Amazon’s current bestseller list shows that adult coloring books are all the rage. 20 books on the list reportedly belong to the genre, which was unheard of a few years ago.
Since 2013, over 2,000 of such books have been released. Two have emerged the biggest bestsellers, namely “Secret Garden” and “Enchanted Forest” by Scottish freelance illustrator Johanna Basford, reaching 50 countries and selling a combined 13.5 million copies.
UK publishing house Lawrence King Publishing came across the works of Basford online in 2011. Also known as the “ink evangelist,” she was signed up by the publishing house resulting in the creation of “Secret Garden.” The book was marketed to older children at first, but it caught on among adults as well. The book was a hit in France where it sold a million copies. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Penguin Random House also got wind of Basford’s talent and published her latest coloring book titled “Lost Ocean” in October 2015. The book sold 157,000 on its first month.
Why the sudden popularity of these books among adults? Experts weighed in.
“It’s kind of a way of being creative without the stress of too much creativity. You’re not stressing yourself out as much as you would if you were to draw from scratch, but you’re still getting some of the relaxing qualities of creating,” said Boston College psychology professor Peter Gray.
“I think it’s nostalgia. It’s a nostalgic feeling for the pace and how we used to be. People miss the experience of pen and paper. It’s nostalgia, but it’s not dumbed-down. Now if you want that feeling, you don’t have to feel like a crazy person coloring a Rudolph coloring book,” said Amazon.com’s senior books editor Seira Wilson.