Is It Too Late to Publish a Christmas Coloring Book on KDP? Amazon’s Results, Counted

Oct 31, 2026 · Rey Midas · Counted from Amazon’s search results that day

It is too late to count on page 1 this year, and not too late to publish. We read the first 4 pages of Amazon’s results for “christmas coloring book” on October 31, 2026, and opened all 93 listings. At least 23 Christmas coloring books published in October were already there. None was in the top 24, where the newest book dated from September 9, though one dated October 30 sat at #25. Submit by November 16 and your book should be live before Black Friday. We’d choose a specific buyer and judge the book over two Christmases, knowing it may sell very little in either.

The answers we read to this question mostly came from vendors, with dates from September to December and no counts behind them. So here is the shelf itself. Disclosure: we sell a coloring book generator, so weigh our conclusion with that in mind. The counts are there for you to check.

Want to see your Christmas theme as a page first? Draw a free sample page (about 15 seconds, no signup) or make the full book for $9.99.

What the shelf looks like on October 31

Christmas coloring listings in the first 4 result pages	73
Published in 2026	35 of 72 with a date
Published in October 2026	At least 23
Of those 23, on page 1 / 2 / 3 / 4	0 / 5 / 9 / 9 (the highest at #25)
Newest book on page 1	September 9, 2026
Median ratings, all 73	24
Median ratings, the 22 on page 1	376 (8 of them under 60)
No ratings at all	17 of 73 (15 are October books)
Independently published	41 of 73 (10 of 22 on page 1)

Amazon.com, read once from one browser with a US delivery address on October 31, 2026. Results vary by shopper and by the hour. Page 1 showed no sponsored labels on its result cards when we checked; you may see ads. Page size is 24 results, so “page 1” is the top 24. The 73 are print titles naming Christmas, Xmas, holiday or advent and coloring, including a few mixed activity books. We left out Kindle editions, sticker kits and titles that don’t name both. One listing shows no date and looks new, so the October count is a floor. Dates are the publication dates Amazon shows, and an older title may be a new edition.

Two things stand out. You have plenty of late company: almost a third of these listings went up this month, and one is dated today. Being listed is not the same as being on top: new books appear quickly, and a book dated the day before, with no ratings, sat at #25. But the top 24 had a median of 376 ratings, and its youngest book had about seven weeks’ head start. It isn’t only for big names, though: 8 of those 22 have under 60 ratings.

That is one day’s snapshot, eight weeks before Christmas, so some of these October books may yet climb. We plan to run the same search again in mid-November and add what moved.

The date to submit by

We found no KDP holiday deadline published by Amazon. KDP’s Timelines page gives the inputs: 3 business days to go live, up to 72 hours for a new paperback page on Amazon.com, and up to 6 days if your account has never published a book. The dates below are our arithmetic from those figures and the last column is our opinion. Neither is an Amazon rule:

You do this	Expect	Our read
Submit by Nov 6	Live about Nov 11-16	At least 11 days before Black Friday. The best of what is left.
Submit by Nov 16	Live about Nov 19-24	The last date we’d plan on: live before Black Friday (Nov 27) with a few days to spare, if nothing is rejected.
Submit in December	Live within days	Possible, but we’d treat it as next year’s book.

KDP also warns that low-content reviews may take 3–4 weeks. That should not usually touch you: its low-content page lists coloring books as “Not Generally Low-Content”. KDP can still take longer on any book, and a rejected cover or interior restarts the wait, so order a printed proof if you have the days and don’t plan around the last date.

What happens to books published in November

Six of the 22 books on page 1 were published in a November or December of an earlier year. One is a big publisher’s edition; these are the other five:

Position	Book	Published	Ratings	Pages
#7	Large Print Christmas Coloring Book for Adults	Nov 3, 2024	442	105
#10	Christmas Coloring Book for Toddlers & Kids: Stocking Stuffers	Nov 2, 2025	38	101
#13	Merry Christmas: Cozy Coloring Book for Adults and Teens	Nov 16, 2024	526	90
#18	Christmas Coloring Book For Kids: Cute And Easy	Nov 10, 2022	108	100
#20	Christmas Coloring Book for Adults: Large Print	Nov 28, 2025	14	105

So a November book can be on page 1 in a later year. The one dated November 28, 2025 sits there with just 14 ratings. This doesn’t prove any of them earned money, and it doesn’t show how many late books vanished, because a results page shows only the survivors. It is only a reason not to judge a book by its first six weeks.

What we’d do

This part is our judgment. The count doesn’t test it.

