I Gave You Outdated KDP Pricing Advice
Here’s the Correct 70% Royalty Rule for 2026
I need to correct something.
If you’ve heard me say that a Kindle eBook has to be priced between $2.99 and $9.99 to qualify for Amazon KDP’s 70% royalty option, that information is now outdated.
For years, it was correct.
It isn’t anymore.
I felt the need to keep you guys updated rather than just assuming you are aware.
Amazon changed the rule on July 7, 2026, and it creates a little more room for authors who want to charge more for their Kindle books without automatically dropping to the 35% royalty option.
The new maximum is $12.99.
I went back to Amazon’s current KDP documentation to make sure I wasn’t simply repeating another piece of publishing advice that had been copied from one blog to another.
Here’s what Amazon actually says now.
The New 70% Royalty Price Range
On Amazon.com, the price range for the 70% Kindle royalty option is now:
$2.99 to $12.99.
Before July 7, 2026, the top limit was $9.99.
Amazon kept the lower limit at $2.99 and raised the upper limit by $3.
So an eligible Kindle book priced at $10.99 can now qualify for the 70% royalty option.
So can $11.99.
And yes, $12.99 too.
That might not sound like a big change, but it matters if you have books that already sit close to the old $9.99 limit.
But This Does Not Mean $12.99 Is the Best Price
This is where I think some publishers could get the wrong idea.
Amazon is not saying:
“You should price your Kindle book at $12.99.”
Amazon is only saying that $12.99 can now fall inside the 70% royalty range.
Those are two very different things.
If your book is selling well at $4.99, I would not suddenly change it to $12.99 because of this update.
Your readers still decide whether the price makes sense.
And that depends heavily on the book.
A short fiction book may have a completely different price expectation from a detailed business guide, technical book, or long how-to book.
So I see this change as extra room to test.
Nothing more.
There Are Still Other Conditions
There is another part of this rule that is easy to miss.
Just because your book is priced between $2.99 and $12.99 does not mean every sale will automatically earn 70%.
Amazon still has other conditions.
Delivery costs can be taken out when the 70% royalty is calculated.
The 70% option also only applies to eligible sales in certain territories.
And in Brazil, India, Japan, and Mexico, Amazon says the book must be enrolled in KDP Select to qualify for the 70% rate on sales there.
There is also a rule involving your paperback or hardcover.
If you choose the 70% royalty option, Amazon says the Kindle price must be at least 20% lower than the Amazon list price of the physical version of the same book.
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So the rule is not simply:
$12.99 = 70%.
There is more to it.
Where This Could Actually Help
I think this change becomes more useful for nonfiction books that were already sitting near $9.99.
Say you have a detailed guide priced at $9.99.
Maybe you have always believed it could sell at $10.99.
Before this change, testing that price meant moving outside the old 70% royalty range.
Now you can test it without doing that.
Maybe $10.99 works better.
Maybe $11.99 works.
Maybe your sales drop and $9.99 was already the better price.
That is exactly why I would test instead of guessing.
Amazon has given publishers more room.
It has not given us proof that higher prices will increase income.
One book would not prove that anyway.
Different niches behave differently.
The Bigger Lesson for Me
What caught my attention most was not even the extra $3.
It was how easy it is to repeat an old KDP rule because you have known it for years.
That is dangerous.
Amazon can change a rule today, while old YouTube videos, blog posts, Facebook comments, and forum answers stay online for years.
Then somebody reads the old advice.
They repeat it.
Another person repeats it.
Before long, everybody is confidently sharing information that is no longer correct.
And in this case, I was doing the same thing.
So this is something I need to be better at.
When I write about KDP pricing, royalties, metadata, categories, KDP Select, AI rules, or anything else Amazon controls, I need to check the current source first.
Even when I think I already know the answer.
Especially then.
The Correct Rule for 2026
So here is the updated version.
On Amazon.com, eligible Kindle eBooks priced between $2.99 and $12.99 can qualify for Amazon KDP’s 70% royalty option.
The old $9.99 maximum is outdated.
Other eligibility rules still apply.
And no, I do not think this means every publisher should rush into KDP and raise prices.
But if you have been keeping a book at $9.99 only because you thought going higher would automatically push you down to 35%, that is worth looking at again.
I gave out the old advice because it used to be correct.
Now it is not.
So I am correcting it.
If you publish on KDP too, follow me here on Medium. I share the Amazon changes I find, the tests I run, and the mistakes I learn from along the way.
