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Amazon KDP’s 70% Price Band, Explained (July 2026)
Effective July 7, 2026, the 70% ebook royalty band on Amazon.com runs $2.99–$12.99, up from a $9.99 cap. Amazon does not require authors to change an existing price.
What changed in the KDP 70% ebook price band? Effective July 7, 2026, Amazon expanded the 70% royalty option’s list-price band on Amazon.com from $2.99–$9.99 to $2.99–$12.99, with equivalent changes in other KDP marketplaces. You do not have to change your list price. The price and royalty option already on the book stay as they are unless you edit them.
What changed
For years the 70% option on Amazon.com stopped at a $9.99 list price. Amazon’s help page now says that ceiling is $12.99, effective July 7, 2026. The floor stays $2.99. The 35% royalty option remains available.
Amazon’s own FAQ says the previous $9.99 maximum had been in place since 2007, and that the point of the change is more room inside the 70% option. It also says authors are not required to reprice. An ebook already on 70% can be updated if you want a list price above the old cap and the rest of the 70% rules still apply. An ebook on 35% whose list price sits between $2.99 and $12.99 can be switched to 70% only if it meets the other eligibility requirements on that page. This article is not those requirements. The help page is.
Official source
The record is Amazon’s eBook List Price Requirements, including the “Price Band Changes FAQs” on that page. Read it before you touch a price. If Amazon edits the numbers, the live page wins over this explainer.
Authors selling into the EU should also read How EU Taxes Affect eBooks List Price. VAT can change the customer-facing price that still qualifies for 70%. The U.S. band is not a shortcut around that table.
How this desk treats a KDP change — Amazon’s page first, then a plain-English note — is written up in Where authors get Amazon KDP policy news.
Who it affects
Ebook authors using, or eligible for, the 70% royalty option. That includes writers who stayed at $9.99 only because the old cap made a higher list price fall back to 35%.
It is an ebook list-price change for the 70% option. It is not, on the face of Amazon’s description, a print-royalty announcement or an audiobook announcement. Translations and other special cases stay on the help page; do not assume the U.S. consumer band is the whole rule.
KDP Select exclusivity is a separate decision. A wider 70% band does not enroll a book in Kindle Unlimited and does not change the KDP Select Global Fund.
What to do this week
- Open eBook List Price Requirements and read the FAQ, not a screenshot of it.
- In KDP, look at the royalty option and list price already saved. If they match the price you chose on purpose, leave them.
- If a book is on 35% only because it is priced between $10 and $12.99, read the other 70% eligibility rules on the official page and then decide. Delivery costs, file size, and marketplace still matter. A higher list price is not free money.
- For the next change, use the weekly digest on this page — the same Friday Weekly Dispatch as the homepage. The Sunday read stays on the site. Free. No subscriber count is stated here.
What it does NOT mean
It is not a daily email. The desk’s inbox product is the Friday Weekly Dispatch. It does not mean Amazon ordered a price increase. It does not mean $12.99 will sell more copies than $9.99. Royalty is a share of list, and only when the 70% option actually applies. Readers still have a say.
It does not move the $2.99 minimum. It does not set the Kindle Unlimited per-page rate. It does not rewrite paperback or hardcover printing costs.
It does not make The Publishing Times the authority. We link the primary page and say what it says. We do not operate Amazon, and we do not file price changes for you.