A Hard Look at Kindle Unlimited Payouts
I did the math, so you don't have to...
WARNING! NUMBERS!
There’s a lot to consider when deciding whether to keep your books exclusive to Amazon or explore the wild, wide world of other distributors. Since that topic deserves a post of its own, I’ll save it for another day. For now, let’s focus on the numbers.
To calculate how many Kindle Unlimited (KU) pages read are required to match the 70% royalty from a standard ebook sale, we need to compare the payouts. Here's how it works:
Key Variables
Amazon 70% Royalty Program:
Authors earn 70% of the list price of their ebook (minus delivery costs, which are typically minimal).
Example: If the ebook is priced at $3.99, the author earns:
$3.99 × 70% = $2.79.
Kindle Unlimited Payment Per Page Read (KENP):
Authors in Kindle Unlimited are paid based on the KDP Select Global Fund, which varies monthly.
The KENP rate fluctuates but is often around $0.0045 to $0.005 per page.
Example: $0.005 per page is the most common recent rate.
Example Calculation
For a $3.99 ebook:
Royalty = $2.79.
KENP rate = $0.005 per page.
Pages Needed (KENP)=2.790.005=558 pages read.\text{Pages Needed (KENP)} = \frac{2.79}{0.005} = 558 \, \text{pages read}.Pages Needed (KENP)=0.0052.79=558pages read.
Approximate Pages for Common Price Points
Ebook Price
70% Royalty
Pages Needed (KENP) (at $0.005/page)
$2.99
$2.09
418 pages
$3.99
$2.79
558 pages
$4.99
$3.49
698 pages
$5.99
$4.19
838 pages
Key Considerations
KENP Adjustments: The KENP rate varies slightly each month, so the pages needed can fluctuate.
Book Length: Shorter books may perform better under the royalty system, while longer books can benefit more from KU if readers finish them.
KU Reader Behavior: Not all readers finish books in KU, so the total pages read may not match the book's full KENP count.
If your book is long (e.g., 300+ pages in print), KU can be highly lucrative for page reads, but shorter books might fare better with outright royalties from sales.
Good info. Thanks!