I Sold AI-Generated Coloring Books on Amazon KDP for 60 Days

The Honest Starting Point

My first coloring book made $0 in its first three weeks. My sixth made $214 in its first month. The difference wasn't luck — it was one small niche pivot that changed everything.

I'd been watching the "AI coloring book" hype cycle for a while before finally committing to a real 60-day test in early 2026. No outsourced graphics, no design agency. Just me, a few AI tools, and Amazon KDP's free publishing platform. Here's what actually happened.

The Tools and Setup

The core stack is simple and cheap.

I used Midjourney v6 ($10/month on the Basic plan) for generating the line-art illustrations. The key prompt modifier is --style raw --no shading, color, fill — this forces clean black outlines that actually print well. Without that, you get grayscale blobs that look terrible on the page.

For layout, I used Canva Pro ($15/month) to build 8.5×11 inch interiors at 300 DPI. Amazon KDP requires at least 300 DPI for print books, and Canva handles this natively now. I also tried Book Bolt ($9.99/month) for cover design templates — it's built specifically for KDP and saves a lot of guesswork on bleed and margin settings.

Total monthly tool cost: roughly $35. Publishing on KDP is free.

What I Published and What Sold

Over 60 days I published 11 books. Here's a breakdown of how they performed:

The coastal homes book was the outlier. There's genuine demand for architectural coloring books from adults — less competition than florals, and buyers actually search for it. That single niche insight is worth more than any tool in my stack.

The Niche Research Process That Actually Works

Generic mandala books are dead. Amazon is flooded. If you publish one today, it will disappear into page 47 of search results before a single human sees it.

The process I now follow:

1. Search Amazon for "coloring book" + a modifier (e.g., "coastal," "farmhouse," "retro diner"). Look for results under 500 reviews in the top 10. That signals real demand with manageable competition.
2. Check the BSR (Best Seller Rank) on any book under #100,000 in Books. That means it's selling at least a few copies per week.
3. Validate on Pinterest and Etsy. If a visual aesthetic is trending on both platforms, there's a coloring book audience for it.
4. Generate a test batch of 10 images in Midjourney before committing to a full book. If the output looks weak or generic, move on.
5. Publish a 30-page version first. If it earns within 30 days, expand to 50 pages and re-upload. KDP lets you update files anytime.

What KDP Actually Pays

Royalties on a $9.99 paperback coloring book (black and white interior) through KDP run around $2.15–$2.50 per sale after printing costs, depending on page count and marketplace. Color interiors slash that royalty almost in half, which is why most successful low-content books stick to black-and-white line art.

My 60-day total across all 11 books: $487. Not life-changing. But this is also largely passive after upload — no inventory, no shipping, no customer service. Book five keeps selling while I work on something else.

FAQ

Do I need an LLC or business entity to sell on KDP?

No. You can publish as an individual with a personal tax ID. KDP withholds taxes for non-US sellers depending on your country's treaty status — check the KDP tax interview when you set up your account.

Can Amazon detect AI-generated images and take down my book?

As of mid-2026, Amazon requires disclosure if a book contains "AI-generated content" but does not ban it. There's a checkbox during the publishing flow. Check it, publish cleanly, and you're compliant.

How long does it take to publish one book?

With a practiced workflow, about 4–6 hours per 40-page book: 2 hours generating and curating images, 2 hours laying out in Canva, 30 minutes on the cover, 30 minutes uploading and filling out metadata.

Is this scalable?

Yes, but not infinitely. The ceiling is real — you're competing on Amazon's search algorithm, and more sellers enter every month. The window is open, but it's not wide forever. Move now if you're interested.

Bottom Line