Name a buyer, not just “Christmas”. Don’t count on reaching the top of those broad words in three weeks. October’s entrants already try narrower angles: nativity scenes for kids, English-Spanish words, farm animals, witchy Christmas, festive cats, a 25-day advent book. A narrower search has fewer books to beat and also fewer shoppers, and none of those books has yet shown it worked. Some generic titles do hold page 1, but they have had a year or more to get there.
Check your exact phrase first. Search it on Amazon in Books and read the ratings on the first ten results. Our ten-minute niche check has the steps.
Don’t try to win on price. The table below shows why.
Consider a wider season. A winter book with a few Christmas pages isn’t tied to December 25.
Declare AI if you used it. KDP asks at upload. Our KDP guide covers the rules.

What each price earns

Several newer page 1 books showed $5.75 to $6.99 that day, and the most common price among October’s books was $9.99. Amazon’s shown price can differ from what a seller set, so we can’t read their margins. This is what each list price earns per Amazon.com sale on a standard 8.5 × 11″ black-ink book of 24–110 pages (how that works):

List price	You earn per sale
$5.75	$0.04
$5.99	$0.16
$6.99	$0.66
$7.99	$1.16
$9.99	$3.15

A book listed at $5.75 earns almost nothing per sale, though a low launch price can be a deliberate choice. A late book has few weeks of selling left, so we’d want each sale to count and list at $9.99.

Try your Christmas theme: draw a free sample page

One click draws a real line-art page in about 15 seconds. Change the theme or style if you like. Free, no signup.

Christmas Santa coloring page drawn by the generator — Real output: “santa”

Know what you want already? Make the full book (10–30 pages + cover, $9.99) →

What this count can’t tell you

It can’t tell you how many copies any of these books sell, because Amazon doesn’t publish that. We aren’t converting ranks into sales. The October books’ ranks in all of Amazon Books ran from about 34,000 (a trade publisher’s title; about 47,000 for the best independent one) to 939,000, with three showing none yet. A rank can jump on a single sale. It also can’t tell you demand by week, or how many late books sold nothing. Plan as if your first Christmas book may sell very little.

Make the book this week for $9.99

The Coloring Book Machine turns a one-line theme into a print-ready 8.5 × 11″ KDP interior PDF plus a cover: 20 designs by default (about 42 pages), or choose up to 30 on the Machine page (about 60). One limit to know: all 10 independently published books on page 1 run 100–108 pages, so yours would be shorter than those. At 30 designs it matches the median of October’s newcomers. If you want a 50-design book, this isn’t it. No subscription; a free sample page comes first.

Make my Christmas book →

Questions

Is it too late to publish a Christmas coloring book on KDP in November?

It is too late to count on page 1 of the broad search this year, but not too late to publish. On October 31, 2026, at least 23 Christmas coloring books published that month were in Amazon’s first 4 result pages. None was in the top 24, whose newest book dated from September 9, though one dated October 30 sat at #25. From KDP’s stated review times, a book submitted by November 16 should be live before Black Friday. We’d pick a specific buyer rather than a general title, and judge the book over two seasons, though it may sell very little in either.

What is the last day to publish a Christmas book on Amazon KDP?

We found no deadline published by Amazon for KDP books, and the dates on vendor blogs conflict. Working from KDP’s stated review times, we would plan on submitting by November 16, 2026. That leaves room for the up-to-6-day wait on a first book and should put it live before Black Friday on November 27, if nothing is rejected. This is our arithmetic, not an Amazon rule.

How long does KDP take to publish a paperback?

KDP’s Timelines help page says it takes 3 business days for a book to be live, and up to 72 hours for a new paperback detail page on Amazon.com. Accounts with no previously published book may take up to 6 days. Other marketplaces take up to 5 days, and Amazon.ca up to 30 days.

Do coloring books get the 3-4 week low-content review delay?

KDP warns that low-content book reviews may take 3-4 weeks, but its low-content page lists coloring books under “Not Generally Low-Content”. So the warning should not usually apply, though KDP can still review any book for longer. It is one more reason not to wait for the last date.

Will a Christmas coloring book published late sell next year?

It might, but nobody outside Amazon can see sales per book. Six of the 22 Christmas coloring books on page 1 on October 31, 2026 were published in a November or December of an earlier year, including one dated November 28, 2025 with 14 ratings. That doesn’t prove they earned money, and a results page shows only the survivors, not the late books that vanished.

What page count do Christmas coloring books use?

All 10 independently published books on page 1 run 100-108 pages, which works out to about 50 designs with blank backs. The October 2026 newcomers are shorter, with a median of 60 pages. For an 8.5 × 11" black-ink book, every count from 24 to 110 pages costs the same $2.84 to print.

What price should a Christmas coloring book use?

$9.99 unless you have a reason. It is where KDP’s rate goes from 50% to 60%, and it earns about $3.15 per Amazon.com sale on an 8.5 × 11" black-ink book. At a $5.99 list price the same book earns about $0.16. Eleven of the 23 October books showed $9.99.