Create A Coloring Book To Sell As A Therapist Side Hustle

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A coloring book fits neatly between client sessions. You design the pages in the evenings, upload the files once, and a print-on-demand platform prints and ships each copy as orders come in, so you skip the inventory, the appointment calendar, and the camera. For a therapist who already thinks in themes of calm, grounding, and self-worth, much of the content lives in your head before you ever open a design tool.

I know this path firsthand. When I was on maternity leave for my private practice, I created a set of printable ABC coloring pages to help kids 3 and under build self-esteem. Each letter paired with a positive attribute: A is for Affectionate, B is for Brave, C is for Creative, D is for Determined. I started selling them on Etsy, then moved them to my own website and used blogging to bring in traffic. I eventually retired the pages when I shifted my focus to copywriting and marketing for other therapists, and the lessons from that product shaped the advice in this guide.

Below, you will learn how to create a coloring book to sell, from choosing a theme to comparing Printify, Amazon KDP, Lulu, and Prodigi, plus the marketing habits that keep orders coming in.

Why a Coloring Book Works as a Therapist Side Hustle

Most side hustles trade more hours for more money. A coloring book asks for your hours once. Prodigi describes its print on demand colouring books as fully customisable, cover included, with no minimum order and global shipping (Prodigi). Printify bills product and shipping costs only when a sale is made in your store, according to its Shopify App Store listing (Printify on Shopify). You pay for printing after a customer pays you.

Your clinical training gives you an edge here too. You understand what settles a nervous system, what builds confidence in a child, and what language feels safe to a client. Those instincts translate directly into page themes that parents, teachers, and fellow clinicians go looking for.

Start With a Theme That Serves a Specific Person

Theme is what separates a book that sells from a folder of pretty line art. 48 Hour Books advises choosing a theme and building every design around it, keeping coloring spaces large for younger kids, and adding text below images to help teach young readers (48 Hour Books). My ABC pages followed that formula closely: one vocabulary word per letter, upper- and lowercase letters to support early learning, and every word tied to self-esteem.

Themes that suit a therapy-adjacent audience include:

Self-esteem ABCs or feelings vocabulary for young children
Grounding and mindfulness scenes, such as leaves, stones, waves, and candles
Affirmation pages where the words are part of the line art
Gratitude companions with space to write
Coping skills pages for a school counselor’s office
Profession-specific books for therapists, nurses, teachers, or social workers

Once you pick a theme, name your buyers. My listing spoke to parents, teachers, childcare providers, child psychotherapists, speech and occupational therapists, private practice owners, and mental health interns and supervisors. Each group had its own reason to buy. A parent wanted a fun way to build a child’s vocabulary, a therapist wanted an engaging session activity, and a daycare wanted pages it could reuse with many children. Write your buyer list before you draw a single line, because it becomes your listing copy, your blog topics, and your marketing plan.

Show Buyers More Than One Way to Use It

My listing gave buyers several ways to use the same file. They could print and color, laminate pages for letter tracing, print four pages per sheet and cut them into phonics flashcards, fill letters with pom-poms or leaves for fine motor practice, or pass pages around a baby shower as a guestbook activity. Each use case handed a different buyer a reason to say yes.

Apply the same thinking to your book. If you sell to clinicians, describe how a page works in session. If you sell to parents, describe how it works at the kitchen table on a rainy afternoon.

Keep in mind that my pages sold as downloadable PDFs, which buyers could print again and again as a child grew. A printed book serves a different buyer, often someone shopping for a gift. You can offer both: a digital version for professionals who want reusable pages and a printed book for everyone else.

Tools You Can Use to Make the Pages

You can build a coloring book without a design degree or an illustration background.

Canva for layout. Canva works well as your assembly desk. Set your page size to match your trim, drop in line art, add a title page and a copyright page, and export a print-ready PDF. It handles the cover as well, which helps your interior and exterior feel like one product.

AI tools for line work. AI image tools can produce coloring page line art quickly. Treat the output as a draft. Check line weights, remove stray marks, and confirm that the tool you use grants commercial rights for what you generate. Licensing terms vary by tool, so read them directly on the tool’s website.

