New Amazon KDP Royalties 2025: Complete Breakdown of Changes
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Amazon KDP Royalty Cuts 2025: Complete Breakdown & Guide
June 10, 2025, marked a pivotal moment for thousands of authors and publishers on Amazon KDP. The platform announced a significant reduction in royalties for paperback and hardcover books, directly impacting the income of self-published authors worldwide. In this comprehensive guide, we will break down every detail of these changes, provide clear calculations of their financial impact, and offer proven strategies to adapt and thrive under the new rules, ensuring your publishing business remains profitable.
June 2025 KDP Royalty Cuts Explained: What Changed for Your Paperback Income?
The Essence of the Changes
Amazon has introduced a new royalty structure for print books (paperback and hardcover). The main change concerns books whose price falls below a certain threshold.
The new structure is as follows:
Books priced below $9.99 USD now bring 50% royalties instead of the previous 60%.
Books priced at $9.99 USD and above retain the 60% royalty rate.
For the Canadian market, the threshold is set at $13.99 CAD.
It's important to understand that the changes affect only print books. Royalties for Kindle eBooks remain unchanged and are still 35% or 70%, depending on the chosen program.
Why Amazon Reduced Royalties
Amazon's official position explains the changes as being due to rising operational costs. The company points to increased costs for printing, logistics, and order processing.
However, many authors and industry experts view this decision with skepticism. Critics argue that Amazon is protecting its own margin at the expense of independent authors, who are a key source of content for the platform.
Regardless of the reasons, authors need to adapt to the new conditions and review their pricing strategies.
Amazon KDP Royalty Change 2025: Which Books & Niches Are Most Affected?
Print Books at Risk
All print books priced below the threshold fall under the new rules. This is particularly critical for the following categories:
Low-content books with low prices. Planners, journals, and coloring books are often sold in the $5.99-$8.99 range, which now means a significant reduction in income per sale.
Children's books. Many children's publications traditionally have a low price to attract buyers.
Market penetration books. Authors using a low-price strategy to gather reviews and sales now earn less per copy.
Short non-fiction books. Practical guides of 50-100 pages are often priced in the $6.99-$9.99 range.
What Remains Unchanged
Kindle eBooks retain the previous royalty structure. The 70% royalty program is available for books priced from $2.99 to $9.99. The 35% royalty program applies to books outside this price range.
Print books priced at $9.99 and above are also unaffected by the changes and continue to earn 60% royalties.
New KDP Royalties 2025: Income Calculations & Real-World Examples
Example Calculation for an $8.99 Book
Let's consider a typical low-content book—a 120-page planner priced at $8.99 with a printing cost of $2.65.
Before the changes:
Book Price: $8.99
Printing Cost: $2.65
60% Royalty: ($8.99 - $2.65) × 0.60 = $3.80
After the changes:
Book Price: $8.99
Printing Cost: $2.65
50% Royalty: ($8.99 - $2.65) × 0.50 = $3.17
Loss per sale: $0.63 or 17% of income.
When selling 100 copies per month, the author loses $63 monthly on just one book.
Cumulative Impact on a Book Portfolio
For authors with a large catalog of low-priced books, the total losses can be significant. An author with 50 books in the price range below $9.99, selling an average of 20 copies of each book per month, could lose between $500 and $1000 in monthly income.
5 Actionable Strategies to Adapt to the 2025 Amazon KDP Royalty Cuts
Strategy 1: Increasing the Price Above the Threshold
The most obvious way to maintain the 60% royalty is to increase the book's price to $9.99 or above.
Advantages:
Retention of the full 60% royalty rate.
Potentially higher income per sale.
Positioning the book as a more premium product.
Risks:
Possible decrease in sales volume due to the higher price.
Loss of competitive advantage in the niche.
Mismatch with buyer expectations for certain book types.
Recommendation: Test price increases gradually. Increase the price by $1-2 and monitor changes in sales over 2-4 weeks.
Strategy 2: Increasing the Book's Value
Instead of simply raising the price, add additional value that justifies the higher cost.
For low-content books:
Increase the number of pages.
Add bonus sections.
Improve the quality of design and layout.
Include QR codes with links to additional materials.
For non-fiction books:
Expand content with additional chapters.
Add worksheets and checklists.
Include case studies and examples.
Strategy 3: Focus on eBooks
Since Kindle royalties remain unchanged, consider shifting focus to electronic editions.
eBooks in the 70% royalty program priced at $2.99-$9.99 can be more profitable than print books under the new conditions.
Additional advantage: the absence of printing costs means all royalty is net profit minus the delivery fee.
Strategy 4: Optimizing Printing Costs
Reducing printing costs increases the base for royalty calculation.
Ways to reduce printing costs:
Using black and white printing instead of color.
Choosing a standard book size instead of a custom one.
Optimizing the number of pages.
Using cream paper instead of white (sometimes cheaper).
Strategy 5: Diversifying to Other Platforms
The royalty reduction on Amazon is a reason to consider publishing on alternative platforms.
IngramSpark offers wide distribution to bookstores and libraries.
Lulu provides competitive print-on-demand terms.
Draft2Digital gives access to multiple retail platforms.
Diversification reduces dependence on one platform and its policies.
KDP Royalty Check 2025: How to See Which of Your Books Lost Income
Using the KDP Dashboard
Amazon has added notifications to the KDP Bookshelf dashboard. Books falling under the new royalty conditions are marked with a special indicator.
To check:
Log into your KDP account.
Go to the Bookshelf section.
Pay attention to notifications next to books.
Review the royalty details for each book.
KDP Royalty Calculator
Use the official Amazon royalty calculator to model various scenarios.
The calculator allows you to:
Enter the book price and number of pages.
Choose the print type (black & white or color).
See the estimated income from one sale.
Compare options with different prices.
Recommendation: Create a table with all your books and calculate the new income for each to see the full picture of the changes' impact.
Your Step-by-Step Plan to Navigate the 2025 KDP Royalty Changes
Step 1: Conduct an audit of your catalog. Make a list of all print books priced below $9.99.
Step 2: Calculate the losses. Use the royalty calculator to determine the income reduction for each book.
Step 3: Prioritize the books. Identify which books generate the most income and require immediate attention.
Step 4: Choose a strategy for each book. Decide whether to raise the price, add value, or leave it as is.
Step 5: Make changes gradually. Don't change all books at once—test and monitor the results.
Step 6: Monitor sales. Compare metrics before and after the changes for at least a month.
The change in Amazon KDP royalties in 2025 is a significant blow to the income of authors of low-priced print books. However, it is not a disaster for those willing to adapt.
Key Takeaways:
Books cheaper than $9.99 now bring 50% instead of 60% royalties.
eBooks are unaffected by the changes.
Raising the price above the threshold preserves the 60% royalty.
Adding value justifies a higher price.
Platform diversification reduces dependence on Amazon.
Successful KDP authors perceive this change as an incentive to optimize their business and seek new growth opportunities.
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