First off: it’s okay. Amazon did change something. And yes, it affects royalties. But before you delete your KDP account and flee to the woods, let’s walk through it together.
Full credit goes to the brilliant team at Atticus for flagging this. They sent out a heads-up email that nudged me to dig a little deeper—and I’m so glad they did. If you’re using Atticus already (you might remember me highlighting it in this post), you’ll know they’re all about making life easier for indie authors. This is one more example of that in action.
Because here’s the truth: indie publishing is full of moving parts. Sometimes they shift. And when they do, the best thing we can do is breathe, adapt, and keep going—with knowledge on our side (and, ideally, coffee and snacks within reach).
As of 10th June 2025, Amazon KDP updated its royalty structure for paperback and hardcover books.
The key change? If your print book is priced below a certain threshold (e.g. $9.99 in the US, £7.99 in the UK, and similar in other regions), your royalty drops from 60% to 50%.
This doesn’t affect:
eBooks (still 70% in most cases)
Print books above the new pricing threshold
Print books sold via expanded distribution
Amazon has also reduced colour printing costs in many marketplaces, which is good news if you use colour interiors. But the royalty drop is what’s catching people off guard—especially if your book was already hovering near the minimum pricing floor.
Let’s say you priced your 300-page paperback at $8.99.
Under the old royalty system (60%), you might have earned around $0.30–$0.40 per book—not much, but something.
Under the new 50% model, with the same printing cost, you could now earn zero. Literally nothing. And Amazon still gets paid. (Yep. I pulled that face too.)
So… if you have lower-priced print books, especially in genres like middle grade or poetry where page count and price is tricky to balance, you might want to check your titles.
This isn’t the end of indie publishing. But it is one of those moments where we have to pause and make smart decisions. The good news? As an indie author you are still in charge of your books.
So here’s what I’m doing…
[ ] Log into your KDP dashboard and check for any royalty warnings/alerts. Amazon helpfully tells you the books that are affected by this change. Here’s what it looks like:
[ ] Use the KDP Print Pricing Calculator to test your prices and see what you’re earning now
[ ] Adjust the pricing of affected books to meet the new 60% royalty threshold (e.g. $9.99 in the US, £7.99 in the UK)
[ ] Consider whether you want to experiment with colour printing—the reduced cost may make this worthwhile
[ ] Revisit your trim size and page count—a smaller trim size = more pages = higher print cost, so tweaking this can help keep your price/royalty balance in check
[ ] Think about going wide, look at options like Draft2Digital or IngramSpark for more control and potentially better margins
[ ] Keep calm and carry on writing—this isn’t a reason to stop. Just a reason to stay informed.
The world of indie publishing will keep evolving. Platforms change. Royalties fluctuate. But your story? Your voice? That’s the bit we mustn’t let get shaken by royalty maths.
So if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by the logistics, you’re not alone. But I promise you’re still doing something remarkable. Keep going - you've got this.
Michelle 💙
P.S. For more on the Amazon changes, read the KDP official update article and Atticus’ take on the update
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