How to Publish Your Book to Amazon Pt. 3: Pricing

Pricing Your Self-Published Book: Strategies That Drive Sales and Build Credibility

Good morning Mini Book Masters,

It is Mini Book Monday, which means it is time for our weekly deep dive.

This week I continue the much requested series “Publishing to Amazon”. Today is Part 3: Pricing.

(This is a chapter from my upcoming book, Dam the Amazon: How to Self-Publish Your Book and Generate Demand for Your Business Using the Largest Bookstore in the World)

The previous two posts in this series are below.

Publishing to Amazon Part 1: Metadata

Publishing to Amazon Part 2: Content

Let’s get into it!

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Pricing

The right pricing strategy is how you sell books and get reviews, even as an unknown author.

New authors tend to struggle with knowing how to price their books. Book pricing isn't something you do once and then leave alone. It is a foundation for your marketing strategy as a self-published author.

I'll discuss here how the pricing works on KDP and some strategies that you can use.

KDP Select (Kindle Unlimited)

Amazon has a marketing program for authors called KDP Select.

Amazon designed this program to help authors sell more books. This also helps Amazon maintain its position as the largest bookstore in the world. At the top of your ebook pricing page, you have the option to enroll your book in KDP Select.

Before we get into pricing or whether you should enroll, let's understand KDP Select.

How It Works

If your book is a part of the KDP Select program, readers can borrow your book with their Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Kindle Unlimited allows readers to borrow unlimited books, 20 at a time, for $11.99 a month. This isn't included with Amazon Prime; it is in addition to that. Kindle Unlimited subscribers are often voracious readers who consume a lot of books. They tend to avoid paying for books outside of Kindle Unlimited, meaning you can reach readers you might otherwise miss.

Amazon doesn’t pay authors the full royalty when a book is borrowed. Instead of paying per book, Amazon pays you based on the number of pages read. The payout amount varies each month but is typically around $0.0045 per page.

The main benefit is that each borrow is counted as a sale, which improves your Amazon rankings.

Eligibility

Not anyone can qualify to be in the KDP Select program.

The basic requirements are:

• Price must be between $0.99 – $9.99

• Your book must be exclusive to Amazon (for the 90 days of enrollment)

By selecting the checkbox of enrolling in the KDP Select program on the pricing page, you are agreeing to only publish your book to Amazon for the next 90 days.

Perks

The KDP Select program can help you sell more books than if you just publish to Amazon.

This marketing suite includes:

• Included in the Kindle Unlimited Library: Readers can borrow your book from the Kindle Unlimited library.

• Countdown Deals: A limited-time discount where you still earn your full 70% royalty off the sale price.

• Free Book Promotions: You can offer your book for free for up to 5 days during each 90-day enrollment period.

• Higher Visibility: Books enrolled in KDP Select are often given higher visibility in Amazon’s search results and recommendations.

It is important to note that you can only do a Countdown Deal or a Free Book Promotion for 5 of the 90 days of your enrollment period.

I'll discuss my thoughts on whether you should enroll in the KDP Select program in the Pricing Strategies section of this chapter.

Royalties

Royalties are what you earn from book sales.

Amazon creates and distributes the book, so they get to keep the costs associated with its creation. Plus, they keep a percentage of the sale as the distribution platform and publisher. There isn't a lot of complicated math in self-publishing, but this is one you’ll want to understand.

You want it to make dollars and sense to you.

Understanding how royalties work helps set a pricing strategy that aligns with your goals as a self-published author on Amazon.

Amazon offers two royalty options for ebooks: 35% and 70%.

The 35% royalty option applies to books priced below $2.99 and above $9.99, while the 70% option is for books priced between $2.99 and $9.99.

There is a delivery fee that is deducted before the 70% royalty is calculated, based on the file size of your ebook. The 70% royalty option tends to be the best choice for most authors.

An exception to the royalty structure applies during Countdown Deals (if you're in KDP Select), allowing you to earn 70% even if your price is under $2.99 for those 5 days.

Kindle Unlimited

When a reader borrows your book through Kindle Unlimited, you earn royalties based on pages read.

Instead of a set amount per book, Amazon pays you approximately $0.0045 for each page that readers complete. This royalty comes from a monthly global fund, which varies slightly each month depending on the total number of pages read across all books.

Your earnings depend on how engaging your content is, as the more pages read, the more you earn.

The Kindle Unlimited program rewards authors for keeping readers engaged and enrolled in KU (Kindle Unlimited). So, writing engaging content not only entertains your audience but also helps maximize your earnings. The more compelling your content is, the more pages will be read, leading to higher royalties.

By keeping readers hooked, you ensure that every page they read contributes to your success.

Pricing Strategies

You can make money in lots of different ways with books.

Your pricing strategy should reflect your strategy for your business. Royalties from your book are a great way to offset advertising costs, especially if the book acts as a lead magnet or entry-level product for your business. It is the best salesperson in the world, and it never sleeps.

Let’s look at some different strategies you can use to help you decide how to price your book.

Free

Offering your book for free is a smart strategy when it acts as the first step in a sales funnel and you have back-end products to sell.

I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. Imagine thousands of people downloading your book and now looking at you as an industry leader in your niche. You can’t buy that kind of credibility, but you can create it by writing a book. Giving it away makes it easier to get people to see you as an industry leader because they aren’t held back by price.

When you give your book away for free, it is called making your book permafree (permanently free).

The catch is, Amazon won’t let you just “give away” your book. You have to publish your book to other bookstores and price it for $0.00. Amazon will then do a price match—sometimes you must request it. I recommend Draft2Digital, a bookstore aggregator, which helps distribute your book to major online stores like Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple, and more.

Free is a great strategy if you are new and have a product you are selling on the back end and your book is the beginning of that funnel.

Premium

You can also price your books as a premium product.

My insurance adjuster books are priced at the highest they can be and earn 70% commissions, $9.99. The reason I don’t make the digital versions more expensive is because I’ll only earn 35% if I go higher. To make more money, I must price my book at $19.98 or double the price just to make the same amount.

So, a premium ebook price is normally $9.99.

This approach is effective in micro niches, such as independent auto adjusting, or any niche where the market is underserved or your book helps readers make a lot of money. You won’t be selling to the masses, but you are selling and earning a healthy commission to each person in your niche. Setting your price at $9.99 also allows you to run specials for a limited time that really motivate people to buy.

Kindle Unlimited

Enrolling in Kindle Unlimited gives you a little bit of all the pricing strategies.

You can price as low as $0.99 and as high as $9.99. Your book is “given” away for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers, and you can use 5 true “giveaway days” during each 90-day enrollment period.

There are so many different strategies you can employ with Kindle Unlimited.

For most first-time authors, I believe it is a good idea to enroll in KDP Select in the first 90 days.

It lowers the barriers for readers to find your book. It gives you a few marketing options without being overwhelming. Then at the end of 90 days, you can add it to the other bookstores and change it up.

But it all depends on what your hope is for your book.

If you are looking for revenue from the book and you are in an underserved niche, price high and sell something on the back end.

If you are looking for more credibility and authority, give away your book to as many people as possible, get a ton of reviews, and go permafree to start. (It isn’t really permanent.)

If you have a series of books, you can price the first book free, the second at $0.99, and the rest at higher prices. This can help you hook readers into your series and then make money as they read through.

This isn’t a one-size-fits-all conversation—mix and match, try different things.