Updated April 2026
Select your genre, format, and page count. Get a recommended price range based on market data and your printing costs.
The recommended paperback midpoint below updates with your genre and page count.
Based on bestselling indie titles across major retailers as of 2026.
| Genre | Ebook | Paperback | Hardcover | Notes |
|---|
The "right" price for your book depends on more than genre conventions. Your pricing is a signal — it tells readers what kind of book this is before they read a word.
Pricing at $0.99 seems logical for a debut. More buyers, more visibility, right? In practice, $0.99 ebooks attract impulse downloaders who never read past chapter one. Your read-through to Book 2 will be abysmal. And on Amazon, $0.99 ebooks earn only 35% royalty ($0.35) instead of the 70% you get at $2.99+ ($2.09+).
Use $0.99 as a temporary promotional price, not your permanent price. A one-week $0.99 sale paired with an email blast (BookBub, Freebooksy, etc.) drives visibility without anchoring your book's perceived value at $0.99 forever.
On Amazon, you need to price ebooks at $2.99-$9.99 to qualify for 70% royalties. Below $2.99, you drop to 35%. Above $9.99, same. That pricing band constrains your strategy.
Selling direct through Books.by, you keep 100% of your list price minus standard credit card processing (2.9% + $0.30). A $4.99 ebook nets you $4.55 instead of Amazon's $3.49. A $14.99 paperback nets you $8-9 instead of $2-4. That margin difference lets you price more competitively while earning more.
Model your specific numbers with our royalty calculator. See how page count affects print cost with the page count calculator.
Fiction readers buy by volume — 5-10 books a month for voracious readers. They're price-sensitive because each book is one of many. Nonfiction readers buy by need — 1-3 books on a specific topic. They'll pay more because the book solves a problem. A $14.99 ebook on tax strategy for freelancers is cheap compared to hiring an accountant.
You picked a price. Now the question is who gets to keep it. On Amazon, ~56% goes to the platform. On Books.by, ~3% goes to Stripe. The rest is yours.
Books.by is a flat-fee direct-sales platform. The price you set is what readers pay, and what readers pay is what you keep (minus print cost and standard card processing). No 30%/40%/55% commission cuts hiding in the math.
You also escape Amazon's $2.99–$9.99 ebook pricing trap. Want to charge $4.99 for a novella, $14.99 for a long fantasy, or $29.99 for a textbook ebook? Books.by pays you the same percentage at every price point. Set the price the market will bear, not the price your platform forces.
Books.by takes 0% commission. Whatever you charge, minus print and card fees, lands in your account. $99/yr, 100-day money-back guarantee.
Start Your Books.by Store — $99/yr →Once you know your price, the margin matters. Books.by gives you the storefront, checkout, real-time royalties, and daily payouts without taking a commission from each sale.
100-day money-back guarantee · Cancel anytime
You picked a market-fit price. Books.by helps you sell direct at that price and keep everything above print cost, with no platform commission.
Zero platform commission · Daily payouts · 100-day money-back guarantee
