How Much Does KDP Charge to Print a Paperback? (2026 Costs)

Before you price a paperback on KDP, you need one number: what Amazon charges to print each copy. It is taken out of every sale, it sets the lowest price KDP will let you choose, and it changes a lot with page count, ink and trim size. Here are the 2026 Amazon.com figures and how to use them.

In short: a black-ink paperback up to 110 pages costs $2.30 to print at a regular trim size; above that it is $1.00 plus $0.012 a page. Large trims, standard colour and premium colour cost more per page. Your lowest list price is the point where your royalty share just covers printing. Run your own book through the free KDP royalty calculator to see printing cost, royalty and the lowest price together.

How KDP works out printing cost

Printing cost is a fixed charge per book plus a charge per page. Both depend on two choices you make when you set up the paperback:

• Ink: black, standard colour or premium colour.
• Trim size: regular (up to 6.12 × 9 inches) or large (anything wider or taller, such as 8.5 × 11 inches).

These are Amazon.com rates in US dollars. Other marketplaces have their own figures, and Amazon can change them, so check your KDP dashboard before you rely on a number.

Printing cost by page count

The same formula gives these costs per copy:

Two things stand out. Black ink is cheap enough that page count matters less than you might expect: doubling a black book from 150 to 300 pages adds $1.80. Colour is a different story: a 200-page premium colour book costs more to print than many readers expect to pay for the whole book.

How printing cost sets your lowest list price

On Amazon.com, KDP pays 60% of the list price from $9.99, or 50% below $9.99, and then takes printing out of that share. Your royalty is:

royalty = list price × rate − printing cost

KDP will not let the royalty go below zero, so the lowest list price is where your share just covers printing. Below $9.99 that is printing cost ÷ 0.5:

• 150 pages, black, 6 × 9 in: $2.80 to print → lowest price $5.60.
• 300 pages, black, 6 × 9 in: $4.60 to print → lowest price $9.20.
• 100 pages, premium colour, 6 × 9 in: $7.50 to print → lowest price $12.50 (at 60%, because it is above $9.99).

The royalty calculator works this out for any page count, and the change at $9.99 is explained in KDP paperback royalties and the 50% rule.

Ways to keep printing cost down

• Choose black ink if colour is not essential. Puzzle books, journals and most workbooks print well in black.
• Use a regular trim if the content fits. A 6 × 9 in book costs less per page than an 8.5 × 11 in one. Our trim size guide and trim size for puzzle books cover the trade-offs.
• Check the page count after layout. Blank pages at the end add to the cost. Every page counts, including answer pages.
• Stay in the flat band where it makes sense. Black books up to 110 pages all cost the same to print, so a 90-page book and a 110-page book cost the same.

Fewer pages is not always better: a puzzle book with too few puzzles can feel thin for its price. Decide on content first, then use the numbers to choose ink and trim.

Use it as a book price calculator

Work backwards from the royalty you want per copy. Enter page count, ink and trim in the royalty calculator, then raise the list price until the royalty shows the figure you are after, and compare it with what similar books sell for. Remember that these are per-copy numbers: they tell you what a sale is worth, not how many copies will sell.

While you are setting up the paperback, the spine width calculator gives the full cover size for the same page count.