Free Tool · The ResultZ Group

Know What You
Actually Keep

Most authors have no idea how much Amazon and Audible take off the top. These calculators show you the real numbers — and what changes when you own the channel.

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30% Amazon takes at the 70% tier
60% Audible keeps on some royalty models
~95% You keep selling direct
The Real Story

What Audible doesn't advertise.

The dominant platform comes at a steep author cost. Here's what the fine print means for your income.

Pricing
0%

You don't set the price.

Audible sets what listeners pay based on runtime tiers — not your brand, not your story's value.

Credits
~$8

Credits devalue your work.

Members redeem a ~$8 credit on a $24 book. You're royaltied on the credit value — not the retail price.

Exclusivity
12 mo

One channel — theirs.

ACX exclusive locks your audiobook to Amazon/Audible only for 12 months. No direct sales during that window.

Audience
None

You never own the buyer.

No email, no purchase data, no follow-up. Every sale vanishes into Amazon's ecosystem.

What You're Comparing Audible / ACX Direct Sales
You set the price ✗ Audible decides ✓ 100% your call
Royalty rate 20–40% of blended ~90–95% of retail
Customer email / data ✗ None ✓ Every buyer
Run your own promotions ✗ Not possible ✓ Fully in your control
Exclusivity required ✗ Yes (for top tier) ✓ Sell everywhere
Credit devaluation ✗ ~$8 credit vs $24 retail ✓ Full price every time
Two Calculators. Two Gaps.

Pick your platform. See the math.

Run the KDP calculator for your ebooks, the audiobook calculator for your narrated titles. The gap between what you're earning and what you could earn is bigger than most authors expect.

KDP Ebook Royalties

What do you actually keep on every KDP sale?

You set the price on KDP — Amazon does not. But the royalty tier you choose determines how much Amazon takes — and pricing outside the 70% range automatically drops you to 35%.

You control the price on KDP. Unlike Audible, Amazon does not override what you charge. But the royalty tier you choose determines how much Amazon takes — and pricing outside the 70% range automatically drops you to 35%.
Heads up: Your price falls outside the 70% tier range. Amazon will apply 35% automatically.
$4.99
500
Amazon's cut
$748
$1.50 per sale (30%)
You keep
$1,747
$3.49 per sale (70%)
Your royalty from this launch
$1,747
500 sales × $3.49 royalty per book
Amazon
You
Split of every dollar a reader pays.
Show the math
Audiobook Revenue

How much more is your audiobook worth selling direct?

Drag the sliders. Compare what Audible pays against what you'd keep selling to the same readers from your own platform. The gap compounds across a series.

You do not set the price on Audible. Audible sets it based on runtime, calculated from word count (≈ 9,300 words per finished hour). Drag the word count to see what they charge your readers.
80,000
Runtime
8.6 hrs
Tier
5–10 hr band
Audible price
$22.21

Standard novel — thriller, romance, fantasy debut.

250
$14.95
Audible / ACX net
$1,236
$4.94 per sale
Direct sales net
$3,503
$14.41 per sale
You gain by selling direct
+$2,267
2.8× revenue vs Audible
Across a 5-book series: $11,337 more per launch cycle.
ACX
Direct
Visual share of total revenue at the same buyer count.
Show the math

Ready to Close the Gap?

The numbers above are theoretical until you have a platform to send readers to. We build the author websites and direct-sales systems that make it real.

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