---
title: "KDP Printing Cost: How It Is Calculated"
description: "How KDP calculates the printing cost of a paperback from page count, trim and ink, the flat-fee band, and how the cost comes out of your royalty."
url: "https://www.superebook.ai/glossary/printing-cost"
updated: "2026-10-20"
---

# Printing cost

**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 October 20, 2026. Figures: KDP's Amazon.com paperback printing costs, as of October 19, 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.

## Questions

**Do I pay KDP to print my books?** Not upfront for copies sold to customers. KDP deducts the printing cost from each sale's royalty, so it only applies when a copy is ordered.

**Does a shorter book always cost less to print?** Only above the flat band. Every black-ink paperback of 24 to 110 pages costs the same to print on Amazon.com, so cutting pages inside that band saves nothing.

## Sources

- [KDP: Paperback Printing Cost](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201834340): The formula, the flat band for black-ink paperbacks on Amazon.com and Amazon.com.au, regular and large trim figures and the 300-page example.
- [KDP: Paperback Royalty](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201834330): Royalty as rate times list price less printing costs, and the factors printing cost depends on.

## Related terms

- [Large trim](https://www.superebook.ai/glossary/large-trim.md)
- [List price](https://www.superebook.ai/glossary/list-price.md)
- [Trim size](https://www.superebook.ai/glossary/trim-size.md)
- [Expanded Distribution](https://www.superebook.ai/glossary/expanded-distribution.md)

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- [Self-publishing cost calculator](https://www.superebook.ai/tools/self-publishing-cost-calculator.md)
- [Ebook pricing: how to reason about the price](https://www.superebook.ai/guides/ebook-pricing-strategy.md)
- [Word count to pages converter](https://www.superebook.ai/tools/word-count-to-pages-converter.md)
- [All glossary terms](https://www.superebook.ai/glossary.md)