Let me give you the number that still surprises me every time I think about it.
I made a coloring book. One coloring book — an Appalachian folklore themed collection called Appalachian Folklore: A Spooky Coloring Activity. It took me several weeks to get it to the level I wanted — learning the tools, getting the formatting right, fixing the things that looked fine on screen and terrible in print, starting over more than once.
And then I listed it. And then I forgot about it. And then sales started happening — on Etsy, locally in stores here in Asheville, and from people in other countries who found it while I was doing something completely unrelated to coloring books.
Here's the full breakdown of what I made, what it cost, and whether selling coloring books on Etsy is actually worth the effort.
The scorecard
Why I tried it
I needed a hustle with zero upfront cost that could earn while I wasn't actively working. I'd been watching AI-generated coloring books appear on Etsy and I was already curious about the tools. The intersection of "free to make" and "sells while you sleep" was enough to get me started.
The niche almost chose itself. Living in Asheville, North Carolina — deep in Appalachian country — I was surrounded by the folklore, the mountain myths, the local legends that don't get nearly enough attention in mainstream publishing. An Appalachian folklore coloring book felt like something I genuinely wanted to exist in the world. That made it easier to push through the learning curve.
What I actually did
The honest version of the timeline is that it took longer than I expected. The tools had a learning curve. Getting the images to look right for a coloring book specifically — high contrast, clean outlines, nothing that turns into a gray smear when you print it — took real trial and error.
I used Canva for the layout and assembly. Free tier. The coloring pages, a cover, exported as a PDF for the digital version and formatted separately for the physical print version.
The part nobody tells you: there's a meaningful difference between a coloring book that looks good on a screen and one that actually works when someone prints it and tries to color it. I learned that difference the slow way.
Once I was happy with it I listed it on Etsy as a digital download through my shop EquanimityPrints and started talking to local Asheville stores about carrying a printed version.
The actual product — go look at it
I'm not going to ask you to take my word for any of this. Here's the receipts:
- Etsy shop (digital downloads): EquanimityPrints on Etsy — you'll find the Appalachian Folklore coloring books, Fungi of Appalachia, Critters of Appalachia, and a few planners and trackers I've made since
- Amazon KDP (physical book): Appalachian Folklore on Amazon — this is the same content as a printed physical book that Amazon prints and ships on demand. I also wrote a full KDP scorecard with the royalty math if you want the numbers on that side.
The Etsy version is the digital download — buy it, print it at home, color it. The Amazon version ships to your door as a bound book. Same Appalachian folklore content, two completely different buyers, two completely different ways to access it.
The Appalachian folklore niche — why it works
Choosing a hyper-specific niche wasn't accidental. "Adult coloring book" has hundreds of thousands of listings on Etsy. "Appalachian folklore coloring book" has almost none — and yet people are actively searching for exactly that.
The buyers who find my shop aren't browsing casually. They're looking for something specific that connects to where they're from, where they've visited, or a part of American folklore they love. That specificity is the whole game with digital products on Etsy. Generic loses to specific every time.
Since the original Appalachian Folklore book I've expanded the EquanimityPrints shop to include:
- Fungi of Appalachia — a coloring book for the mushroom and foraging crowd (a surprisingly large and passionate community)
- Critters of Appalachia — local wildlife illustrated for coloring
- Planners and trackers — daily wellness planners, macro meal planners, consistency trackers
Each one follows the same model: specific niche, $0 to make, earns passively.
The local store angle
This is the part that surprised me most. I approached local stores in Asheville — the kind that carry handmade, local, and Appalachian-themed products — and a few of them were interested. Printed copies, sold on consignment or wholesale, sitting on an actual shelf.
That channel made around $150. For something I made once.
The Asheville market is particularly good for Appalachian content — the city draws visitors from all over who want to take something local home with them. A printed coloring book with Appalachian folklore imagery is exactly that kind of purchase. I didn't plan this when I was making the book, but the niche alignment turned out to be genuinely valuable.
The combination of Etsy digital downloads (passive, international reach) and local physical copies (community, cash, no shipping) turned one product into multiple income streams without making a second product.
What the numbers actually mean
Total revenue across all channels: roughly $165+, still growing. Upfront cost: $0. Ongoing cost: $0.
Every sale from here is profit. That's the math that makes digital products different from every other hustle. The time cost is front-loaded. Once it's made, it keeps earning without you.
I've gotten sales from people in other countries. Someone on the other side of the world bought something I made during nap time and it arrived in their inbox automatically. No warehouse. No shipping. No customs forms. That still gets me.
What went wrong
The learning curve was real. If I'd known at the start what I know now about formatting for print, I would have saved at least a week of rework.
I also underpriced initially. The Etsy digital downloads are currently priced at $10-$12.50 in the shop — I started lower and moved up. Low prices on Etsy can signal low quality to buyers who don't know you yet. The Appalachian niche especially attracts buyers willing to pay a fair price for something specific and well-made.
The physical books on Amazon required separate formatting with specific margin requirements — that was its own learning curve on top of the Etsy setup.
What I'd do differently
Research the niche before building anything. I got lucky that Appalachian folklore was both specific enough to have low competition and broad enough to have real demand. Spend 30 minutes on Etsy filtering by sold listings before you make a single page.
Build a series from the start. The EquanimityPrints shop now has multiple books in the Appalachian niche — Folklore, Fungi, Critters. Buyers who find one find the others. A single listing is fine. A shop with a coherent theme is much better.
Price for quality from the start. The current pricing in the shop ($10-$18 for the coloring books) is much better than where I started. Don't undersell work that took real time to make.
Talk to local stores earlier. Especially if you're in a place with strong local identity — Asheville, Appalachian country, anywhere with a distinct regional culture — local stores are an underrated channel that most digital product creators ignore completely.
Would I do it again
Yes. Without hesitation. Zero upfront cost, still earning, sold internationally, sold in local Asheville stores, and the shop keeps growing with each new title I add.
If you want to see the actual products before you take any of this advice:
👉 EquanimityPrints on Etsy — digital downloads, instant delivery 👉 Appalachian Folklore on Amazon — physical printed book, ships to your door
The only thing I'd change is starting sooner.
Have you tried selling something locally that you also sell online? The two channels together are more powerful than either one alone. And if you're in the Appalachian region — let me know, I'd love to hear what's working in your market. Hit reply or drop a comment.
Leave a comment