Blogger: Wendy Lawton
As Lauraine Snelling and I traveled last month, visiting bookstores all across the Midwest, trend spotting was unavoidable. In fact we were gobsmacked by one particular trend in the Books A Million store in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I’d like to use this bit of trend spotting to talk about book trends and what we can learn from them.
As we walked into the store, the first thing we saw was a huge gondola of adult coloring books.
What fun! Then we began to look around the store. Right in that front area there were seven large displays of adult coloring books– every subject, every area of interest, every level of artistic talent. I began taking pictures of each display to share with you. Yes, these photos were taken from one store only.
Why did I do that? Because this is a great springboard to talk about what you can learn about trends. Let’s talk:
If I want to jump on a trend, when is the time to do it? The best place to be in the arc of a trend is the trend setter. The trend setter “owns” the trend and every other book is compared to that trend setter. In the case of adult coloring books I believe it was the Enchanted Garden.
How does one become a trend setter? Here’s the rub: You can’t make it happen. You can only create cutting edge “product” and wait to see if it catches. Acceptance and enthusiasm of the masses is what makes a trend.
So what about jumping on a trend? The best time to jump on a trend is when it is emerging. But it takes real market savvy to spot a trend in its infancy. In adult coloring books, those who published in the first couple years saw gargantuan sales. We kept hearing, “Who would have guessed?”
When do you not want to jump on a trend? When that particular trend is mature. For instance, if you decided to create an adult coloring book now, do those photos give you a taste for how difficult it would be to stand out in the market? Remember Chick Lit of about ten years ago? As soon as the first few authors were successful with it, a significant number of novelists tried to jump on board. That trend, however, had very limited appeal and disappeared quickly. Quirky is fun for a change but a solid diet of it is like overdosing on candy.
So how does someone take advantage of a somewhat mature trend? You figure out how to morph the trend into something new–like Books & Such client Lisa Bogart did with her 
devotional that had design to color and text (each devotion has a coloring page to go with it). She married two strong concepts–coloring and devotionals–successfully. (I know. I know. Not many Books & Such clients dye their hair to match their book.) Or you might want to find the one variation of the trend that is missing or underrepresented. For instance, in every store we visited, Lauraine looked for an adult coloring book featuring horses and never found one. Is there room for a coloring book for those who love horses?
Should I try to be taking advantage of a trend? Only if that trend is exactly who you are and what you would like to write anyway. Trends can change in the blink of an eye. If you are avidly trend spotting and even if you believe you are catching an emerging trend, a good book likely cannot be created fast enough to take advantage of that trend. And even if you got it written while the trend was still strong, it takes about a year for a book to be published once it’s been acquired. It’s a big risk to chase trends.
So why do we engage in trend spotting? Because we learn about the reading (or coloring) public by seeing what they love. Our job is to figure out what is at the heart of a trend and find ways we can satisfy that need with our work.
So now I hand it over to you to finish this blog. Here’s the question I need you to answer:
Knowing that people fell in love with the idea of adult coloring books, what does that tell you about those potential readers and how can you satisfy that need in your work?
Wendy,
What an engaging post! I need to read it again for the depth of it! 🙂
As for writers satisfying trend setting coloring book craze, we should color our scenes with as much depth and details as those coloring pages have. I do hope that coloring book people still read novels. You can have two escape routes, right? 😉
That’s an interesting take, Tisha. To be sure to add that sensory layer to our books.
The popularity of adult coloring books is clear evidence that our digital world doesn’t fully satisfy. People crave inspiring borders for their imaginations to fill. I want my books to outline an intimate relationship with God that my readers will color to reflect their unique personalities.
Amen, Shirlee! Even though Millennials are enamored with technology, God created certain areas in our brain where a need must be satisfied through actual interaction with stimuli. (not sure I said that right) But the bottom line is: we need to physically smell a flower and food, touch a paint brush or another person. This is where digital falls short and I think eventually certain needs will out weigh technology, even for the tech obsessed.
Absolutely, Lara. And our books should encourage people to connect in those time-honored ways, whether fiction or nonfiction.
Brilliant, Shirlee! “The popularity of adult coloring books is clear evidence that our digital world doesn’t fully satisfy.” Isn’t that the truth? Thinking about that should give us many new pathways to connect with readers.
My eighty-eight year old neighbor introduced me to the world of adult coloring books. She even recommended a certain brand of pencils for the best results. Last Christmas I bought coloring books for my entire young adult crew. Each of the five books selected were based on that person’s interests. My son in-law received Game of Thrones, my girls tastes ranged from Art Deco inspired designs to woodland fairies.
