Printing cost Defined.
Definition
Printing cost is what KDP deducts from a paperback's royalty to manufacture each copy. For a black-ink paperback sold on Amazon.com, books of 24 to 110 pages pay a flat fee, $2.30 regular trim or $2.84 large trim; longer books pay a fixed $1.00 plus $0.012 a page in regular trim, or $0.017 in large.
Sources checked 20 October 2026. Figures: KDP's Amazon.com paperback printing costs, as of 19 October 2026; KDP's paperback royalty rates, trim classes and spine figures, as of October 2026.
How it works
KDP's formula is fixed cost plus page count times the per-page cost, with the figures set by trim size, page count, ink type and the marketplace the copy is ordered from; color ink costs more than black. You never pay it upfront: KDP takes it out of each sale, so the paperback royalty is the rate times the list price, less printing cost. On Amazon.com.au the flat band covers 24 to 108 pages. Printing cost also sets the lowest list price KDP accepts, since the royalty can't go below zero.
An example
KDP's own example is a 300-page black-ink paperback in a regular trim, which costs $4.60 to print on Amazon.com. A 200-page book in the same trim costs $3.40; at a 50% royalty rate it needs a list price of at least $6.80 just to cover printing.
Common mistakes
Pricing a paperback from the ebook's price, without subtracting printing cost first. Adding filler pages to look substantial, when every page past the flat band costs money on every copy. And forgetting that a large trim or color interior raises the cost of every sale, not just the first.
