Free KDP royalty calculator
KDP royalties, explained
KDP delivery fee: the $0.15 per megabyte deduction, with the math shown.
On the 70% option, Amazon subtracts a delivery fee from every ebook sale. The fee scales with your file size — one oversized image costs you on every copy sold.
Checked:
✓The exact formula, step by step✓What bloats file size the most✓A calculator that applies the fee
The formula
Royalty under the 70% option is list price × 70%, minus $0.15 for each megabyte of file size, rounded up to the next whole megabyte. A $4.99 ebook at 2.1 MB: $3.49 minus $0.45 for 3 MB, or about $3.04 per sale.
The 35% option never charges a delivery fee, which is why it can win on very low prices.
What bloats file size
Most novels land at 1–3 MB and lose pennies per sale. Image-heavy nonfiction can exceed 20 MB and lose $3 or more on every copy.
- Cover and interior images embedded at full resolution
- Uncompressed interior files
- Embedded fonts duplicated per section
- PDF interiors exported without size reduction
Where the fee appears
KDP shows your file size before publish. The per-unit delivery cost appears in the payment report after sales start — which is why authors discover the fee only after the money is already smaller than expected.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does the 35% option take a delivery fee?
No. The delivery fee applies only to the 70% option. The 35% option has no delivery deduction but a much lower rate.
Is the fee the same in every marketplace?
No. $0.15 per megabyte is the US reference. Other marketplaces set their own delivery rates, so the same file can cost different amounts per region.
Do print books pay a delivery fee?
No. Print royalties are reduced by printing cost instead. The delivery fee is an ebook-only deduction.
See the fee on your exact numbers.
Enter your price and file size; the royalty calculator applies the delivery fee and shows the per-sale result.