- The Real Question Underneath the Format Choice
- Royalties Compared: Where the Money Actually Goes
- Reader Behaviour by Genre
- What Each Format Requires to Produce
- Pricing Implications
- Visibility and Discovery on Amazon
- KDP Select and eBook Exclusivity
- Which Format Works Best by Book Type
- The Case for Publishing Both
When I first published on KDP, I spent a week agonising over whether to go Kindle-only or add a paperback. I talked myself into both directions several times before I actually looked at the data for my genre and ran the royalty numbers. Once I did that, the decision took about twenty minutes.
This is one of the more confusing decisions for first-time KDP authors, partly because the answer genuinely varies by genre and partly because the royalty structures for each format are different enough that the right choice financially is not always obvious. This guide breaks it all down — royalties, reader behaviour by genre, production requirements, and which format makes sense for different types of books.
The Real Question Underneath the Format Choice
The Kindle vs paperback question is really three separate questions that most authors conflate into one:
- Where does my target reader actually buy books in this genre? Genre is the single strongest predictor of format preference. Some genres are overwhelmingly eBook. Others are predominantly print.
- Which format generates better royalties per sale for my pricing strategy? The royalty structures are different and the right answer depends on the price point you are targeting.
- Am I willing to do the additional production work required for print? Paperback formatting and cover design for print are meaningfully more complex than eBook preparation.
Answer these three questions and the format decision follows logically.
Royalties Compared: Where the Money Actually Goes
Kindle eBook royalties
KDP offers two royalty tiers for Kindle books:
- 70% royalty: Available for books priced between $2.99 and $9.99 in the US (with equivalent price windows in other territories). Delivery costs are deducted — typically $0.06 to $0.15 per book, negligible for most text books.
- 35% royalty: Applies to books priced below $2.99 or above $9.99, and to books sold in certain markets where the 70% tier is not available.
Paperback royalties (KDP Print)
Paperback royalties are calculated differently. You earn 60% of the list price minus printing costs. Printing costs depend on page count, paper type (black and white vs colour interior), and the market (US, UK, EU, etc.).
This example shows paperback earning slightly more per sale than a Kindle at $4.99 — but the paperback is priced at $12.99. A reader who would pay $4.99 for a Kindle edition may not pay $12.99 for the print version of the same book. Volume matters as much as per-unit margin.
The comparison that matters
Do not compare royalty percentages between formats. Compare actual dollars per sale at realistic price points for your genre. A 70% Kindle royalty on a $3.99 book earns $2.72. A 60% paperback royalty minus printing on a $9.99 book might earn $2.14. The percentage is higher for Kindle; the dollar amount may be higher for paperback. Run the numbers for your specific situation.
Reader Behaviour by Genre
Genre is the most reliable predictor of format preference. These are general patterns based on reader behaviour data — individual books vary, but the genre trends are consistent:
The practical way to check your specific sub-genre: search your main category on Amazon, look at the top 20 bestsellers, and check which format is listed first and what the price ratio is between Kindle and print editions. If most bestselling books show Kindle as the primary listing and the Kindle price is set as a significant discount to print, the genre is eBook-oriented.
What Each Format Requires to Produce
Kindle eBook production
- Manuscript formatted as EPUB (KDP converts most common formats) or directly as a KDP-compatible file
- Front cover image (JPEG, minimum 1,000px on shortest side, ideal 2,560 × 1,600px)
- No page numbering concerns, no spine, no bleed — the reading device handles layout
- Images must be embedded as RGB; no CMYK
Paperback production
- Interior formatted as a PDF with specific margin requirements (inside margin wider for binding), exact page dimensions, and 300 DPI for any images
- Full cover as a single PDF: front cover + spine (width calculated by KDP based on page count) + back cover, with 0.125-inch bleed on all edges
- Page numbers, headers or footers, and chapter breaks formatted for print reading rather than screen reading
- Colour interior dramatically increases printing cost — most text books use black and white interior
The honest assessment: eBook production is significantly simpler than paperback production. If you are formatting your own files, paperback requires meaningful additional skill or software investment (Vellum on Mac, Atticus cross-platform, or Adobe InDesign for complex layouts). If you are hiring a formatter, expect paperback to cost two to three times more than eBook formatting.
