Amazon KDP Alternatives That Pay Higher Royalties

The truth about KDP royalties before you switch

If you are searching for Amazon KDP alternatives that pay higher royalties, start with an honest look at what KDP actually pays. For ebooks, Amazon pays 70 percent only when your book is priced between 2.99 and 9.99 — and even then it subtracts a small per-megabyte delivery fee. Price your book at 99 cents or at 10.99 and your royalty drops to 35 percent. For paperbacks, KDP pays 60 percent of the list price minus the printing cost.

That 70 percent headline looks generous until you notice the fine print. The price cap and the delivery fee are where most authors quietly lose money, and they are exactly where the alternatives below win.

The biggest royalty gain rarely comes from swapping one marketplace for another. It comes from escaping the price cap and, eventually, selling direct to your own readers.

The retailers that pay 70 percent at any price

Three direct retailers beat KDP on math alone because they pay 70 percent regardless of price and charge no delivery fee.

Apple Books pays a flat 70 percent at every price point. A 14.99 non-fiction guide earns you roughly 10.49 on Apple versus about 5.25 on KDP, where that same price falls into the 35 percent band. For higher-priced books, this single difference can double your earnings.

Kobo Writing Life pays 70 percent for books priced 2.99 and up, and 45 percent below that — already better than KDP at the low end. Kobo is also strong internationally, especially in Canada, and its Kobo Plus subscription is a non-exclusive alternative to Kindle Unlimited, so you can earn subscription reads without locking yourself in.

Google Play Books pays 70 percent of your list price worldwide and reaches every Android device on the planet. It is underused by indie authors, which means less competition for visibility.

Going wide without the headache

Uploading to four or five stores by hand is tedious, which is why most authors use an aggregator. Draft2Digital distributes your ebook to Apple, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and more, and takes about 10 percent of what the retailer pays. You net slightly less than going direct to each store, but you save hours and get one dashboard and one payment. PublishDrive and StreetLib work similarly, with PublishDrive using a flat subscription instead of a percentage, which can pay off at higher sales volumes.

The aggregator trade-off is simple: a small cut in exchange for reach and time saved. If you would rather keep that cut, you can open free accounts directly with Apple, Kobo, and Google. Our overview of ebook publishing options walks through both routes in plain language.

Print royalties: where IngramSpark changes the math

For paperbacks and hardcovers, the comparison shifts. KDP print is fast and cheap to produce but only sells on Amazon. IngramSpark distributes to more than 40,000 bookstores, libraries, and online retailers, and crucially lets you set your own wholesale discount, usually between 40 and 55 percent. That control over the discount is control over your margin.

The experienced move is to use both. Publish your paperback on KDP for Amazon orders, and on IngramSpark for everywhere else, including any bookstore that wants to stock you. If you want a printed run for events or direct sales, dedicated print-on-demand and book printing services give you better unit economics than ordering author copies from a retailer one at a time.

The highest-paying option no one calls an alternative

Here is what most guides on this topic get wrong. They list ten retailers and stop, when the route that pays the most is not a retailer at all — it is selling direct to your readers.

With Payhip, Gumroad, or a Shopify store paired with BookFunnel for delivery, you collect the full price and only lose payment processing — roughly 3 to 5 percent plus a small fixed fee — and any platform plan fee. On a 9.99 ebook you keep around 8.50 to 9.00, compared with about 6.93 on KDP after its delivery fee. That is real money on every single sale, and you also capture the reader email address, which retailers never give you.

The catch is honest and worth stating: marketplaces bring you buyers, your own store does not. Direct sales reward authors who have an audience — an email list, a newsletter, a social following — or who are willing to build one. The smartest setup is usually hybrid: stay wide on the retailers for discovery, and push your most loyal readers to your direct store for launches, bundles, and signed editions where you keep nearly everything.

Should you leave KDP Select first?

You cannot go wide on ebooks while enrolled in KDP Select, because Select demands Amazon exclusivity in return for Kindle Unlimited page reads. Before you make the jump, look at your own numbers. If most of your Amazon income is page reads from genre fiction, you may earn more staying in Select for now. If you sell non-fiction, have an email list, or price above 9.99, going wide almost always pays better. There is no universal answer — only your data.

Whatever mix you choose, your royalties only matter if the book sells, which is why pricing strategy and book marketing deserve as much attention as the platform. A 70 percent royalty on a book nobody can find earns nothing.

A simple plan to earn more per book

Put together, the path is clear. Decide whether exclusivity in KDP Select is still earning its keep. If not, go wide through Apple, Kobo, and Google — directly or through Draft2Digital — to escape the price cap and the delivery fee. Add IngramSpark for print so bookstores and libraries can actually order you. Then build a direct store so your best readers can buy from you at the highest margin of all. This is also how you keep full control of your rights and royalties instead of handing them away.

LaunchPad Books helps authors do exactly this — publish, print, and promote your book across every channel that pays well, while you keep every right and every royalty. If you would like a clear, no-pressure walkthrough of the highest-royalty setup for your specific book, start with a free consultation and we will map the platforms, pricing, and distribution that put the most money in your pocket on each sale. Your words are worth more than 35 percent — let us help you keep it.