"Secret Garden" Social Success

With a focus on children's play, it is refreshing to consider adult pastimes that are nevertheless youthful and fun. Last week, Alexandra Alter of The New York Times featured Johanna Basford, illustrator of adult coloring books "Secret Garden" and "Enchanted Forest." (click for purchase)

Released two years ago, "Secret Garden" is now a global bestseller with a large following. Alter writes, "Like Play-Doh, jungle gyms and nursery rhymes, coloring books have always seemed best suited for the preschool set. So Ms. Basford and her publisher were surprised to learn that there was a robust — and lucrative — market for coloring books aimed at grown-ups."

The cautious first printing of 16,000 books is dwarfed by the total 1.4 million copies sold. 430,000 copies have been sold in South Korea alone, possibly due to pop star Kim Ki-bum's Instagram post of his colored page. 

The visual appeal of pages begs to be shared with friends. Other fans also use Instagram to showcase completed pages, almost definitely contributing to the hype.

Basford's second book, "Enchanted Forest," was published in February, and initial printing of almost 250,000 is close to selling out. On Facebook the illustrator promised new stock soon, and fans are anxiously waiting.

 
The success of "Secret Garden" and "Enchanted Forest" opens a new market for grown-up coloring books. More importantly, the books highlight the opportunity influencers and image-centric sites like Instagram offer to illustrators and publishers of books for all ages.