Every Kindle eBook on KDP earns royalties at one of two rates: 35% or 70%. Which one you’re eligible for depends on your price, and as of mid-2026, the rules changed for the first time in almost two decades. Here’s exactly how the KDP royalty plan 35 vs 70 decision works, and what’s different now.
The Two eBook Royalty Options at a Glance
| 35% Option | 70% Option | |
| Rate | 35% of list price | 70% of (list price minus delivery cost) |
| Eligible price range (US) | $0.99–$200 | $2.99–$12.99 |
| Delivery fee | None | Yes — $0.15/MB (US) |
| Territory restrictions | Available everywhere | Only in designated 70% territories |
| Public domain content | Eligible | Not eligible |
You choose one option per book on the pricing screen — it’s not automatic, and it’s not locked in forever. You can switch between them any time, though a switch outside the 70% price window will drop you to 35% automatically.
What Changed in July 2026
For nearly 19 years, the 70% royalty option topped out at $9.99. On July 7, 2026, Amazon raised that ceiling to $12.99 — the first change to the price band since KDP launched in 2007. Books priced between $10.00 and $12.99, which previously earned only 35%, are now eligible for the full 70% rate.
A few things worth knowing about the change:
- It’s not automatic. If you already have a book priced above $9.99 sitting at the 35% rate, it stays there until you manually switch it in your pricing settings.
- It brings Amazon closer to its competitors. Apple Books and Barnes & Noble Press already pay a flat 70% at any price, and Kobo pays 70% on anything $2.99 and above, this update narrows the gap for authors pricing books in that $10–$13 range.
- It particularly helps longer works. Box sets, bundles, and specialized non-fiction that justify a higher price point no longer have to choose between pricing accurately and keeping the better royalty rate.
If you’ve been sitting on an older $9.99 price point purely to protect your 70% royalty, this is worth revisiting.
How the Delivery Fee Affects the 70% Plan
The catch with the 70% option is that Amazon deducts a delivery fee before calculating your royalty currently $0.15 per megabyte in the US. The formula looks like this:
Royalty = 70% × (List Price − Delivery Cost)
For a typical text-only novel under 1 MB, this fee is close to irrelevant, a few cents at most. It becomes a real factor for image-heavy books: cookbooks, children’s picture books, and illustrated non-fiction can run considerably larger, and every extra megabyte chips away at your royalty.
When 35% Actually Wins
The 70% plan usually pays more, but not always. A few situations where 35% comes out ahead or is your only option:
- Pricing below $2.99 or above $12.99 outside that window, 70% simply isn’t available, and your book defaults to 35%.
- Very large files at lower price points. If your book is 6–8 MB or larger and priced toward the lower end of the eligible range, the delivery fee can erode enough of the 70% advantage that 35% actually nets more. It’s worth running both numbers rather than assuming.
- Public domain content doesn’t qualify for the 70% option at all, regardless of price.
- Sales outside 70%-eligible territories default to the 35% rate even if your price otherwise qualifies.
Worked Examples
A $4.99 eBook, roughly 1 MB in size:
- 70% plan: (4.99 − 0.15) × 0.70 ≈ $3.39
- 35% plan: 4.99 × 0.35 = $1.75
70% is the clear winner here, as it is for most standard-length text books priced in the sweet spot.
A $12.99 eBook, now eligible for 70% under the July 2026 update, same file size:
- 70% plan: (12.99 − 0.15) × 0.70 ≈ $8.99
- 35% plan: 12.99 × 0.35 ≈ $4.55
Before July 2026, this book would have been locked out of the 70% tier entirely and stuck earning the 35% rate. That gap is exactly what the price ceiling change was meant to close.
How to Choose
For most standard eBooks a typical novel or non-fiction title with a manageable file size the 70% plan priced somewhere in the $2.99–$12.99 range is going to be the stronger option, delivery fee included. Run the actual numbers if your file is unusually large or your ideal price sits right at the edges of the window; otherwise, 70% is the default worth starting from.
One more thing worth remembering: this 35%/70% structure applies specifically to your Kindle eBook. Your paperback and hardcover editions use a completely separate royalty system (a 50%/60% tiered rate based on list price, minus printing costs), so don’t assume the same math applies across formats.
Royalty math has more moving parts than it first appears, especially with the July 2026 pricing changes still catching a lot of authors off guard. If you’d like help figuring out the right price and royalty option for your book, our team at Pacific Publishing is happy to run the numbers with you. Get in touch and we’ll help you get it right.