Short answer. On Amazon.com, the KDP hardcover printing cost for black ink at a regular trim is a flat $6.80 from 75 to 108 pages. From 110 pages it is $5.65 plus $0.012 a page, so a 300-page 6 x 9 hardcover costs $9.25 to print. That is $4.65 more than the paperback. Large trims and premium color cost more.
Key points
- Formula: fixed cost plus page count times the per-page cost.
- 300 pages at 6 x 9 in black ink: $9.25 for the hardcover, $4.60 for the paperback.
- At the 60% royalty, the price where the royalty only covers printing is the print cost divided by 0.6.
- Almost every hardcover lands in the 60% band, because the 50% band stops at $9.98.
- Our hardcover interior from your paperback gives you the exact page count, so the cost is known before you set a price.
How is the KDP hardcover printing cost worked out?
The same way as a paperback: fixed cost plus page count times the per-page cost. KDP's Hardcover help says the method is the same and only the fixed cost is different. KDP takes the cost out of each sale's royalty. You pay nothing upfront.
What does a KDP hardcover cost to print on Amazon.com?
From KDP's Hardcover Printing Cost page, read on 13 October 2026:
| Ink and pages | Regular trim | Large trim |
|---|---|---|
| Black, 75 to 108 pages | $6.80 flat | $7.49 flat |
| Black, 110 to 550 pages | $5.65 + $0.012 a page | $5.65 + $0.017 a page |
| Premium color, 75 to 550 pages | $5.65 + $0.065 a page | $5.65 + $0.080 a page |
Regular trim means 6.12 inches wide or less and 9 inches tall or less. Of the five hardcover trims, 5.5 x 8.5 and 6 x 9 are regular. 6.14 x 9.21, 7 x 10 and 8.25 x 11 are large.
There is no 109-page row because KDP rounds every page count up to an even number.
What does that mean for a real book?
Black ink, regular trim, Amazon.com:
| Pages | Print cost |
|---|---|
| 108 | $6.80 |
| 110 | $6.97 |
| 200 | $8.05 |
| 212 | $8.19 |
| 300 | $9.25 |
| 400 | $10.45 |
| 550 | $12.25 |
A typical novel lands near the 212-page row. Our formatted 6 x 9 test pages hold 379 words each, so an 80,000-word book comes to about 212 pages and $8.19 to print.
The jump at the top of the flat band is small: going from 108 to 110 pages adds 17 cents.
How does that compare with the paperback?
At 300 pages and 6 x 9, the paperback costs $1.00 plus $0.012 a page, or $4.60. The hardcover's fixed cost is $5.65 against $1.00, and the per-page cost is the same. So the hardcover always costs $4.65 more at that trim and ink once you are past 110 pages. Our KDP paperback print cost by page count post has the paperback table.
What is the lowest price I can set?
KDP's royalty page says the minimum list price is calculated from your print cost, but it does not publish the formula. What you can work out is break-even: at the 60% rate, the list price where the royalty only covers printing is the print cost divided by 0.6.
| Book | Print cost | Break-even at 60% |
|---|---|---|
| 108 pages, black, regular | $6.80 | about $11.34 |
| 300 pages, black, regular | $9.25 | about $15.42 |
| 550 pages, black, regular | $12.25 | about $20.42 |
| 300 pages, premium color, regular | $25.15 | about $41.92 |
KDP pays 60% on Amazon.com hardcovers listed at $9.99 or more, and 50% at $9.98 or less. Since the cheapest hardcover costs $6.80 to print, half of $9.98 never covers it. In practice every Amazon.com hardcover is priced in the 60% band.
The fix we do for this: we make your hardcover interior from your paperback file at a valid trim and tell you the final page count, so your print cost and price floor are exact before you publish. Send us a chapter for a free formatted sample.
What price should I charge for a KDP hardcover?
Start from the royalty you want per copy, not from the floor. The royalty is 60% of the list price minus the print cost.
For the 300-page 6 x 9 book: at $19.99 you earn $2.74 a copy. At $24.99 you earn $5.74. The break-even of about $15.42 earns nothing.
Then check what hardcovers in your genre sell for on Amazon. We cannot tell you your market price. We can tell you the math under it.
Does premium color change the picture?
A lot. Premium color is $0.065 a page at a regular trim, so 300 pages costs $25.15 to print. Standard color is not offered for hardcover at all, so there is no cheaper color option.
What else do authors ask about KDP hardcover printing cost?
The fixed cost is $5.65 against $1.00 at the same page count.
No. The print cost comes out of each sale's royalty.
Yes. It is wider than 6.12 inches and taller than 9, so it costs $0.017 a page.
No. Amazon.co.uk starts at £5.23 flat to 108 pages, and the euro stores at €5.95.
$250 on Amazon.com.
What should you do next?
Divide your word count by about 380 for a 6 x 9 page estimate, round up to an even number, and run it through the table. Then see how we make the file on our hardcover from paperback page.
