E-book Break-Even Pricing Calculator

What Is an E‑Book Break-Even Price?

Your e‑book break-even price is the minimum retail price you need to charge so that your royalties cover your upfront publishing costs (editing, design, formatting, marketing, etc.) plus any profit you want to earn. This calculator is designed for self‑published authors and small presses who sell primarily through major digital platforms.

Instead of guessing whether $2.99, $4.99, or $9.99 is “right,” you can enter your real numbers and see the minimum price that recoups your investment at your expected sales volume and platform fee.

How This E‑Book Break-Even Formula Works

The calculator focuses on four key inputs that match the form labels above:

• Upfront Production Costs ($) – one‑time expenses such as developmental editing, copyediting, cover design, interior formatting, software, and launch marketing.
• Platform Fee (%) – the percentage of each sale kept by the retailer or distributor (for example, 30% fee for a 70% royalty).
• Expected Copies Sold – how many copies you realistically expect to sell over the period you care about (e.g., first year).
• Desired Profit ($) – optional extra profit on top of simply breaking even.

The general formula used is:

Break-even price = (Upfront production costs + Desired profit) / (Expected copies × (1 − Platform fee% / 100))

In math notation, if we call costs C, desired profit P, expected copies N, and platform fee percentage f, then the price per copy p is:

This calculation assumes a constant royalty percentage across all sales and ignores taxes and refunds (see Assumptions & Limitations below).

Step-by-Step: Using the E‑Book Break-Even Pricing Calculator

1. Enter your Upfront Production Costs ($). Sum everything you do not pay per copy, such as:

   • Developmental and copyediting fees
   • Cover design and interior layout
   • E‑book conversion or formatting services
   • Software subscriptions used only for this launch
   • Paid ads or launch promos you run once

2. Set the Platform Fee (%). This is the retailer’s cut. For many e‑book platforms:

   • Amazon KDP often works out to a 30% platform fee (70% royalty) in common price bands.
   • Lower-priced e‑books may fall into a 65% or similar fee (35% royalty).
   • Aggregators and some international stores may charge different percentages.

   Type the percentage as a whole number, for example enter 30 for a 30% fee.

3. Estimate your Expected Copies Sold. Use your genre, mailing list, and marketing plan to make a realistic guess. Debut authors often choose a conservative figure; more established authors might use past launch data.

4. Add your Desired Profit ($) if you want to earn more than break-even. Leave this at 0 if you only want to recover your costs, or enter a target profit (for example, $1,000) to see what price would cover both costs and that profit.

5. Click “Calculate Price.” The tool computes the minimum price per copy that lets you reach your goal at your specified sales volume and fee.

6. Review and adjust. Once you see the result, you can test different scenarios: lower or higher sales, different platform fees, or alternative profit goals, and see how the recommended minimum price changes.

Worked Example: Pricing a Self-Published E‑Book

Imagine the following situation, similar to the default values in the form:

• Upfront Production Costs ($): $3,000 (editing, design, marketing)
• Platform Fee (%): 30% (leaving you a 70% royalty)
• Expected Copies Sold: 1,000
• Desired Profit ($): $0 (you only need to break even)

First, calculate your total revenue target:

Total needed = Upfront production costs + Desired profit = 3,000 + 0 = $3,000

Next, find your net revenue per copy. With a 30% platform fee, your royalty rate is 70%, or 0.70 of the retail price:

Net per copy = Price × (1 − 30 / 100) = Price × 0.70

Now plug everything into the formula:

Break-even price = 3,000 / (1,000 × 0.70) = 3,000 / 700 ≈ $4.29

You would need to price your e‑book at roughly $4.29 just to recover your $3,000 investment if you sell exactly 1,000 copies.

If you also want a $1,000 profit on top of those costs, the total needed becomes $4,000:

Break-even price with profit = 4,000 / (1,000 × 0.70) = 4,000 / 700 ≈ $5.71

In practice, you might round these figures to market-friendly price points such as $4.99 or $5.99 and then re‑run the numbers to see the implied profit at those prices.

Interpreting Your Results

The calculator shows you the minimum sustainable price based on your assumptions. You can think of the output as a decision support tool rather than an exact prediction:

• If your planned price is higher than the break-even price, you have more room for discounts, promotions, and lower‑than‑expected sales while still covering costs.
• If your planned price is lower than the break-even price, you are implicitly accepting a loss unless your sales volume greatly exceeds the estimate.
• If the result looks unrealistically high for your genre, that is a sign to revisit your production budget or your sales expectations.

Use the estimate alongside your knowledge of genre norms and reader expectations to choose a final retail price.

Typical E‑Book Price Ranges and Fee Scenarios

The table below compares a few common pricing scenarios for illustration. These are not recommendations, but they show how the same project looks under different strategy choices.

Your own numbers may differ significantly. The key insight is that higher fees, lower sales, and higher production budgets all push your minimum viable price upward.

Assumptions & Limitations

This e‑book break-even pricing calculator is an educational estimation tool. It simplifies real‑world publishing in several ways:

• Flat percentage fee. The platform fee is treated as a single constant percentage, even though some retailers use tiered royalty structures depending on list price, territory, or file size.
• No taxes, VAT, or withholding. The formula ignores sales taxes, value‑added tax, and any tax withholding that may apply in your jurisdiction.
• No returns or chargebacks. All copies are assumed to be final sales with no refunds or reversals.
• Single format and channel. It assumes one e‑book format on a single platform. If you publish on multiple stores or in both e‑book and print, you will need separate calculations.
• Fixed sales estimate. Expected Copies Sold is a user‑supplied estimate. Actual sales can be higher or lower and may change over time as you promote the book.
• No time value of money. The timing of costs and revenue (e.g., when royalties are paid out) is not considered.

Because of these simplifications, the results should not be treated as financial, legal, or tax advice. They are best used as a planning aid to understand how changes in costs, fees, and sales volume affect your minimum sustainable e‑book price.