 20 per day. Sustainable income comes from having several books, not one, so enter a conservative daily figure per book and multiply across your catalog.
- Does the profit calculator include Amazon Ads costs?
- No. The royalty figure here is your gross per-sale royalty before advertising. If you run Amazon Ads, subtract your ad spend per sale from this number. Your break-even advertising cost of sale (ACoS) is roughly 32% for an 8.5 x 11 book at $9.99, meaning you keep money on any sale as long as ads cost less than 32% of the list price. Use the ACoS calculator to size that budget before you launch a campaign.
- Do single-sided coloring books change the royalty math?
- Yes, through page count, not rate. Printing blank backs so colorists can use markers without bleed-through doubles the interior page count. As long as the total stays at or below 110 pages, the print cost holds at the flat rate ($2.84 for 8.5 x 11) and your royalty is unchanged. Above 110 pages you move into the per-page tier ($1.00 + $0.017 per page for 8.5 x 11), which lowers your royalty, so factor that in before committing to single-sided.
Haven't picked a price yet? Run the pricing wizard first. It triangulates page count, niche, and competitor BSR to recommend a tier, then this calculator projects revenue at that price. Not sure how many pages to include? Try the page count planner to find the right design count and price point. To estimate how many sales per day a given Amazon BSR translates to, use the BSR sales estimator. To find your break-even ACoS before you run Amazon Ads, use the ACoS calculator. For the full breakdown of the 2026 KDP print-cost formula (including the flat tier for 24 to 110 page b/w paperbacks and how trim size changes it), see the print costs guide. For real per-sale royalty numbers across price points, yearly earnings at common sales velocities, and ad-included margins, see the profit margins guide. For the why and how of the $9.99 royalty cliff itself (international thresholds, Kindle-versus-paperback distinction, edge cases), see the royalty cliff explainer. And because income comes from having several books rather than one, project a whole catalog with the multi-book revenue forecaster.
Math says yes? Get started and generate the interior pages at 300 DPI in any bold-and-easy or detailed line-art style, ready to publish into the niche.
Last updated: September 2026. Based on Amazon KDP's 2026 US marketplace pricing for black-ink paperbacks. Royalty = (rate x list price) - printing cost. Standard distribution: 50% at or below $9.98, 60% at or above $9.99. Print cost for an 8.5 x 11 book (a large trim): $2.84 flat for 24 to 110 interior pages, $1.00 + $0.017 per page for 112 to 828 pages; pick a smaller trim in the calculator for its lower rates. Revenue projections are estimates. Verify with live Amazon data before publishing.