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Creating a coloring book for book lovers
What if you could combine your love for reading with a creative hobby? We proudly present Lily Belle’s Bookish Moments, a coloring book for book lovers. Read the blog to find out how we created our coloring book and why it has such a special place in our hearts.
Discovering ColorTok
It must have been around Christmas time 2024 that I found myself trapped in a TikTok bubble called ‘colortok’. I was amazed and intrigued by the phenomenon that so many teens and adults were coloring their hearts out, and not just on mandelas as I had always assumed. There are cute illustrations of animals and cozy scenarios of teenage girls and their hobbies. I couldn’t help myself and bought a few coloring books and alcohol markers. A new addiction was born for me and my 19 year old daughter.
It didn’t take long for me to start dreaming about a coloring book that would focus on bookish scenarios for book lovers. Sure, there were other bookish coloring books out there, but none that had the vibe I was looking for. I talked to the team at Bookinfluencers.com; wouldn’t it be fun to have our own coloring book? They were enthusiastic and that’s how our little project took off.
Finding the perfect artist
First, I started searching for talented artists that could help me develop the coloring book. Unfortunately I do not have the skills to draw my own coloring book. Our demands were clear: the artist we were looking for should be able to make cute and cozy hand-drawn illustrations of people. I gave Fiverr a try but found out that many ‘artists’ were using AI while pretending to be real. In the meantime I had also reached out to some artists on Instagram and came to an agreement with Victoria (@art.by.vica). Victoria is a very talented artist, who had already collaborated with various authors on illustrations for their books.
Since our coloring book was aimed at book lovers, I decided to include the book community in the creation process. We posted on TikTok and Instagram asking our followers to come up with bookish scenarios they’d like to see.
Starting the design process
Based on these ideas, I briefed Victoria on the thirty coloring pages we wanted to be developed. I also described the five characters who should be the heroes of the coloring book: Lily Belle – our main character, an avid reader, an aspiring writer and a huge Taylor Swift fan – and her four friends: Stella, Sarah, Mina and Riley. At the end of February 2025 Victoria started her first drawings.
We agreed on a feedback process in which Victoria would deliver a first draft of the coloring page. The draft was then checked by a group of people who were able to give their feedback to me. I would collect the feedback and communicate our requested changes with Victoria. Victoria would make the changes and deliver a revised draft. In most situations these first revisions became the final drawings.
Entering Colortok
From the moment we started receiving final coloring pages, we started sharing content about the coloring book on TikTok. We thought it would be best to set up a separate colortok account for the coloring book and engage with followers with an interest in both coloring and reading.
We would also regularly post on our Bookinfluencers channels to keep people updated about the progress of the coloring book.
By the end of May Victoria had finished all thirty drawings and she had also colored the cover page. Her work was done, but ours wasn’t. The cover page needed to be finished with a heading and most importantly the coloring book needed to be formatted before we could offer it for sale.
Lily Belle’s Bookish Moments live for sale!
We chose to only offer our coloring book for sale on Amazon. The Amazon KDP program appealed to us because it is a print on demand service, meaning they are in charge of printing and distributing the coloring book. The fact that I would have no inventory and would not have the hassle of going back and forth to the post office was music to my ears. It would also mean we would be able to offer the book on regional Amazon marketplaces, next to Amazon.com.
Early June we uploaded the coloring book to Amazon KDP. It took us hours because of all the details that needed to be exactly right before Amazon accepted it. The coloring book then went through the approval process and we ordered proofs to see what the book would look like. Thankfully it looked good and we approved the book. Amazon then took a few days to put our coloring book live and make it appear on all its marketplaces.
It was a project which took way more time and was way more complicated than I had expected – especially the Amazon submission process. But the project was also very satisfying and comforting. My mother fell ill at the end of March and was submitted to hospice care meaning I sat many hours next to her bed. When she would be awake I would read books to her. When she would sleep, I was coloring our own pages. My mother died on May 21st, 2025 and I am sad she didn’t get to see the end result. She would always tell the nurses and volunteers about my project and was curious about its progress. Every time I look at our coloring book I am proud that we made such a fun product for readers, but it is also a memory of the precious time I had with my mother.
Interested in getting your own copy? You can find it here
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