Pricing Implications
Format and pricing are linked because reader price expectations differ by format. A Kindle reader expects to pay between $2.99 and $9.99 for most novels and nonfiction books. A paperback buyer expects to pay between $9.99 and $19.99 for the same content in print. This is not just about production cost — it is about format-native pricing expectations that readers have developed from years of Amazon shopping.
Implications for your pricing decisions:
- Pricing a Kindle book above $9.99 pushes it out of the 70% royalty tier and above most readers' price ceiling for self-published eBooks — both outcomes hurt sales
- Pricing a paperback below $9.99 often leaves you with negative or zero royalties after printing costs — KDP will not let you set a price that results in negative royalties, so you will be forced to price above printing cost anyway
- The eBook is almost always cheaper than the print version by a significant margin, and this is expected by buyers — do not try to price them close together as a strategy to push readers toward print
Visibility and Discovery on Amazon
Publishing both formats does not double your visibility — but it does provide a few meaningful advantages:
- Both formats appear on the same Amazon product page (linked via KDP), so a reader who lands on either version can see and switch to the other format easily
- Having a paperback edition available makes the book feel more established — some readers use the existence of a print edition as a quality signal
- Paperbacks can be sold through channels other than Amazon (IngramSpark expanded distribution, author direct sales, local bookstores) — eBooks are Kindle-exclusive when enrolled in KDP Select
- Some Amazon categories have separate bestseller rankings for Kindle vs print, giving you two opportunities to rank rather than one
KDP Select and eBook Exclusivity
KDP Select is Amazon's exclusivity programme for eBooks. Enrolling in KDP Select requires that your eBook is sold exclusively through Amazon (no other online retailers) for 90-day renewable periods. In return, you gain:
- Kindle Unlimited (KU) participation — KU subscribers can read your book for free; you earn per-page-read at a rate that varies monthly (typically around $0.004–$0.005 per page)
- Kindle Countdown Deals (time-limited price promotions with KDP promotion support)
- Free Book Promotions (make your eBook free for up to 5 days per 90-day period)
KDP Select exclusivity applies only to eBooks, not to paperback. You can sell paperbacks anywhere while keeping your eBook in KDP Select.
Whether KDP Select is worth the exclusivity trade-off depends heavily on your genre. Genres with large KU readership bases (romance, science fiction, fantasy, thriller) often see KU page reads that match or exceed direct sales revenue. Genres where KU readership is thin may find the exclusivity constraint more costly than the benefit justifies.
Which Format Works Best by Book Type
| Book Type | Recommended Starting Format | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Fiction novel (genre) | Kindle first, paperback optional | Genre fiction readers are predominantly eBook buyers; Kindle revenue will dominate |
| Short nonfiction (<150 pages) | Kindle only or Kindle + paperback | Print royalties on short books are thin after printing costs; eBook economics are stronger |
| Business / strategy book | Both simultaneously | Business readers split reasonably evenly; print lends credibility for gifting and office use |
| How-to / instructional with visuals | Paperback primary, Kindle secondary | Images and layout often work better in print; readers may reference while doing the activity |
| Children's book | Paperback primary | Illustrated children's books are primarily a print market; Kindle format for illustrated books has limitations |
| Cookbook or reference | Paperback primary | Readers use these physically at a desk or in a kitchen; eBook use is secondary |
The Case for Publishing Both
For most books, publishing both Kindle and paperback is the right long-term decision — even if you launch with just one format. The reasons:
- Some readers will only buy in their preferred format, so excluding either format is excluding a segment of your potential audience
- The paperback edition creates a physical artifact that some readers value for gifting, sharing, or display — use cases that eBooks cannot serve
- Having a print edition available opens distribution channels outside Amazon that eBooks cannot access
- The incremental effort of adding a paperback edition after the eBook is live is smaller than doing both simultaneously
The most common practical approach: launch the Kindle version first, especially if you are in a genre where eBook is dominant. Get the book earning, accumulate reviews, refine the description and cover based on early data. Then add the paperback edition within the first three to six months.
For everything that goes into launching a book once both formats are ready, the guide on how to launch a KDP book covers the full launch sequence from pre-launch through to post-launch review campaigns.
I write book descriptions and back cover copy that work in both Kindle and print contexts — clear, compelling, and built around your genre's specific reader expectations.