What Type Of Books Help An Author Make Most Royalties?

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Publish in every format. The format that earns the most depends on your genre and your readers, so I put each book out as an ebook, paperback, hardcover and audiobook. For my own books, most of the money comes from paperbacks, and most authors I know say the same. The rest of this post covers how each format pays and where to sell it. To check what a format pays at your price, use my KDP royalty calculator.

Which format earns the most for your genre?

It varies. Romance readers mostly buy ebooks and audiobooks, because few people carry around paperback romance. Cookbooks are different: people open them to a page and follow along with a finger, which is harder with a phone or a Kindle in the kitchen. Some readers only want hardbacks, and some only listen. I read Kindle books on my iPhone because I can carry it everywhere, and I can make the font bigger. Others like paper.

Out of my 230 books, I have cookbooks as audiobooks and sell them every day. I did not know if they would sell. Once you have done one audiobook, the process is simple, so there is little reason not to. I am not sure how people use them in the kitchen, and it does not matter.

Start with the easiest format, which is Kindle, and add the rest later. I put out my first Kindle book, then learned paperbacks, then audio. Early on my paperback earned about the same as the ebook, because I did not understand pricing. I explain what to expect in reasonable self-publishing Amazon royalties.

How much does each format pay?

Sources: KDP’s pages on ebook list price requirements (the 70% band took effect 7-Jul-26), paperback royalty and print royalties (50% or 60% depending on list price, 40% for Expanded Distribution), and ACX’s royalty page. The older 40% and 25% ACX rates stay for titles not enrolled in the new model until year-end, when the legacy model is discontinued. Read ACX’s page before choosing exclusive or not.

Print royalty is the rate times the list price, minus printing cost. KDP’s own example is a $15 paperback of 333 pages in black ink: 0.60 x $15 minus $5.00 printing leaves $4.00 (KDP paperback royalty). Printing cost depends on the marketplace, the page count, the ink type and whether the trim size is regular or large (KDP printing cost). Check your numbers in KDP’s royalty calculator, or put your own price and page count into my KDP royalty and print cost calculator. If you use AI for text, images or narration, tell KDP or ACX when they ask.

How are royalties paid when readers borrow my ebook?

Ebooks enrolled in KDP Select are included in Kindle+ (Amazon’s new name for Kindle Unlimited). You are paid by pages read, not by sale: KDP says you earn the first time a subscriber reads a given page, and re-reads earn nothing more. Your share depends on your share of all pages read, from a monthly fund Amazon announces, and the monthly page numbers are finalized near the 15th of the following month (KDP, Royalties in Kindle+). So a borrowed ebook does not follow the 70% or 35% rates in the table.

Does a higher ebook price always mean more royalty?

Not always, but the rules have changed. KDP’s page says that from 7-Jul-26 the 70% royalty option on Amazon.com covers list prices from $2.99 to $12.99, where the previous range was $2.99 to $9.99. The 35% option has a minimum list price that depends on file size: $0.99 for files under 3 MB, $1.99 from 3 MB up to 10 MB, and $2.99 for 10 MB or more. The maximum is $200 (KDP list price requirements).

So a larger ebook with many images has a higher minimum price under the 35% option. My advice is to price each book inside the 70% band unless you have a clear reason not to, and to test one price change at a time so you can see what it did. Write down the date and the price each time you change it, and compare a few weeks of sales before and after. Without that record you will not know whether the price or something else moved your sales.

Where should you sell each format?

Start everything on Amazon. It is the biggest seller in the world, and buyers already have accounts there.

1. Ebook and paperback: KDP.
2. Audiobook: ACX, and pick exclusive or not after reading the royalty page.
3. Hardcover: KDP now prints hardcovers too, so I recommend KDP and IngramSpark for hardcovers, the same as for paperbacks. I used Lulu at first and it is still an option to spread wider. For the costs and the proof copy rule, see my Lulu self-publishing review.
4. Wider paperback distribution: IngramSpark. Its 2026 rate card has no title setup fees and, since 1-Feb-26, a global distribution fee of 1.875% of the list price at the time of sale. You need an ISBN, and I suggest buying your own.

How much should you aim to make per paperback?

At least $5 per paperback or hardcover, however long it is. If you bundle two books, aim for $6, so add $1 for each extra book. Never sell below that. Then raise the price as sales come in.

If audio is your next format, start with are all Kindle books audio. If you want your book in every format without learning the tools, my team formats your ebook and print interior: see book formatting. Which format earns you the most? Tell me in the comments.

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