Adult Coloring – An Affordable Relaxing Getaway

Guess what took out the top 3 sales spots for non-fiction books this month[1]? It might surprise you to know that 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd prize all went to…coloring books! Even more surprising is that these are not Dora-the-Explorer or Thomas the Tank. That’s right…the hottest things in non-fiction right now are coloring books that are designed and marketed for grown-ups! In fact, it seems that almost overnight adult coloring has become the biggest craze in home entertainment since the x-box.

If you missed the memo, you only have to head to your nearest bookseller or paper shop to see the rows of adult coloring books or posters that are flying out the door. The range of people into coloring right now is probably even more surprising. From stay at home mums, to young hipster males, to grandmas who have put away the knitting to pick up a tray of pencils; coloring is attracting a broad base of hugely devoted fans.

Just like coloring for kids, the adult versions come in a wide range of designs: from complex geometric patterns, to floral scenes, to popular comic book characters. There truly is a coloring book for just about everybody’s artistic taste. If anyone doubts the demand for coloring, you need look no further than one of the most popular contemporary coloring books: Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book, which has sold over 2 million copies for illustrator Joanna Basford.

While adult coloring may not be a new hobby, it is no longer an obscure one. Airport lounges and airplanes are now full of adults with a crisp new coloring books and a tin of Derwent pencils. Families are coloring together instead of watching TV, and young singles are uploading photos of their completed coloring designs for their friends to admire on social media.

So why are so many people coloring? The most commonly cited reasons that people pick up the pencil are for relaxation and entertainment. Just like Sudoku or crossword puzzles, coloring can also be a mentally stimulating way to pass the time, while others find it deeply therapeutic.

It really is a good time to pick up a tin of pencils as the recent rapid growth in popularity means that publishers are producing more coloring books than ever before and you may well find that coloring really does help you to relax or lets you pass the time a little more creatively than you did in the past.

[1] Neilsen bookscan