Here is a comparison chart of royalties paid to self-published authors by the major ebook stores. Please keep in mind that ebook stores sometimes change their royalty rates on ebooks and I will edit this page as time goes on to reflect those changes.
Amazon, for example, were previously paying 35% royalties across the board. Then around the time that Apple released the iPad and offered 70% royalties to publishers Amazon introduced their 70% royalty option for some ebooks.
The ebook royalties shown in the chart below are the percentage paid to the publisher – so if you are self-publishing that means you. If you have a publisher then this is likely to be the percentage paid to them and your earnings will depend upon your agreement with your publisher.
The information in the chart above is based on your publishing directly to each store. If you publish to any stores via an ebook aggregator such as Smashwords then your royalties for those stores will be different. I have covered ebook aggregator charges on a separate page.
Notes
1. To qualify for Amazon’s 70% royalty option:
- Your ebook must be priced between $2.99 and $9.99.
- Your ebook price must be at least 20 percent lower than the lowest list price for the print version of your ebook, if any.
- The purchasing customer must be in one of the following countries, currently Austria, Canada, Great Britain, Guernsey, Germany, Isle of Man, Jersey, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.
- If your ebook is discounted, for example to match the price of your ebook at another store or to match a discounted print price, you will receive 70% of the sale price, not list price.
- A delivery fee of $0.15 per megabyte applies to ebooks under the 70% royalty option, e.g. an ebook of 400Kb will be charged a delivery fee of $0.06 before the royalty percentage is applied.
2. Amazon will pay by check mailed approximately 60 days following the end of the calendar month during which the sales occurred (minimum $100/£100/€100).
3. Apple does not pay publishers until they meet certain payment requirements and earning thresholds, which vary by territory. For that reason If you are a small publisher you might get paid faster if you go via an ebook aggregator.
4. Sony: (Edited) Sony do not allow indie authors to publish directly. You need to go through an Aggregator. If you publish to Sony via Smashwords your royalty will be 60%.
About the Author
Gary McLaren is the author of “The Indie Author’s Guide to Publishing Ebooks” a 200+ page guide to publishing your ebooks at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBookstore and more. It is available for download here.
Hey thanks for the info. It’s helpful to acquire the knowledge through your emails. Less digging on our part.
Thanks for the chart, looking forward to aggregators post!
Sony does not enter into agreements with self publishers. Instead, they direct the self-published author to go through either Smashwords or Author Solutions, both of which have distribution agreements with Sony’s ReaderStore.
This is very helpful + useful information to find in one place. The more I read about self-publishing ebooks and the myriad of information one needs to navigate the maze, the more I feel like Alice in Blunderland.
This is great information for those of us who want to publish. I am looking forward to the ebook aggregator charges page.
Hi Donna, thanks for your comment. I’ve edited the article above to include the link to the information on ebook aggregators.
I agree w/CJ’s comment. the more I find out, the more I need to know. Yeow. Is there no end?
Gray Roman
Your charts are excellent and most sites do not give you the real cost for publishing. For hard cover publishing Lulu.com provides a calculator but fails to include shipping costs which can greatly impact the cost per book. Not so with ebooks. Richard
I have to agree that self publishing is not for the faint of heart. It’s enormously difficult to wade through the formats, readers, Terms of Service (my cerebral cortex may never recover), royalties, costs and services of the aggregators and direct publishers, etc. It might get better in the future as the industry matures, but right now it’s like the early days in the wild west. I find it helpful to keep a spirit of adventure and a sense of humour.
I like the Ebook royalties section because I can us that, along with other articles, in my Internet Seminars I give for Authors.
“Writing & the Web – 2011″ has acknowledgment pages after the 25 chapters from all the sites I received articles and info. I have over 2000 sites listed and over 100 published articles for the writers who come to enhance their “Netiquette” knowledge. The seminar book is at present being made into an Ebook and will be on sale later this year at Amazon, etc.
I use your articles to better inform myself of our ever changing careers.
Questions arise in regard to authors living outside of USA. Apparently there is also the hidden fee of the usa tax dept. 30 per cent that is. Im wondering if one wanted to waiver that thirty per cent and donate it to a usa charity if all the funds in full could actually go to the charity. mmmnn?
This might be a stupid question but I was wondering if you can publish with each company, or if by publishing with one you relinquish your rights?
I was also wondering, if I self publish as an e-book cam I seek publication from a publishing house for the same title? Let’s say if I had an offer from an agent to push my book.
Hi James, it’s a good question. The major ebook stores have non-exclusive agreements so you can publish to each one without any problems. In terms of starting with self-publishing ebooks then following that with a publishing deal, this is something that is happening more often now. Here is a post on that topic you might find interesting.
That’s a handy comparison chart. As others have said, it’s not for the faint-hearted, but from everything I’ve read, the rewards of immediate access to your audience (coupled with a proper marketing campaign) are worth the minefield.
Thanks for the post.