Design rules that keep a book printable. Amazon KDP asks for lines with a minimum weight of 0.75 point (KDP Paperback Submission Guidelines). Lulu notes that single-sided designs reduce the risk of markers bleeding onto the next illustration, while double-sided pages use less paper and cost less to print (Lulu Blog). Prodigi recommends simple, bold illustrations for younger children and test-printing a few pages yourself to check scale and usability (Prodigi).

How to Create a Coloring Book to Sell, Step by Step

Step 1: Decide the format and page count

Your platform often sets your format for you. Printify’s Coloring Book product is an 8.5 x 11 inch soft cover with 26 premium white pages, printed in the USA (Printify). Lulu offers multiple sizes and binding options and a pricing calculator for comparing page counts (Lulu). Prodigi offers A4 and A5 sizes with spiral binding or PUR paperback binding (Prodigi Colouring Books). Start with a page count you can finish in a few weeks, then expand with a second volume.

Step 2: Build the interior pages

Create one clean template with consistent margins, then duplicate it for every page. Add a title page and a short welcome note. If your artwork runs to the edge of the page, KDP instructs you to extend images 0.125 inches beyond the trim size so no white border appears after trimming (KDP Paperback Submission Guidelines). Export as a PDF and review every page at 100 percent zoom, where small problems become easy to spot.

Step 3: Design a cover that reads at thumbnail size

Most buyers first see your cover at the size of a postage stamp. One clear image, a readable title, and a color palette that stands out in a grid of competitors will outperform a busy collage. If you plan a series, keep the cover template consistent so your titles look like a set.

Step 4: Choose how you will print and fulfill

You can publish inside a marketplace and let the platform handle printing, shipping, and customer service, or you can use a print-on-demand service connected to your own storefront. Here is how the options compare, based on what each provider publishes about its own services.

Platform	What it offers	Best fit
Printify	An 8.5 x 11 inch soft cover coloring book with 26 premium white pages, plus connections to stores on Shopify, Etsy, Squarespace, Wix, eBay, TikTok, and Amazon	Therapists who want their own brand, bundles with journals or mugs, and repeat customers
Amazon KDP	Paperback publishing inside Amazon’s marketplace, with downloadable manuscript templates by trim size	Sellers who want marketplace traffic and no storefront setup
Lulu	Book Builder with Premium white paper recommended for coloring and Paperback Perfect Bound for retail distribution	Sellers who want control over paper, binding, and retail reach
Prodigi	Fully customizable coloring books with no minimums, global shipping, and A4 or A5 sizes	Sellers with international buyers

I recommend Printify for most therapists starting out, because it keeps the book on your own website alongside your blog, your email list, and your other offers. Its product also works with crayons, colored pencils, markers, pastels, and watercolors, according to the product page (Printify). Start your free Printify account here.

Step 5: Set your price

Work backward from your costs. As of September 2026, Printify lists its Coloring Book starting at approximately USD 8.16 per unit, with a lower base price for Printify Premium subscribers (Printify Books Catalog). Base prices change, so confirm the current figure in your Printify dashboard. Then study what comparable books in your niche charge and choose a price that leaves you a healthy margin after printing and shipping.

Step 6: Proof and launch

Order a sample copy before you announce anything. Holding the physical book shows you line weight, paper feel, and margin issues that a screen hides. Once it looks right, publish the listing, add clear photos of three or four interior pages, and describe exactly who the book is for.

Marketing Your Coloring Book With Blogging

When I moved my coloring pages from Etsy to my own website, blogging became my traffic engine. Every post that answered a question my buyers were already searching gave them a path to my product page. That approach still works today, and it works especially well for therapists, because your buyers search for help with specific problems: building a child’s self-esteem, calming anxiety before bed, or finding session activities for young clients.

