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How to Set the Perfect Price for Your eBook

Amazon, Apple & the likes

When considering a price for an eBook it’s understandable to check out best sellers in the same genre and see what price they are selling for. It makes sense to assume if readers are already paying $x, and in huge numbers, then by that logic it means they will also be willing to pay that price for your book too.

Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is very different. While the big six publishers still release eBooks at the same price as paperbacks, most readers are not willing to spend at that level on an author they are currently unaware of.

Another consideration to take into account is the royalty rate paid at various price points too. While Amazon KDP have a fixed royalty rate of 60% of the list price for paperbacks, the rate does vary wildly when it comes to eBooks.

Here is a basic indicator of royalties.
Price B&N Amazon.com Apple iBooks
$0.99 – $2.98 40% 35% 70%
$2.99 – $9.99 65% 70% 70%
$10 – upwards 40% 35% 70%

While it seems a no-brainer to price between $2.99 – $9.99 for Amazon Kindle sales, it is also worth considering for books at the 70% royalty rate there is also a delivery charge 0f $0.15 per MB of the file size of your eBook. There is currently no delivery charge on eBooks in the 35% royalty bracket.

One would think that multiplying the per MB delivery fee by the size of your eBook, then subtracting that from the base royalty rate would give you the total earn per book, but unfortunately it isn’t quite that simple. To get an accurate cost / royalty total you would need to upload your book file to the KDP pricing page and see what numbers are generated on there. Not least because the compressed size of your eBook file will be smaller than the file size you first upload.

    Are All eBooks Eligible for the 70% Royalty Rate?

    Unfortunately not, as this is also affected by region, but most English speaking regions do have the 70% royalty rate available. Here is a list of the regions different royalties are available.

    Book Promotions

    Together with our collective experience in the industry we also have an extensive reader database with preferences right across the spectrum of both fiction and non-fiction, so whatever type of book you have written we have a huge and ever-growing audience ready and eager to read.

    So What Price is Best?

    In our experience sticking at, or perhaps slightly above the $2.99 price-point provides the most sales and also the highest rate or return overall. Certain genres, especially some speciality books in the non-fiction genre can aim higher as those authors know their target readership is niche so very small, and those readers would be prepared to pay more. In cases like those try edging the price up to around the $7.99 price-point.

    Also if you are the author of a series of books you could try pricing the older books at $3.99 or $4.99, and keep your newest edition to the series at $2.99, or even opting for limited time countdown deals cheaper than that.

    Don’t be afraid to experiment with this. Start with one price and allow yourself a few months to see how it goes before altering to find out what works the best for you.

    We wish you the very best of luck finding your ideal ebook price, and remember, it always pays to BeBookSharp.

    Do get in touch to find out how we can help further the exposure and success of your books. After all, having your ebook at the perfect price is one thing, but prospective readers need to know of it's existence to get to the point of purchase.

    Warmest regards,


    Kathy K and the BeBookSharp team.
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