KDP vs Barnes and Noble Press, short answer: publish on KDP first, and add B&N Press only for the books you are not enrolling in KDP Select. Per ebook copy, the two pay almost the same between $2.99 and $12.99 ($3.49 vs $3.39 at $4.99). Outside that band, B&N pays 2×: $0.69 vs $0.35 on a 99-cent Book 1, and $10.49 vs $5.25 on a $14.99 box set. On a $14.99 paperback, KDP pays $0.99 more.
So the choice isn’t really about royalty rates. It comes down to three things: KDP Select exclusivity, your price points, and whether your readers shop at Barnes & Noble at all. Below is the per-copy math for every price a romance or genre-fiction series actually uses, built from both platforms’ current terms (checked November 11, 2026).
TL;DR
- From $2.99 to $12.99, the two stores pay almost the same per ebook: $3.49 (B&N) vs $3.39 (KDP) at $4.99.
- B&N pays 2× outside that band: $0.69 vs $0.35 at 99 cents, $10.49 vs $5.25 on a $14.99 box set.
- Paperbacks: KDP pays $4.39 vs B&N’s $3.40 on a $14.99, 300-page book, and B&N won’t list print below $14.99.
- KDP Select ebooks can’t be on B&N at all. One full Kindle+ read of a 70k-word book ($1.75) is worth half a B&N sale.
- Verdict: KDP for everything; add B&N Press for ebooks you keep out of Select, especially 99-cent openers and $13+ box sets.
If you are building a catalog of series books, the store question comes after the drafting question. The tool I’d start with is ImagineYourBook. It’s an AI book-writing tool that turns your idea or outline into a complete draft with a cover, exports Word and EPUB files that you can upload to either store, and carries your characters into Book Two. It takes no percentage of your royalties, so the numbers below stay yours whichever store you choose.
The ebook royalty rules, side by side
KDP pays 70% only on list prices from $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com. That band was widened from $9.99 on July 7, 2026. KDP also subtracts a delivery fee of $0.15 per MB before applying the 70%. Below $2.99 or above $12.99, KDP pays 35%.
B&N Press pays a flat 70% of list price with no delivery fee and no price band. B&N has paid that flat rate since February 2021, when it replaced a 40–65% sliding scale. There is one string attached: your B&N list price can’t be higher than your price at any other retailer.
Here is what one copy pays at the prices series authors actually use. I assumed a 1 MB file per novel (an assumption; KDP shows your real file size) and modeled the $12.99+ rows as five-book box sets at 5 MB:
| Ebook list price | Format | KDP per copy | B&N Press per copy | B&N extra | B&N ÷ KDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0.99 | Novel (1 MB) | $0.35 | $0.69 | +$0.35 | 2.00× |
| $2.99 | Novel (1 MB) | $1.99 | $2.09 | +$0.10 | 1.05× |
| $4.99 | Novel (1 MB) | $3.39 | $3.49 | +$0.10 | 1.03× |
| $9.99 | Novel (1 MB) | $6.89 | $6.99 | +$0.10 | 1.02× |
| $12.99 | Box set (5 MB) | $8.57 | $9.09 | +$0.53 | 1.06× |
| $13.99 | Box set (5 MB) | $4.90 | $9.79 | +$4.90 | 2.00× |
| $14.99 | Box set (5 MB) | $5.25 | $10.49 | +$5.25 | 2.00× |
| $19.99 | Box set (5 MB) | $7.00 | $13.99 | +$7.00 | 2.00× |
Three things jump out:
- Inside the band, the gap is only the delivery fee. For a 1 MB novel, B&N’s edge is exactly $0.10 a copy at every price from $2.99 to $9.99. No author should pick a store over 10 cents.
- The 99-cent first-in-series doubles on B&N. KDP pays $0.35 and B&N $0.69. If you run Book 1 at 99 cents as a series funnel, every wide sale of it is worth twice as much at B&N.
- The box set cliff is where B&N wins big. One cent past $12.99, KDP drops to 35%. A $14.99 box set pays $5.25 on KDP and $10.49 on B&N. At $12.99, KDP pays $8.57 against B&N’s $9.09. The 52-cent gap there is mostly KDP’s 5 MB delivery fee.
