Guides
Ebook pricing strategy for self-publishers
Ebook pricing is not about what the book is worth to you. It is about three constraints: what Amazon pays at each price, what readers in your category expect to pay, and what you want from this title, income or readers. Get those three right and the number falls out.
Constraint 1: the royalty bands
Between $2.99 and $9.99 Amazon pays 70% (minus a small delivery cost). Outside that band, 35%. So $2.99 earns more than $2.49, and $9.99 earns more than $12.99. Unless you have a strong reason, price inside the band.
Constraint 2: category expectations
Browse the top 20 in your category and note the prices. Short non-fiction guides cluster at $2.99 to $5.99; professional and technical guides at $6.99 to $9.99; novellas at $0.99 to $2.99; workbooks a notch above guides because readers use them. Pricing far above the cluster needs reviews to justify it; far below signals low quality.
Constraint 3: your goal
- Income: top of the category range, in the 70% band.
- Readers and reviews: bottom of the range, or a $0.99 launch for a week or two, then up.
- Funnel (the book sells a service): $0.99 to $2.99, or free with KDP Select promotions; the book is marketing.
- Kindle Unlimited: price matters less; page reads pay. Keep it at $2.99 or above for non-subscribers.
Change the price on purpose
Prices are not permanent. Launch low, raise after reviews, drop for a promotion, raise again. Every change takes effect within hours. Track sales per week, not per day, and change one thing at a time.
Other stores
On Gumroad, Payhip or Etsy, where you keep 85% to 95%, the same guide sells at $7 to $27 because the buyer came from your audience, not from browsing. Same book, two prices, two contexts; nobody minds.
Frequently asked questions
Is $0.99 a good permanent price?
No. It pays 35 cents per copy and signals low quality. Use it as a launch or promotion price only.
Should I price differently by country?
KDP converts automatically, but the 70% band differs per marketplace. If a marketplace matters, set its price by hand inside its band.
What about free?
Free days through KDP Select or a permanently free book at the start of a series are effective for fiction. For non-fiction, a free book on your own site as a lead magnet works better than free on Amazon.
How do I know if my price is wrong?
Sales without reviews suggest too low or a category mismatch; views without sales suggest too high or a weak sample. Change one thing and wait two weeks.