Free tool
Ebook price calculator
Pick what you'd like your book to bring in each month and see how many copies every price needs — on Amazon and on your own site, side by side.
70% between $2.99 and $9.99, 35% outside it. A $0.15/MB delivery fee comes off 70% sales.
Copies needed a month
75
to bring in $500.00 at $9.99
You keep, per sale
$6.69
Copies a day
2.5
The same target, spread across a month.
| Price | Amazon keeps you | Copies | Own site keeps you | Copies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2.99 | $1.79 | 279 | $2.34 | 214 |
| $4.99 | $3.19 | 157 | $4.24 | 118 |
| $6.99 | $4.59 | 109 | $6.14 | 82 |
| $9.99 | $6.69 | 75 | $8.99 | 56 |
| $12.99 | $4.5535% | 110 | $11.84 | 43 |
| $14.99 | $5.2535% | 96 | $13.74 | 37 |
| $19.99 | $7.0035% | 72 | $18.49 | 28 |
| $29.99 | $10.5035% | 48 | $27.99 | 18 |
Work backwards from the month, not forwards from the price
Most pricing advice starts with the book. This starts with you: what you would like it to bring in, and what that means in copies. A goal that needs four copies a day at $2.99 needs about one a day at $9.99 — and on your own site, at $19.99, about one every two or three days.
That reframes the question. It is not "what is this worth?" but "how many people can I realistically put in front of it?" If the answer is a few hundred a month, a low price that needs thousands of sales is the risky choice, not the safe one.
The Amazon band sets the shape
Amazon pays 70% between $2.99 and $9.99, minus a small delivery fee, and 35% outside it. That one rule is why so many Kindle books cost $2.99, $4.99 or $9.99 — and why pricing at $12.99 usually earns less per copy than $9.99. The royalty calculator shows that cliff on its own.
Where most self-published ebooks land
| Kind of book | Usual price on Amazon | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Fiction, especially series | $2.99–$4.99 | Readers buy many books; a low first price pulls them into the series. |
| Practical nonfiction | $4.99–$9.99 | It solves a specific problem, and readers pay for the answer, not the length. |
| Specialist guides and workbooks | $9.99 on Amazon, more direct | Often worth more than the band allows — which is a reason to sell direct. |
| Lead magnets | Free | Paid for with an email address, not money — see lead magnet. |
Questions people ask
How much should I charge for my ebook?
On Amazon, most self-published ebooks sit between $2.99 and $9.99, because that is the only range that pays 70%. Inside it, the right price is the one your readers will pay most often — specific, practical nonfiction usually holds a higher price than fiction. Selling from your own site there is no band, so the ceiling is whatever the book is worth to the person buying it.
Is $9.99 always the best price on Amazon?
It pays the most per copy, but not necessarily the most per month. If $4.99 sells three times as many copies as $9.99, it brings in more. The table shows how many copies each price needs, so you can judge which is more realistic for your book.
Why does the own-site column pay so much more?
Because a checkout takes a few percent and a small fixed fee, while Amazon takes 30% at best. The catch is that Amazon brings readers who were never looking for you; on your own site, every buyer has to come from somewhere you sent them.
Does this tell me how many copies I will sell?
No — nothing can. It tells you how many you would need to sell. Whether that is realistic depends on your audience, your topic and how many people you can reach.
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