A simple blogging plan for your coloring book looks like this:

Write posts that answer the questions your buyers type into Google, then link each post to your book
Offer one finished page as a free download in exchange for an email address
Add the book to your email signature and your welcome email sequence
Photograph a real copy on a desk or in a playroom alongside your digital mockups
Bundle the book with a journal or notebook through Printify so one customer can buy twice

Want a blog that drives traffic to your digital product? I offer done-for-you blogging for therapists and wellness practitioners. I write the posts, optimize them for search, and connect them to your product so readers become buyers. Contact me directly to discuss your product and goals.

Protect Yourself With Clear Disclaimers and Terms

My product listing included three pieces of protective language that I recommend every therapist consider. First, a disclaimer explaining that, although I was a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New Jersey, the pages were educational products and did not evaluate, diagnose, or treat anyone. Second, a personal-use license that lets buyers print as often as they liked while prohibiting resale and redistribution. Third, a clear return policy for digital items.

Your licensing board and employer may have their own rules about promoting products, and those rules differ by state and setting. Confirm the requirements that apply to you, and consult an attorney to draft disclaimer and license language that fits your situation. This section is general information and does not constitute legal advice.

Mistakes That Slow Down New Coloring Book Sellers

Cramming so much detail onto a page that coloring it feels stressful
Skipping the proof copy and finding margin errors after launch
Choosing a theme so broad that the listing describes nothing specific
Using AI art before checking the tool’s commercial licensing terms
Publishing one book and waiting for sales without a traffic plan

Each of these costs time, and time is the resource you protect by choosing a product you build once.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you make money selling coloring books?

Yes, though results vary widely based on your niche, pricing, and how consistently you promote. Print on demand lets you pay for printing after each sale, which keeps your upfront costs low. The most realistic path is a small catalog of related books supported by steady marketing, such as a blog that brings in search traffic.

What kind of coloring books sell best?

Books built around a specific, recognizable theme give buyers a clear reason to choose them. 48 Hour Books recommends choosing a theme and creating designs that play off it (48 Hour Books). Niche audiences, including specific professions and specific needs like self-esteem or anxiety, are often easier to reach than a general audience.

Do you need to be an artist to create a coloring book?

No. AI image tools can generate line art, and Canva handles page assembly, title pages, and covers. Editing is where your effort goes: checking line weights, cleaning up stray marks, keeping generous white space, and confirming that your AI tool allows commercial use.

Should I sell printable pages or a printed book?

Both formats work. I sold printable PDFs, which appealed to therapists, teachers, and daycares who wanted to reprint pages for many children. A printed book through a service like Printify appeals to gift buyers and parents who want a finished product delivered to their door.

Do you need to copyright a coloring book?

Copyright rules depend on your country and your situation. Before publishing, read the content and licensing policies of the platform you use, keep records of your source files, and speak with an intellectual property attorney or your national copyright office for a definitive answer.

Start Your Coloring Book This Week

Pick one theme, name the people who will buy it, and design your first five pages. When they look right, set up your product in Printify and order a sample copy. Then write your first blog post pointing readers to it, or contact me and I will build that blog for you.

SourcesThe Truth About Marketing for Therapists: 5 Myths Exposed 20 Ways a Marketing Consultant Can Transform Your Therapy Practice

48 Hour Books. “How to Make a Coloring Book to Sell and Earn Passive Income.” https://upload.48hrbooks.com/publishing-resources/blog/290/how-to-make-a-coloring-book-to-sell-and-earn-passive-income
Amazon KDP. “Paperback Submission Guidelines.” https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201857950
Lulu. “Create a Coloring Book to Sell or Shop Coloring Books.” https://coloringbooks.lulu.com/
Lulu Blog. “How to Create, Print, and Sell a Coloring Book.” https://blog.lulu.com/create-a-coloring-book/
Printify. “Coloring Book” product page. https://printify.com/app/products/2721/generic-brand/coloring-book
Printify. “Custom Books” catalog. https://printify.com/app/products/accessories/books
Printify on the Shopify App Store. https://apps.shopify.com/printify
Prodigi. “Create & Sell Print on Demand Colouring Books.” https://www.prodigi.com/blog/create-and-sell-colouring-books/
Prodigi. “Print on Demand Colouring Book” product page. https://www.prodigi.com/products/cards-and-stationery/colouring-books/