How do authors who sell eBooks on Amazon for 99 cents justify the time invested in writing the book?

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Authors justify selling ebooks at 99 cents because the ebook is not where they make their money. They use the low price to find new readers, to climb Amazon’s rankings and to sell more paperbacks and audiobooks. I make about double as much from my paperbacks as from my ebooks, and I don’t think 99 cents works as a lasting price on its own. The rest of this post covers the royalty difference and when a low price makes sense.

What does KDP pay on a 99 cent ebook?

At 99 cents KDP pays the 35% royalty, so you earn about 35 cents a sale for a customer with no VAT, and about $0.29 for one with 20% VAT (KDP royalty options). The 70% royalty only starts at $2.99. To try your own price, use my KDP royalty and print cost calculator.

On Amazon.com the 35% option runs from $0.99 to $200, and the 99 cent minimum is only for files under 3 MB. The 70% option runs from $2.99 to $12.99. KDP raised that maximum from $9.99 on 7-Jul-26, the first change since 2007 (KDP list price requirements). On the 70% option KDP also takes a delivery cost, which it says averages $0.06 a sale and varies by file size.

The delivery cost on Amazon.com is $0.15 per MB (KDP digital book pricing), so a smaller file keeps a little more. Even so, a 99 cent book needs about six sales to match one sale at $2.99. You can make some money at 99 cents if you sell a lot, but not enough to live on. That is why I treat 99 cents as a way to bring in readers, and make the money on the next book or the paperback.

Why did I price my first books too low?

When I first started self-publishing, I had no idea what my prices should be, for the ebooks or the paperbacks. I thought, who is going to buy my books at all? Maybe I should go lower and lower and make just a little from each one. I looked at 99 cents, at free, and at everything in between.

I set my prices way too low. Price is one of the ways people judge the value of something, and a price that is too low does not bring the best profit. So are all the authors at 99 cents making a mistake? Some are. But there are good reasons to use that price for a while, and that is what the rest of this post is about. For how I set prices now, read how to price a self-published book on Amazon.

Why sell an ebook at 99 cents anyway?

The main reason is to find new readers. If you have a series, a reader who picks up your first book cheaply may go on to buy the next one. New and established authors both need a steady flow of new readers.

Some authors go further and make the first book free with a promotion, so new readers can try it at no cost and then buy the rest. If your ebook is in KDP Select, you can run a free book promotion or a Kindle Countdown Deal. The days allowed and the markets change, so check KDP’s current rules before you plan one. In fiction there are also ways to keep a first book permanently free.

The second reason is ranking. In my experience, paid sales move a book up Amazon’s rankings more than free downloads do these days. More sales can lift your book toward the top of its category, and a book near the top gets seen and bought more. Amazon’s search also shows books that sell well higher up when someone searches your topic. If you are new to KDP, start with how to publish a book on Amazon.

Should my first book be permanently free, and how do I do that on KDP?

You cannot do it directly. KDP says: “You can’t set your book’s list price as free” (KDP: price your book).

There are two routes. The first is price matching. KDP’s royalty terms say that if your book is free through another sales channel, KDP may make it free too, and that “If we match a free promotion of your Digital Book somewhere else, your Royalty during that promotion will be zero” (KDP: digital book pricing page, last updated 21-Apr-26 on that page). The page does not give a way to ask for a match or a promise that it will happen, so treat it as something KDP may do, not something you control.

The second route is a free book promotion. It needs KDP Select. KDP says: “You can offer your Kindle eBook for free for up to 5 days out of each 90-day KDP Select enrollment period” (KDP: free book promotions). You earn no royalties on those days, and it is for Kindle ebooks only. That is a short promotion, not a permanent price.

Whether permafree is wise is my view, not KDP’s. It suits a series where book one leads into book two, because a free first book costs you only the sales you would have made on it. For a single book it earns nothing, so I would price it at $2.99 or more and spend the effort on the listing.

When does a 99 cent price make sense, and when not?

Check the price against what you earn at each step in the calculator above before you decide.

Does a 99 cent price matter if the book is in Kindle Unlimited?

Less than you might think. KDP says that for books enrolled in KDP Select you earn your share of the KDP Select Global Fund when subscribers read your book, and KDP Select needs you to keep the digital format exclusive to KDP (KDP Select). That page now calls the subscription Kindle+, the program most authors still call Kindle Unlimited. So a subscriber who reads your 99 cent book does not pay you the 35 cents. You are paid for the pages read, and the list price matters only to people who buy. The page gives no rate per page, so I won’t give one.

How do best-selling authors make money from a 99 cent ebook?

They make it on the other formats and products. For me, the ebooks are lead generation. I make about double as much from my paperbacks as from my ebooks, and that comes from the right prices, a good book listing and paid ads working together.

A reader who finds a 99 cent ebook, especially one marked down from a higher price, also sees the paperback, the hardback and the audiobook. Some of them prefer print and buy the paperback instead. That is where I make most of my money. I compare the two formats in more money with paperbacks or ebooks?

Ebook readers still matter. Many readers choose ebooks because they are cheap and easy to carry, and some read through Kindle Unlimited. I earn some money that way too, but far less than from paperbacks. For the full picture of the ebook side, see how to write, publish and sell an ebook.

Some authors also sell other products through their book, such as services or other books. For them, selling the ebook at a loss or at break even can still pay off.

Have you found other good reasons to price at 99 cents? Tell me in the comments below. If you want help setting the right prices for your own books, see self-publishing coaching with Chris.

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