Ebook royalties explained: how 70/80/90% actually works
"Royalty" sounds simple until you read the fine print — list price, net price, delivery fees, VAT, and currency conversion all change what actually lands in your account. Here's how ebook royalties work in plain terms, and what a 70%, 80%, or 90% rate really gives you.
List price vs net price
Your royalty is a percentage of the net price, not the sticker price. Net price is what's left after sales tax (VAT in the UK and EU) and payment-processing fees are removed. A royalty rate quoted against net is honest; a high rate against an aggressively reduced net can pay less than a lower rate against a generous one — so always check what the percentage is applied to.
What 70/80/90% looks like in pounds
On Ebokio the rate is applied to the net price, with no per-megabyte delivery fee. As a rough guide on a £9.99 ebook (net of fees), here's what each tier keeps:
- Free (70%): about £6.30 per sale
- Premium (80%): about £7.20 per sale
- Pro (90%): about £8.10 per sale
Watch for delivery and file-size fees
Some platforms deduct a delivery fee based on your file size on their top royalty tier — so an image-heavy book quietly earns less per sale. Ebokio charges no delivery fee, so a cookbook and a novel keep the same percentage.
When you actually get paid
Royalty timing matters for cash flow. Ebokio pays each calendar month's earnings automatically at the end of the month two months later — January's sales pay out at the end of March — via PayPal, bank transfer, or wire. Method minimums: bank/PayPal £30, wire £100; balances below the minimum roll forward to the next month.