The retail and distribution channels within our global network offer varied royalty rates, and have different rules about pricing, file-size and accepted file types. See the table below for more information.
Amazon and large file sizes. If your eBook is heavily illustrated, or fixed layout, we may advise you to opt for 35% royalty and not 70% even if your eBook is priced within the 70% royalty rate bracket ($2.99/£1.99 >> $9.99/£9.99). Delivery costs for large eBook files can reduce royalties quite significantly, but these delivery costs are not levied in the 35% royalty bracket. We will not know the final file size for your book until it is uploaded to the Amazon system, so you can specify 70%, and we will advise you if this is not the right option, at time of submission. More info here (see Section C).
We pass on 100% of royalties paid by our distribution channels to our clients, we do not take any commission on royalties.
Some channels are more likely to discount than others, and if you want to keep as much control over your pricing as possible, you may want to consider restricting your distribution to those channels which do not discount so readily. You can see more information about pricing changes here.
We have split our distribution network into the following categories:
- eBook Retailers – channels which sell directly through their own website
- eBook Distributors – services who do not sell directly but supply other retailers and libraries
- eBook Subscription Services – channels who charge users a subscription fee rather than a purchase fee for each book
If you have any concerns about this we are happy to answer any questions you may have – helpdesk@ebookpartnership.com.
eBook Retailers
| Retailer | Royalty Rate | Free Titles | Min Price | Max Price | Discount | Price-match | Download Fee | DRM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 70% | No* | $2.99 / £1.99 | $9.99 / £9.99 | No | Yes | $0.15/£0.10 per MB | Optional |
| Amazon | 35% | No* | $0.99 / £0.99 | $200 / £150 | No | Yes | No | Optional |
| Apple | 70% | Yes | $0.99 / £0.49 | $39.99 / £29.99 | No | No | No | Optional |
| B&N | 50% | Yes | Free or $0.95 | No limit | Yes | Yes | No | Optional |
| e-Sentral | 75% | Yes | $0.49 | No limit | No | Yes | No | Optional |
| Kobo | 70% | Yes | $0.99 / £0.99 | $12.99 / £7.99 | No | Yes | No | Compulsory |
| Kobo | 50% | No | $13.00/£8.00 | No limit | Yes | Yes | No | Compulsory |
*If you enrol in Amazon’s KDP Select program you can list your title for free for 5 days during a 90 day period. Otherwise you cannot list your book for free on Amazon. They may price match down to 0.00 if other retailers list the price as free, but this happens less frequently now. Amazon are also more inclined to threaten to withdraw your book from listings if you offer the book cheaper elsewhere.
eBook Distributors and Library Suppliers
| Royalty Rate | Free Titles | Min Price | Max Price | Discount | Download Fee | DRM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBSCO | 35-75%* | No | $1.49 / £0.99 | No limit | No | No | Yes |
| Gardners | 50% | No | $1.49 / £0.99 | No limit | Yes | No | Optional |
| Hoopla | 5-10%** | No | $1.49 / £0.99 | No limit | No | No | Yes |
| OverDrive | 50% | No | $0.49 | No limit | No | No | Optional |
* Varies based on country of user and number of concurrent users per download
** Hoopla pay a royalty based on each ‘use’ of a title by one of their library customers (equivalent to a borrow of a physical book). The royalty will be between 5 and 10% of the RRP of the eBook.
eBook Subscription Services
| Service | Royalty Rate | Free Titles | DRM |
|---|---|---|---|
| BookMate | Per read share (based on character count with minimum of 10% read) used to calculate 50% of net subscription revenue | Yes | Yes |
| Scribd | 50% of the digital list price for each subscriber who reads at least 10% of the book (excluding sample content) | Yes | Yes |
| StoryTel | Per read share (based on 20% chunks of book read with minimum of 20% read) used to calculate 50% of net subscription revenue | TBC | Yes |