*As an art major, I find the idea of coloring books appealing and I love inspecting the vast selections available, but I don’t own any. I just don’t have the time to color. I experienced the same dilemma years ago with scrapbooking. The finished product is an awesome keepsake, but I’d rather read a good book or write.
*I think the trend of adult coloring books took off because it filled the varied needs of many different people: relaxation, therapy, artistic expression, a reconnect with your childhood or your own children. My church is very focused on people connecting through small groups and I’ll bet there is a group for those who want to gather to pray and color.
*My potential readers are young adults and my goal is to write exciting, faith based stories that will appeal to both Christian and secular readers in this genre. Yep, that’s a lofty goal to be sure, but it’s where God has directed me, I personally enjoy reading YA and the potential crossover market is huge. Call me old fashioned, but I still think a great way to extend God’s love to young adults is through a good book. That’s a need I hope to satisfy.
Numbskull me forgot to mention that I like Lisa Bogart’s hair! I’ll also be on the look out for her devotional. This may be my chance to color!
Great analysis, Lara. I, too, think coloring in a group is a great way for people to use their creativity and be able to connect with each other in a less threatening way. Which is more appealing: Sitting in a circle being asked to “share” or sitting at a table or laying on on the floor coloring, where the fun and sharing (and laughter) come naturally. Lots of discussions of boundaries and coloring outside the lines. . .
Gobsmacked! When was the last time I heard or read that word in a sentence. 🙂 It, well, gobsmacked me all through reading the post and I had to go back and read twice! Seriously, though, you’re right about jumping on trends and your questions are thought provoking. A childhood devourer of Walter Farley’s “Black Stallion” series, I would love a coloring book on horses. Adult coloring books satisfy the need for a quiet space away from the real world, don’t they? A way to interact with a world the author has drawn for us, bringing our own interpretation and color. Not so different from reading a good book.
As Lauraine kept searching for horse coloring books all I could picture was big blocks of brown or black or. . . 🙂
I saw one featuring different horse breeds published by Dover in a gift shop in Depoe Bay, OR, last week.
or gray or spotted or palomino! 🙂 But you’re right! A smart artist would include tack and rider, flowers around race winners, and rainbows.
Interesting, Wendy. a couple of thoughts on the adult colouring book trend –
1) Shirlee hit two salient points beautifull; the first is that the digital world doesn’t satisfy, and they are looking for a direct and tactile engagement with their surroundings.
2) Shirlee also mentioned that people want “inspired borders for their imagination to fill”; they want a solid framework whose accuracy and strength of message they can trust.
* I’d add a couple more –
3) Colouring is absorbing, and this trend seems to indicate a need for something that will take them back, with no distractions, to a simpler time, and to childhood’s innocence and simple joy.
4) They want a degree of handholding; colouring is far removed from the twin disciplines of drawing and painting. For satisfaction in representational art, these latter two require a long apprenticeship.
5) In spite of (4) above, it seems to me that there is a reservoir of need for control over one’s life. The degree by which we’re confined and herded by regulations – I mean, who today would want to start a small Christian-themed bakery or photography studio? – makes many feel powerless and irrelevant in the larger scheme of things. Colouring allows the unfettered creation of something that’s both beautiful and individual (insofar as the colours and technique are concerned).
* So where might this leave the writer? Perhaps fulfilling a need for books that –
A) Make some definite demands on imagination, the way good SF does.
B) Use storylines that embrace ‘vastness’ and individual potential and possibility, along with being tied back to a perceived past when life was better, and might have more scope.
C) Work within a moral framework that is always there, but that allows for individual scope within the required boundaries. A colouring book without boundaries will soon be a mess; so will a life lived without a set of guiding principles.
* I guess this might point to stories that are set in distant, rural venues, like the Australian Outback or Central India or Nepal, that have a firm Christian basis but don’t discount or disrespect other faiths (the Hindu sidekick remains a Hindu), and that set an ‘average Joe or Jane’ protagonist against high odds and deliver an unequivocal success based on a culturally-collective childhood dream or dread, be that success moral or temporal. It’s the David and Goliath story, really; nowhere near new, but waiting evergreen for us to call to it for strength.
To go from adult colouring books to David and Goliath…sheesh. That kind of convoluted thinking beggars belief.
Andrew, your points #3 and #4 took me back to my middle school days and the favorite pastime of painting by numbers. No skill needed and it was great fun.
Lara, I remember that too!
I love the way you looked at what coloring offers and found a way to connect that to our books. That’s the kind of outgrowth we want from trend spotting.
