Pricing engine
One list price, every channel, side by side: what a copy pays you, what a month pays you, where you break even, and the price that makes each channel match.
Best per copy: ZI² Books, sold direct, $12.76 on every $14.99 sale.
Selling through Other ebook stores via a distributor instead would cost you $3.76 per copy, $2,257.37 a year at your volume.
To net the same on the Kindle store you would have to list at $18.76.
What each channel pays
Price ladder
The same book at common price points. The band where the Kindle store pays 70 percent is marked.
| List price (USD) | ZI² Books, sold direct | Kindle store | Other ebook stores via a distributor |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.99 | $0.56 | $0.35 | $0.59 |
| $2.99 | $2.30 | $1.72 · 70% band | $1.79 |
| $4.99 | $4.05 | $3.12 · 70% band | $2.99 |
| $6.99 | $5.79 | $4.52 · 70% band | $4.19 |
| $9.99 | $8.40 | $6.62 · 70% band | $5.99 |
| $12.99 | $11.01 | $4.55 | $7.79 |
| $14.99 | $12.76 | $5.25 | $8.99 |
| $19.99 | $17.11 | $7.00 | $11.99 |
| $24.99 | $21.47 | $8.75 | $14.99 |
A launch that buys rank
Week one at $2.99 lifts rank and reviews; move to $14.99 after. At $2.99 a copy pays you $2.30 here and $1.72 on the Kindle store.
How the numbers are made
- ZI² Books keeps 10% of the price and the card processor keeps 3% + $0.30; the rest is yours the moment the sale clears.
- The Kindle store pays 70 percent between $2.99 and $9.99 minus a delivery charge of $0.15 per megabyte, and 35 percent outside that band.
- Print on demand pays 60 percent of the price minus printing (40 percent through expanded distribution). Printing here is $1.00 plus $0.01 per page.
- Ingram pays the price less your wholesale discount, less printing of $1.90 plus $0.01 per page.
- A distributor passes on about 60 percent of the list price from the other ebook stores.
Rates as of 2026-10; the operator can update them from Site settings. Verify against each channel before you set a price.