The price-parity rule matters here. B&N requires that its price be no higher than yours anywhere else, so you can’t charge $14.99 at B&N while keeping Amazon at $12.99. You’d have to raise Amazon to $14.99 (and take 35% there) or keep the box set off Amazon. That second option only works for a box set that isn’t in KDP Select. More on that below. For KDP-side box set pricing, see the $12.99 box set math.
The real decision: KDP Select exclusivity
This is the part most KDP vs Barnes & Noble comparisons skip. KDP’s enrollment rules say a KDP Select ebook “must also be exclusive to the Kindle Store for the KDP Select enrollment period,” and it must stay exclusive for the full 90 days. During those 90 days the ebook “can only be distributed through KDP and public libraries,” while print and other formats can go anywhere. So if an ebook is in Select (and earning Kindle+ page reads), it cannot be on B&N Press. A box set that repackages those same books as an ebook would put the content on B&N anyway, so plan box sets for series that are out of Select. Paperbacks can go to both stores.
So each ebook in your catalog faces this trade-off: earn Kindle+ page reads on Amazon, or earn sales at B&N plus the other wide stores. Here is what one full Kindle+ read pays, compared with one $4.99 sale at B&N:
At the 2026 January–September average of $0.00474 per KENP (Written Word Media’s tracker), and assuming about 190 words per page, a full read of a 70,000-word romance pays $1.75. That’s half of one $4.99 B&N sale. A 120,000-word romantasy pays $2.99, or 0.86 of a B&N sale. In plain terms:
- Short books: for every 100 full Kindle+ reads you give up, you need about 36–50 wide sales to break even. That’s wide sales across all stores, not just B&N.
- Long books: at 120,000 words you need about 86 wide sales per 100 lost reads, so the bar is much higher.
I ran the full Select-vs-wide reader math (including Amazon sales you keep either way) in KDP Select vs Wide. The B&N-specific point is simpler: B&N’s per-copy pay is not the reason to leave Select. Volume is.
Don’t half-leave Select. Turning off auto-renew doesn’t end your current 90-day term; the ebook must stay exclusive until the end date shown under Manage KDP Select. Upload it to B&N only after that date.
How big is B&N for indie authors?
Smaller than Amazon. Here’s what the most recent large author survey shows. Written Word Media’s 2025 survey (1,346 authors, self-reported, skewed toward prolific indies) found:
- About 85% named Amazon as their top revenue channel.
- Among secondary channels, Apple, direct sales and Kobo beat out Nook (B&N) and Google.
- 38% had all their books in KDP Select, and 30% had none.
- Among authors earning over $5,000 a month, 43% were all-in on Select and 15% were fully wide. High earners exist in both camps.
No platform publishes retailer market shares for self-published titles, so treat any “B&N is X% of ebook sales” figure you see elsewhere with caution. For most romance catalogs, B&N is one of several wide stores, not a replacement for Amazon.
Paperbacks: KDP pays more, B&N adds reach
Print is non-exclusive, so you can use both stores. But the per-copy math leans toward KDP:
- KDP: 60% of list price at $9.99 and up, minus printing ($1.00 + $0.012 per page for black-and-white). A 300-page book costs $4.60 to print, so a $14.99 paperback pays $4.39.
- B&N Press: 55% of list price minus printing. B&N’s own example puts printing for a 300-page 6×9 cream paperback at $4.84, so the same $14.99 book pays $3.40.
- Minimum price: B&N Press won’t list a print book below $14.99. On KDP you can sell the same book at $9.99 and still earn $1.39.
If your paperbacks sell at $12.99 or less (common for romance), B&N Press print may simply be unavailable for them. You can still reach other retailers through KDP’s Expanded Distribution or IngramSpark, at lower margins. I compared those per-copy payouts in IngramSpark vs KDP and the KDP side in the paperback royalty calculator.
