How to Create a Best-Selling Adult Coloring Book on Amazon KDP (Step-by-Step Tutorial)

Feeling stuck is usually a sign you’re overthinking it. This tutorial walks you through a proven, best-selling coloring book style, how to research it on Amazon the right way, generate interior pages with AI, and assemble the full book in Canva for Amazon KDP.

If your goal is to create an adult coloring book that actually stands out, the secret is simple: start broad, then niche down fast.

What You’ll Build in This Tutorial

A mandala + flower adult coloring book (two consistently popular themes) using:

• Amazon search to validate demand

• One strong prompt for AI page generation

• Canva to assemble the interior

• KDP’s free cover template to design a print-ready cover

SEO keywords naturally included in this post: Amazon KDP coloring book, adult coloring book ideas, best-selling coloring book style, AI coloring book generator, Canva KDP template, mandala coloring book, flower mandala coloring book, how to make a coloring book to sell on Amazon.

Step 1: Start Your Research the “Clean” Way on Amazon

Before you search anything:

Log out of Amazon (or use Incognito Mode)

You want a clean search with no personalized history influencing results. Think of it like resetting the algorithm so you’re seeing what shoppers are actually seeing.

Search a broad keyword first

Type: “coloring book”

This gives you Amazon’s real-time suggestions, which are essentially free market research. If you see “for adults” pop up at the top, that’s Amazon telling you it’s a top shopper intent.

Step 2: Click a High-Demand Suggestion (Then Check Saturation)

Click: “coloring book for adults”

Now look at the results count. In this example, it’s around 70,000 results.

That’s a huge pool, which means:

• Demand is strong

• Competition is intense

• A generic book will get buried

Your target competition range

A simple rule of thumb:

• Great: 1,000 to 5,000 results

• Good: around 10,000 results

• Tough: 50,000+ results

This is why niching down matters.

Step 3: Identify the “Best-Selling Style Pattern” on Page One

Scroll the first page and look for repeating themes.

In the adult coloring space, you’ll often see:

• Mindfulness / stress relief themes

• Mandalas

• Bold & Easy styles

• Flowers

• Cursing/sassy books (always hanging around)

Here’s the key insight:
The best sellers are rarely “just” one thing. They’re combinations.

Example patterns you may notice:

• Mandalas + birds

• Bold & Easy + mandalas

• Mindfulness + floral themes

That’s your signal.

Step 4: Pick a Simple Winning Combo (Mandala + Flowers)

If mandalas are selling and flowers are selling, don’t reinvent the wheel. Fuse them.

Book concept: Mandala Flowers: a relaxing adult coloring book theme

This moves you from “coloring book for adults” (too broad) into a more searchable micro-niche like:

• mandala flower coloring book

• floral mandala coloring book for adults

• relaxing mandala flowers coloring book

Step 5: Create One Prompt (Keep It Short and Clean)

A common mistake: writing prompts that are too long. Many generators get “muddled” and produce inconsistent pages.

Use a prompt that covers only what matters:

• subject (flowers + mandala)

• line style (clean, bold, closed shapes)

• print rules (black and white, no shading, no text)

Example prompt (paste-ready):
Create black-and-white adult coloring book pages featuring detailed mandala flowers. Clean, crisp line art with closed shapes for easy coloring. Mix large floral mandalas, bouquets, and single blooms with mandala patterns. Plenty of white space. No shading, no grayscale, no color, no text, no background clutter. High resolution, print-ready.

Step 6: Generate Your Interior Pages (3 AI Options to Try)

There’s no single “best” AI coloring book generator. The right choice depends on:

• your budget

• how fast you want to produce pages

• how consistent you need bulk outputs to be

Option A: LitPal (Bulk Generator Workflow)

LitPal is useful when you want bulk pages fast.

Workflow:

1. Create a project title (for your own organization)

2. Paste your prompt into the description

3. Select a style (choose “mandala” if available)

4. Choose page count

   • Minimum might be 10

   • If you’re building a full book, generate 40 (max)

5. Pick trim size

   • 8.5 x 11 or 8.5 x 8.5 are both common

6. Click Generate

7. Review quality:

   • Are lines clean and connected?

   • Are shapes closed (colorable)?

   • Too many squiggles or messy noise?

Download your usable pages.

Tip: If some pages include frames/borders you don’t love, you can crop them out in Canva later.

Option B: Gemini (Single-Image Generation)

Gemini can create beautiful single pages, but you’ll usually have to adjust your prompt slightly for each generation.

What to watch for:

• Random text (dates, words) sometimes appears

• If it does, it’s usually easy to remove in editing

If the linework is clean and shapes are closed, it’s usable.

Option C: Dzine (Simple Page Options)

If you’re using Dzine at a basic tier, you may be limited on outputs, but it can still produce solid pages.

Workflow:

1. Paste prompt

2. Choose a general style

3. Generate

4. If results are too plain, try changing the style option (like “coloring” or “whimsical coloring”)

Dzine may not offer a mandala style preset, but it can still support the flower portion of the concept.

Step 7: Assemble the Full Coloring Book in Canva

Now you’re going to build the interior PDF.

Start with a reusable Canva template

Many creators keep a standard template and copy it for every new book.

A typical layout might be:

• Page 1: Title page

• Page 2: Copyright page

• Page 3 onward: Coloring pages

• One-sided images (important for markers)

Example: If you’re making a 50-page coloring book with single-sided designs, your Canva file may end up around 100+ pages depending on how you set up blanks/backs.

Upload your generated images into Canva

Drag and drop each page into your layout.

If an image has a border you don’t want:

• Double click the image

• Crop the border out

• Reposition to fit the page

Step 8: Get a Free KDP Cover Template (So Your Cover Fits Perfectly)

Do not guess your cover size.

Use KDP’s free template generator:

KDP cover settings to select

• Paperback

• Black & white interior

• White paper

• Left-to-right

• Units: inches

• Trim size: 8.5 x 8.5 (or your choice)

• Page count: 102 pages (use your exact count)

Click Calculate dimensions and download the template.

Use the template in Canva

• Upload the template JPG to Canva

• Place it over your cover design

• Lower transparency so you can align everything

• Keep all text and key elements out of red bleed zones

Step 9: Create a Cover That Looks Professional (Without Overdesigning)

A simple strategy that works well:

1. Take one of your mandala images

2. Use Gemini (or another tool) to add color for the cover only

3. If there’s an unwanted frame, ask the tool to remove it or crop it out in Canva

4. Layer typography in Canva using multiple text layers to make it pop:

   • One layer with a subtle shadow/lift

   • Another layer with a thin outline in a matching color from the art

   • Keep it clean, not “muddy”

Add back cover previews

On the back cover, include a few small interior thumbnails so shoppers instantly understand what they’re getting.

Step 10: Export Correctly for Amazon KDP (Interior + Cover)

Interior export

• PDF Standard is usually fine for black-and-white line art interiors

• If you’re worried about pixelation, export PDF Print

Cover export (always higher quality)

• Export PDF Print

• Set color mode to CMYK (print)

  • RGB is for digital screens

  • CMYK is for physical printing

Final Checklist Before You Upload to KDP

• Pages are black and white line art only (no grayscale shading)

• Shapes are closed and colorable

• Interior pages are the correct trim size

• Cover text stays inside safe zones

• Cover is exported as PDF Print (CMYK)

• You’re not publishing a generic “adult coloring book” title without a niche hook

Quick Niche Reminder (The Real Reason This Works)

The win is not “mandalas” or “flowers.”

The win is this: you combined two proven themes into one clear niche and built the product around what Amazon is already showing you sells.