Amazon KDP Announces Printing Costs Increase

Amazon KDP Announces Printing Costs Increase

Amazon KDP Announces Printing Costs Increase

Amazon KDP announced a printing costs increase for the first time in six years, but how much and what does it mean for self-published authors?

 

Waking up to an announcement about an Amazon KDP printing costs increase is never great for any self-publishing Australian author.

According to their email, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) hasn’t raised its printing prices in six years. This is because, around the time they created Amazon KDP, they slowly merged what was Createspace into Amazon KDP. Since then, Amazon KDP has been very reluctant to mess around with any of their printing costs.

However, that’s all set to change on June 20, 2023.Kindle Print Costs Increase

Overall, the changes aren’t dramatic, so don’t panic straight away. However, if you are a children’s book author or publish full-color books with photos, such as coffee table books, you will see a more significant bump in print prices than fiction authors.

I did a quick comparison using my Amazon KDP Author Dashboard. My children’s chapter book printing costs will increase by about .20 cents per book, and my children’s books will increase by about .50-55 cents per book.

Let’s break down what the Amazon KDP printing costs increases are and what impact they may have on Australian and New Zealand self-published authors currently self-publishing their books on the Amazon KDP books platform.

 

Upcoming Amazon KDP Printing Costs and Increases for Australian and New Zealand Authors

  1. All paperback and hardcover books will see an increase in their fixed costs to cover the materials, labor, and supplies.
  2. They are introducing a new fixed and per-page cost for paperbacks and hardcover books with a larger than standard (6 x 9) trim size.
  3. At the same time, they’re also decreasing the cost for some color-ink books ordered through specific Amazon marketplaces.

To see a full breakdown of the updated costs, check out this cost table link that Amazon put together for self-published authors. It covers in detail how the new changes will affect your current book printing costs.

 

How Does This Affect You As A Self-Published Australian Author?

If your books fall into any of these categories (heads up, they all do), you will see an increase in printing costs, reducing your royalties. You have two main options. You can absorb the price increase and take reduced royalties or increase the sale price to offset the increased printing costs.

Amazon KDP has put together a FAQ page with all the information you need about the new changes coming into effect, and you can see that here.

Also, if you go to your Amazon KDP dashboard, select a book, hit the ‘…’ button, and choose paperback or hardcover pricing, you can compare the current print price and royalties to the new pricing coming into effect.

While on your Amazon KDP Bookshelf page, you’ll also notice that they have given you the option of a bulk change which will allow you to adjust all your books in one go.

Along with the printing cost increases, Amazon KDP has also launched a new Printing Costs and Royalty Calculator, which will help you to determine the printing cost of your book and how much you’ll receive in royalties based on your sale price.

You can check out the Printing Costs and Royalty Calculator here.

 

Amazon KDP Announces Print Costs Increase – Conclusion

It’s essential to stay up-to-date with your printing costs and royalties because if you don’t, your book could result in zero royalties or even negative royalties, which would remove your book from sale.

To be fair, it’s been six years with no printing cost increases when prices of everything globally have increased dramatically, so a price increase was always going to happen.

One thing I will say is that by doing it all at once to everyone, Amazon is actually making it less impactful on the author. If everyone increases their prices slightly to cover the additional costs, then no one should see a considerable drop in sales because their competition is cheaper.

However, whether you absorb the price increase or pass it on to customers and readers is entirely up to you as the author.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the KDP print costs increase, don’t hesitate to contact us directly.

Also, I wanted to shout out to Stephen Peel and his YouTube Channel – Stephen Peel Self-Publishing, who has done a video breakdown of the announcement. It’s definitely worth a watch! You can also check out his website, Stephen Peel Self-Publishing, here.

Post a comment