Guide · 5 min read
KDP paperback, Kindle or printables?
The three main ways to sell an activity or coloring book, what each one earns, and how to use more than one.
The same book can earn money in more than one place. Here's how the three common options compare, and what to watch out for when you use them together.
KDP paperback
Amazon prints each copy when someone orders it, ships it and handles returns. You don't pay anything upfront. For most activity and coloring books, this is where most sales come from, because people want to write and color on paper.
- What you earn: 60% of the list price (50% for lower prices) minus the printing cost. Try your own numbers in the royalty calculator.
- Good for: puzzle books, coloring books, kids' activity books, gifts.
- Watch out for: long books in color ink are expensive to print, so the price has to be high.
Kindle eBook
Readers can't write on a Kindle, so most puzzle and coloring books make poor eBooks. Some sell anyway as "print at home" books, but buyers often expect to be able to print them, and Kindle doesn't make that easy. If your book is mostly reading (trivia with answers, riddles, a guide), an eBook can work.
- What you earn: 70% between $2.99 and $9.99 if you meet KDP's conditions, 35% otherwise.
- Watch out for: joining KDP Select means the eBook can't be sold anywhere else, including your own website. This only applies to the eBook, not the paperback.
Printable PDFs (Etsy, your own site, our store)
Buyers download a PDF and print it at home, as many times as they like for their own use. Teachers and parents like this because it's instant and they can print a page again when it gets used up.
- What you earn: almost the whole price, after the platform's and payment fees. There's no printing cost.
- Good for: classroom packs, single themed sets, seasonal activity packs.
- Watch out for: printables usually sell for less than paperbacks, and you need to bring buyers to the listing yourself on your own site. Check each platform's current fees before you set prices.
Using more than one
- Start with the paperback. It's the easiest place to get steady sales for this kind of book.
- Make a printable version of the same pages for teachers and parents. Make a separate export without bleed, or pick a smaller set of pages, so it prints well on home printers.
- Say what's inside each version. If the PDF is a smaller pack, say how many pages it has so buyers aren't disappointed.
- Use a clear licence line in printables, such as "for personal or single-classroom use", so buyers know what's allowed.
Royalty rates and platform fees change. Check the current figures on each platform before relying on them.