Wendy, thank you so much; your words are more than kind, they are a needed reassurance. I’ve been having some trouble of late with clarity of thought and coherent communication (just ask Barbara!) and when I re-read that which I had posted as a comment, I thought I’d taken a hard left turn into literary La-La Land.
I think people love something that sweeps them back to their childhood days–something sweet, comfortable, home–or the childhood they wished to have had or the one they want to give to their children or grandchildren. Even if just in the heart. I loved hearing that Ron Hall and Denver Moore’s movie is coming out Feb 17, and I cherished interviewing them and sharing their story. They created a sweet wave of missions. I wonder if another wave will come about with their movie. After having gotten just a peek, I’d love to jump on that sweet train, especially with my second novel, since they helped inspire some of it. But I’d have to be superwoman in skill and speed to catch that train pulling out. And it’s tempting to think–it’s just me. But God uses all the me’s of this world. So I’m going to ready myself in case that sweet train comes back around one day. 🙂
But that’s the kind of trend spotting we need to do as writers– anticipate what movies are coming out and what we anticipate might be a result if it catches.
As an adult, I love coloring more than I did as a kid. When I would watch my cousins or my niece, I would love coloring with them. I am glad they now have adult coloring books. I need to buy a few and sit down, when I have time, to do them. Coloring lets me get in touch with my inner child and that it is OK to go outside the lines or to incorporate a different color wherever. It’s OK for the sky to be green and the grass to be red when you are coloring, who says rules need apply. It’s OK to be imaginative when you are coloring just like it is OK to be imaginative when you are writing a book.
And I’m guessing coloring may enhance creativity in writing as so many creative things do. My best writing used to come after a day spent sculpting (my former day job).
Eau Clarie! They are my people! I have a cousin in town there and she is always letting me know what the displays look like. At one point I was actually face front! teehee. That only happened for a few days. What was it you were saying about catching the wave of a trend? Hmmmm It’s a wild ride to be sure!
I loved Wisconsin. I didn’t know you had Wisconsin roots. Hang on as you continue on this wild ride. 🙂
Yup both parents born and raised. Just took a road trip back with my mom and brother. Fan-tas-tic! And there was PIE! But I digress, I’m home and drawing again. Still in the hot seat of a trend.
A kindred spirit, Lisa!
On Wisconsin! I love the memories, I love the people. I love the beauty. I love the cows. I love the red barns. I love the snow. I don’t love the cold (no place is perfect **sigh**).
I even love the cold. But knitters do, we get to wear all our creations! You are right on all counts WI is Wonderful.
One of the ‘help you make more money’ courses being offered to authors is a course on making and marketing your own adult coloring book. I saw it a couple of weeks ago. My first thought was, it’s too late. Watching that trend has been a nice change of pace, though. My 83 year old mother bought two adult coloring books when my dad took her shopping (she had a stroke in December and is now limited), which I thought was interesting. But she hasn’t colored in either one yet. Maybe I will do that with her one of these days.
Loved seeing the pictures. Wow!
Norma, the neighbor I mentioned has a 20-something grandson that colors with her. I think that’s so sweet.
I think you’re right. It’s too late. The people who’ve made a place in that industry are already there. The only exception would be licensing which has always been a staple of coloring books– like the Game of Thrones or Narnia books.
I often colored with my children and grandchildren, and I remember my mother teaching me to color in the lines. So coloring now brings back memories of different generations of family. Simple times of bonding and expressing ourselves. Since this is a big trend now, do you think our stories should strive to bring back memories of bonding with family and simple times?
I remember coloring with my sibs. Would that there was time to gather together and do it as adults. (Or that they were all still here to do it.)
I think people today may want something physical since they spend so much time looking at screens. Consider how popular quilting has become. I know some kids’ books have tangible features, but I wonder if there are other ways to include things like that in books for adults. Perhaps a devotional might have a place to draw a picture as well as suggestions for readers to write their thoughts. Of course some books have always included things lice recipes at the end of historical fiction stories. I wonder if we could find more ways to involve readers physically.
Good comparison, Janet, quilting to coloring. And look how many novels have used quilting or knitting as a setting.
Great thoughts about trends. I also purchased one of the coloring books in a tropical location, to remind me to slow down now and then and enjoy life more. The tranquil pictures bring me back to the lull of the ocean waves. And I also paint, but the coloring is much more portable and easier to just pull out for a short time. I used to do needlepoint at my children’s karate lessons since they were so loud. It was settling (and kept me from headaches from the KIAYA’s ) and I wanted to stay and watch the great anti-bullying lessons at the end of each session.