AI-assisted books: both stores want disclosure
If you draft with AI, both stores accept your books, but each asks about it differently. B&N Press asks during Build-a-Book whether generative AI was used for the cover, manuscript, images or translations. If yes, you mark each element as AI-Created (generated by AI, even if you edited it afterward) or AI-Assisted (you wrote it, then used AI to edit or expand it). B&N won’t let you publish until that disclosure is complete. KDP has its own AI disclosure for AI-generated content. Not every wide store is that open: Kobo reserves the right to reject AI-written books (more on that in this @iyb7 Medium story).
Which setup fits your catalog
| Your situation | Ebook | Paperback |
|---|---|---|
| New series, still launching, relying on Kindle+ reads | KDP Select only | KDP (B&N too if priced $14.99+) |
| Completed backlist series | Wide: B&N Press + other stores | KDP + B&N Press at $14.99+ |
| 99-cent Book 1 funnel, wide | B&N pays $0.69 vs KDP $0.35 | n/a |
| Box set priced above $12.99 | B&N pays 2× KDP (keep it out of Select) | n/a |
| Paperback priced under $14.99 | n/a | KDP only (B&N minimum $14.99) |
| Long books (100k+ words) | Kindle+ reads pay more, Select bar is higher | KDP + B&N at $14.99+ |
A hybrid works for many series authors. Keep the current, still-launching series in Select, where page reads accrue. Then take a completed backlist series wide: B&N Press and the other stores for the ebooks, plus a box set priced above $12.99 wherever B&N’s flat 70% beats KDP’s 35%. Book length matters too. If your books are short category-length romances (see how long a romance novel should be), each Kindle+ read pays less, which lowers the bar for going wide.
If you’d rather run the numbers yourself, Finxter’s Python KDP royalty calculator reproduces KDP’s price cliffs. Swap in a flat 0.70 and you have B&N.
FAQ
Is Barnes and Noble Press better than KDP?
Not overall. Per ebook they pay nearly the same from $2.99 to $12.99; B&N pays double below and above that band. KDP pays about $1 more per $14.99 paperback and reaches far more readers. Most authors use B&N alongside KDP.
Can I publish on KDP and Barnes and Noble Press at the same time?
Yes, unless the ebook is in KDP Select. Select ebooks must be exclusive to Amazon for each 90-day term. Paperbacks and non-Select ebooks can be on both stores.
What royalty does Barnes and Noble Press pay?
70% of list price on ebooks at any price, with no delivery fee, and 55% of list price minus printing cost on print books. Print books must be listed at $14.99 or more.
Does B&N Press pay more for box sets?
Above $12.99, yes. A $14.99 box set pays $10.49 on B&N and $5.25 on KDP, which drops to 35% past $12.99. B&N requires its price to be no higher than anywhere else.
Does Barnes and Noble Press allow AI-written books?
Yes, with disclosure. During Build-a-Book you state whether the manuscript, cover, images or translations are AI-Created or AI-Assisted, and you can't publish until the disclosure is complete.
The takeaway
KDP vs Barnes and Noble Press is not a contest on a $4.99 novel: the difference is 10 cents. The money is in your formats and your Select decision. B&N doubles your pay on 99-cent openers and $13+ box sets, KDP wins paperbacks by about a dollar, and Select ebooks can’t be on B&N at all. That only matters once you have a catalog worth splitting, so books come first. If you want more series books out faster, start a draft with ImagineYourBook. The trial is $0 today with a card required, includes one 10,000-word book, and the first $24.99 charge comes after 7 days unless you cancel before day 8. Sales are never guaranteed on either store, but a finished series gives you something to split.
Sources (checked November 11, 2026): KDP Help: eBook list price requirements ($2.99–$12.99 band since Jul 7, 2026) · KDP digital pricing page (delivery costs) · KDP Help: eBook royalties · KDP Help: KDP Select enrollment and exclusivity · KDP Help: paperback royalty · B&N Press royalty and payment terms · B&N Press: Make more money (print cost example) · B&N Press: Use of generative AI · Barnes & Noble press release (Feb 1, 2021) · Written Word Media: KDP Global Fund payouts · Written Word Media: 2025 author survey · awesome-ai-tools (lists ImagineYourBook) · ImagineYourBook pricing. Assumptions: 1 MB ebook file per novel (5 MB per five-book box set); 190 words per KENP; US list prices on Amazon.com, no VAT. Figures are per copy before taxes.