Do Paperbacks Or eBooks Make More Money?

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Paperbacks usually make the most money, then audiobooks, but start with the Kindle ebook because it is the easiest to finish. Romance is the exception, where readers do not want to hold a book, so ebooks and audiobooks earn more. Below: what the data says, where I started in 2015 and why I still want every book in every format.

Do paperbacks or ebooks make more money?

For most genres, paperbacks. The Association of American Publishers reported on 10-Aug-26 that print accounted for 76.3% of US trade publishing revenue in 2025. Hardbacks rose 3.9% to $8.2 billion, paperbacks rose 2.1% to $8.0 billion, ebooks rose 3.2% to $2.2 billion and digital audio rose 5.3% to $2.5 billion (AAP annual StatShot). That is traditional publisher revenue across all books. Indie authors can differ, and my own experience matches it: paper pays the most, then audio.

Written Word Media’s 2025 poll of 1,346 indie authors found 98% had ebooks and 97% had paperbacks, 51% had an audiobook and 36% a hardcover. It does not break income down by format (Written Word Media indie author results).

What is the exception?

Romance, which I do not publish. Readers there often do not want to hold a book, so ebooks and audiobooks make a lot more money than paperbacks. If you write in that genre, ebooks and audio come first.

Which format should you start with?

Kindle. I started in 2015, not because it makes the most money, but because it was the easiest place to start. Writing the book, structuring it, formatting it, building the table of contents, the cover and the description was already enough. Today the upload file is an EPUB, or Kindle Create’s KPF file.

Do not start with paper. A tool like Atticus is the best I know of for this, because it lets you take your Kindle version and quickly make the paperback or hardcover file for KDP Print, Lulu or IngramSpark. You want an audiobook version as well, through ACX.

Even your ebook helps readers find the paperback, and some people simply like to hold paper. Get the paperback pricing right and you will make more money, as the sum below shows. Royalty on ebooks is 35% or 70%, and the 70% option applies when the buyer is in an eligible territory and the work is in copyright (KDP royalty options).

How does the paperback royalty work?

KDP pays 50% or 60% on paperbacks sold on Amazon marketplaces, depending on your list price. On Amazon.com, a list price of $9.98 or less earns 50% and $9.99 or more earns 60%. The royalty is the rate times the list price, minus the printing cost. Sold through Expanded Distribution the rate drops to 40%, so the same book earns much less (KDP paperback royalty).

What it costs to print changes with the marketplace, the page count, the ink and whether the trim is regular or large. Bleed and cover finish do not change it. KDP also sets a minimum list price so the royalty always covers printing, and the maximum on Amazon.com is $250. A very short book may also fall under the minimum number of words for a paperback, so check that before you price it.

An ebook at the 70% rate also loses an average delivery cost of $0.06 per unit, and the rate is 35% outside the eligible territories. My advice: work out the number for your own page count before you set the price, and do not guess. A longer book costs more to print, so the same list price leaves a smaller royalty.

What does one sale pay? A worked sum

Take one 250-page black-ink book, regular trim, sold on Amazon.com. KDP’s printing cost page gives $1.00 fixed plus $0.012 a page for books over 110 pages, so printing costs $1.00 + 250 x $0.012 = $4.00 (KDP printing cost). The ebook pays 70% of the list price minus a delivery cost of $0.15 per MB, here a 1 MB file, or 35% of the list price with no delivery cost (KDP delivery costs).

So one paperback at $14.99 pays about $1.60 more than one ebook at $4.99, and a paperback priced at $9.99 pays less than a $4.99 ebook. The paperback only wins when its price leaves room above the printing cost. This is per sale, not per reader: it does not tell you how many of each you will sell, and KDP can change any of these figures. To try your own page count, price and store, use my KDP royalty calculator.

Why have every format?

Because I cannot tell which outlet will sell. Maybe Amazon sells the most. Maybe Lulu’s hardback, or IngramSpark’s paperback distribution. We never want to limit distribution: more people seeing the book in more formats gives the greatest profit. KDP prints hardcovers now, so you can offer one without leaving Amazon, and royalty tiers depend on list price, so check KDP’s current hardcover page. Amazon remains the top revenue source for 83% of surveyed indie authors, down from 91% in 2023, so selling in more places is worth it. I list what Lulu charges and what its distribution does in my Lulu self-publishing review.

Most indie authors already do this. Among the 1,346 indie authors Written Word Media asked in 2025, 98% publish ebooks, 97% paperbacks, 51% audiobooks and 36% hardbacks (Written Word Media). Audio and hardcover are where most of the room is left.

The answer to which makes more money is all of the above: ebook first to start, paperback for the money, then audio and hardcover. If you want the ebook and the paperback interior ready together, my team formats both and I check them before they go back, from $127, within 3 business days of getting your manuscript. See book formatting

If you sell paperbacks yourself, remember that KDP author copies are sold to you at print cost and pay no royalties.

For the other two things that lift sales, keywords and marketing, see do you want to sell more books.

Which format has made you the most money? Tell me in the comments.

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