How do I sell ebooks on Amazon?

Create a free Kindle Direct Publishing account, add your tax and payment details, then create a Kindle eBook. Enter the title, description, keywords and categories, upload your manuscript and cover, choose a royalty option and price, and publish. Books usually go live within a few days.

How much does Amazon pay for ebooks?

KDP pays 35% or 70% of the list price. On Amazon.com, the 70% option applies to prices from $2.99 to $12.99 since July 7, 2026, minus a delivery cost of $0.15 per MB. Prices outside that band earn 35%.

Is it free to sell ebooks on Amazon?

Yes. Kindle Direct Publishing is free to join and publish on. Amazon earns its share through the royalty split, and for 70% royalty sales it also deducts a small delivery cost based on file size. Editing, covers and ads are your own costs.

What is the best price for a Kindle ebook?

Most authors price inside the 70% band, $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com. Compare best sellers in your category, price lower to build early reviews, and higher for specialist non fiction or box sets. Test for a few weeks and track royalties.

Is KDP Select worth it?

It depends on your readers. KDP Select requires digital exclusivity for 90 days and adds subscription page read earnings, Countdown Deals and free promotions. It often suits genre fiction with many subscription readers; books that sell well on other ebook stores may earn more staying wide.

How to Sell Ebooks on Amazon: The 2026 KDP Guide

What changed: Self publishing Kindle ebooks through Kindle Direct Publishing
When: 70% royalty band on Amazon.com widened to $2.99 to $12.99 from July 7, 2026
Who it affects: Authors, experts and brands publishing ebooks
What to do: Check the royalty plan on any title priced $10 to $12.99 and review your price

Key takeaways

Ebooks sell on Amazon through KDP, which is free; you set the price and royalty option.
Since July 7, 2026, the 70% royalty applies from $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com, minus delivery costs.
KDP Select trades digital exclusivity for 90 days for subscription reads and promotions.

1Set up KDP
Account, tax and payment
2Book details
Title, description, keywords
3Content
Manuscript, cover, preview
4Rights and pricing
Royalty option and list price
5Publish
Live within a few days

What you need before you publish

KDP is free to join. You need a KDP account with your tax and payment details, a finished and edited manuscript, a cover image, a title and description, and up to seven keywords and categories to help readers find the book. Ebooks do not need an ISBN on KDP.

Treat the book page like a product listing. The title, subtitle, cover and description do the same job as a product title, main image and bullets on any Amazon listing; our Amazon listing optimization guide applies to books too.

How to sell ebooks on Amazon step by step

The publishing flow in KDP has three parts: details, content and pricing.

Create a KDP account and complete tax and payment information
Select Create, then Kindle eBook
Enter title, author, description, keywords and categories
Upload your manuscript and cover, then check the previewer
Choose KDP Select enrollment and territories
Pick the 35% or 70% royalty option and set the list price
Publish; the book usually goes live within a few days

How ebook royalties work in 2026

KDP offers two royalty options. Under the 70% option on Amazon.com, the list price must be between $2.99 and $12.99. Amazon raised the top of that band from $9.99, effective July 7, 2026, with matching changes in other KDP marketplaces; Indie Author Magazine reported it on July 10, 2026. Prices outside the band earn 35%.

Under the 35% option on Amazon.com, the minimum price depends on file size: $0.99 under 3 MB, $1.99 from 3 MB to under 10 MB, and $2.99 at 10 MB or more. The maximum is $200. If you have a title priced between $10 and $12.99, check in KDP that it is set to the 70% option.

35% vs 70% royalty on Amazon.com

	35% option	70% option
List price range	$0.99 to $200	$2.99 to $12.99
Delivery cost	None	$0.15 per MB
Print edition rule	None	20% below print price
Public domain books	Allowed	Not eligible

Conditions for the 70% royalty

The higher royalty comes with rules. If a book stops meeting them, it reverts to 35%.

List price within the 70% band for each marketplace
At least 20% below the Amazon list price of any print edition
Not made up mainly of public domain content
KDP Select enrollment required for 70% in Brazil, Japan, Mexico and India
Delivery costs deducted, at $0.15 per MB on Amazon.com

Delivery costs and file size

On 70% sales, KDP deducts a delivery cost based on file size: $0.15 per MB on Amazon.com, with a minimum of $0.01. A text only novel is usually small, so the cost is minor. Books with many images can be large enough for delivery costs to make the 35% option, or a higher price, the better choice. Compress images before upload and check the file size KDP shows on the pricing page.

Should you enroll in KDP Select?

KDP Select is a free 90 day program. In return for selling the digital edition only through KDP during that period, enrolled books are included in Amazon's Kindle subscription reading program, where you also earn from pages read, and gain access to Kindle Countdown Deals and Free Book Promotions. Countdown Deals are available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Print editions are not affected. Amazon's KDP Select page reported $69.3 million in total KDP Select author earnings for September 2026. You can cancel within three days of the enrollment start; after that, you contact KDP. Fiction in genres with heavy subscription readers often benefits most; books that sell well on other ebook stores may do better staying wide.

	KDP Select	Wide
Subscription page read earnings
Countdown Deals and free days
Sell ebook on other stores
Print editions anywhere

KDP Select terms run for 90 days at a time.

How to price your ebook

Look at the best selling books in your category and their prices, then decide where you want to sit. Most authors stay inside the 70% band. Lower prices can help a new author build reviews and rank; higher prices suit specialist non fiction, box sets and omnibus editions, which the wider band now supports at 70%.

Test prices for a few weeks at a time and track units, page reads and royalties, not just sales rank.

How to market an ebook on Amazon

Publishing is only the start. Books, like products, need traffic, conversion and reviews.

Research the phrases readers search and use them in keywords and subtitle
Run Amazon Ads Sponsored Products campaigns on your book
Use Countdown Deals or free days for launches if enrolled in KDP Select
Build an email list and announce new releases
Publish a series, so each book sells the next
Add paperback and hardcover editions to the same book page

Ebooks as part of a brand strategy

Brands also publish ebooks: guides, recipe books or manuals that support a product line and build authority. The same principles apply as with physical products: research demand, write a strong listing and advertise at a cost the margin supports. Our guides to Amazon keyword research, the Amazon advertising guide and Amazon selling strategy go deeper.

PPC Spider is an Amazon and marketplace agency. SpiderOS, our AI platform, monitors bids, budgets, search terms and stock, and every target ACoS is set from margin after fees. Our Amazon account management service starts at $1,950 a month for full service and $995 for PPC, and a free Amazon audit reviews your current setup.

Sources

Amazon KDP: eBook royalty options and list price requirements (kdp.amazon.com/help/topic/G200634560)
Amazon KDP: eBook list price requirements and delivery costs (kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200634500)
Amazon KDP: KDP Select (kdp.amazon.com/en_US/select)
Indie Author Magazine: KDP expands 70 percent ebook royalty option (indieauthormagazine.com/kdp-expands-70-percent-ebook-royalty-option-publishing-news-this-week/)

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