Lulu vs KDP Print for Paperbacks

The Short Answer

Use KDP Print to sell your paperback on Amazon. Use Lulu when you want to sell print books from your own website, need a format KDP does not offer, such as coil binding or a dust-jacket hardcover, or want to sell through Lulu's own bookstore. Many authors use both: KDP for Amazon, Lulu for everything Amazon does not do well.

The two services overlap less than they seem. KDP is built around Amazon's store and its readers. Lulu is built around flexible printing, a wide choice of formats and selling direct to readers you bring yourself. Knowing which of those you need makes the decision easy.

Side by Side

How KDP Print Pays

On Amazon.com, KDP pays 60% of your list price minus the printing cost when the paperback is priced at $9.99 or more, and 50% minus printing below that. Printing for a black-and-white paperback at a standard trim size costs $1.00 plus $0.012 per page once the book passes 110 pages.

For a 200-page paperback, that printing cost is $3.40. At a list price of $14.99, 60% is about $8.99, so you earn roughly $5.59 per copy sold on Amazon.com.

Through Expanded Distribution to other retailers and libraries, KDP pays 40% of list price minus printing, so the same book would earn about $2.60.

How Lulu Pays

Lulu's revenue model is a profit split. For a print book sold on the Lulu Bookstore, the retail price minus the printing cost gives the gross profit, and you receive 80% of it while Lulu keeps 20%. For ebooks on the Lulu Bookstore, the split is 90% to you.

Lulu's own example uses a US Trade paperback with a printing cost of $5.54 and a retail price of $11.99. The gross profit is $6.45, and your 80% share is about $5.16.

Through Lulu's Global Distribution to other retailers, the retailer takes a fee of 50% of the retail price on print books before the split, so profits outside Lulu's own store are much lower. Ebooks sent into Global Distribution carry a one-time $4.99 submission fee per new ebook.

Selling on Amazon

For Amazon sales, KDP is almost always the better route, especially for a first book. You list directly, control your Amazon product page, link your paperback to your Kindle ebook and keep a much larger share than any distributor can offer.

Lulu can reach Amazon through Global Distribution, but the 50% retailer fee leaves far less per copy. Most authors who use Lulu still publish on KDP for Amazon itself.

Selling Direct From Your Own Website

This is where Lulu stands out. Lulu Direct connects to e-commerce platforms such as Shopify and WooCommerce, so when a reader buys a print book on your website, Lulu prints and ships it automatically. You set your price, keep the customer relationship and build an email list from every buyer.

KDP is not designed for this. Readers who buy your KDP paperback buy it on Amazon, and Amazon keeps the customer data.

Selling direct suits authors with an audience, such as coaches, speakers, course creators and authors with active newsletters. It is also useful for signed or special editions and for bundles with workbooks or courses. Every direct sale gives you a buyer you can thank, follow up with and invite to your next book.

Author Copies, Shipping and Events

Both services let you order copies of your own book for events, signings and giveaways. On KDP, author copies cost the printing price plus shipping and taxes, which makes them an inexpensive way to stock a book table. Lulu also lets you order your own copies, which is handy when you need a format only Lulu prints, such as a coil-bound workbook for a workshop.

When readers buy from the Lulu Bookstore, they pay shipping at checkout, so it does not come out of your earnings. On Amazon, shipping is part of the reader's Amazon order and does not affect your royalty either.

For speakers and trainers, the practical question is often which printer delivers reliably to the places you work. Order a small test batch before an important event, and allow extra time for delivery.

What About Ebooks?

KDP is the standard route for Kindle ebooks, paying 70% of the list price from $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com, minus a small delivery cost, and 35% outside that range. Lulu sells ebooks on its own bookstore with 90% of the profit going to you, and can send them to other stores through Global Distribution after a one-time $4.99 submission fee per new ebook.

Most authors keep their Kindle edition on KDP and use a dedicated ebook distributor for other stores, treating Lulu mainly as a print and direct-sales partner.

Print Formats and Special Bindings

KDP prints paperbacks and case laminate hardcovers, which suit most trade books. Lulu offers a wider range, including coil-bound books that lie flat, saddle-stitched booklets and hardcovers with dust jackets.

Those extra formats matter for certain books:

• Workbooks, cookbooks and planners that need to lie flat on a desk or counter benefit from coil binding.
• Short booklets and guides work well saddle-stitched, like a magazine or program.
• Gift books, memoirs and premium editions look the part with a dust jacket.

If you are producing a workbook, our guide to formatting workbooks, journals and planners covers the interior setup.

Using Both

A combined setup is common and straightforward:

1. Publish your paperback on KDP for Amazon, and consider leaving Expanded Distribution off if you use another distributor.
2. Set up the same book on Lulu for direct sales through Lulu Direct, or for formats KDP does not offer.
3. Keep the list price consistent where the same edition appears in more than one place.
4. Use a different ISBN for a genuinely different edition, such as a coil-bound workbook or a dust-jacket hardcover.
5. Order printed proofs from each printer, since paper, color and cover finish can differ noticeably between them.

Which Should You Pick?

Frequently Asked Questions