Quillborne
“70% royalty” is not 70%
Amazon KDP advertises a 70% royalty. Then it takes a 30% commission, charges you a per-megabyte delivery fee on every copy, and quietly drops you to 35% if your price falls outside a narrow band. Here's what's actually left.
The two royalty tiers
You don't choose your royalty freely — it's dictated by your list price.
| Option | List price | Amazon keeps | Delivery fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| “70%” tier | $2.99 – $9.99 only | 30% | $0.15per MB, per sale |
| 35% tier | under $2.99 or over $9.99 | 65% | none |
Price your book at $10.99 and Amazon's cut doubles from 30% to 65%. In Brazil, India, Japan, and Mexico the 70% rate requires KDP Select exclusivity — otherwise you're capped at 35% there too.
The delivery fee — a tax on file size
Inside the 70% tier, Amazon bills you $0.15 for every megabyte of your converted file, on every single copy sold. Covers, images, and fixed-layout formatting all add weight — and weight is charged forever.
| Your converted file | Amazon's delivery fee |
|---|---|
| 1 MB | $0.15per copy sold |
| 5 MB | $0.75per copy sold |
| 10 MB | $1.50per copy sold |
| 25 MB | $3.75per copy sold |
| 50 MB | $7.50per copy sold |
A real $5.99 novel (5.49 MB file): ($5.99 − $0.82 delivery) × 70% = $3.62 to the author.
That's a $2.37 cut and an $0.82 delivery fee on a single $5.99 sale — the author keeps about 60% of the list price, not 70%. Figures per KDP's published terms.
Print is no better
Paperbacks pay a 60% royalty at $9.99 and up — but then Amazon
subtracts the printing cost: (list price × 60%) − printing cost = your royalty. As of
June 2025, books priced under $9.99 drop to a 50% rate, and Expanded Distribution
pays just 40%.
You don't even control the price
Amazon continuously matches competitors' lower prices. If it finds your book cheaper elsewhere, it can match that price automatically — and your royalty shrinks with it, without your consent.
Quillborne takes 15% flat
No delivery fee. No file-size tax. No price band that halves your royalty. No silent price-matching. Half of Amazon's cut, and you keep control of your book.
Amazon figures compiled from KDP's published royalty and delivery-fee terms (see AuthorImprints' KDP pricing breakdown); the delivery-fee table is calculated from Amazon's stated $0.15/MB rate. Amazon's terms can change.