From Unicorns to Zombies, Matt Meppelink Has a Coloring Book for You

by Bill Lee | contributing writer

Matt Meppelink has always been the creative type. When he attended Lowell High School (a 2005 graduate), he took a computer graphics course and he was involved in music. He even went to college for music and enjoyed designing album covers and flyers for the band. But when his son was born in 2012, things got a bit busier, and it became harder to pursue his creative pursuits. He finds an outlet in his regular job as a sheet metal worker, but he had been searching for something else to fill
that void.

Recently, Meppelink had a creative spurt overtake him, and he sort of stumbled upon an idea. He started making recipe books and workout journals and wanted to create more interesting covers than the plain ones he saw. Although it was interesting, the books he created didn’t inspire him.

Then, thinking about his son, he decided to use his computer graphic skills to design his first coloring book, a monster truck book. Then, he created a shark coloring book. He put them up on Amazon and within a three-week period, he didn’t have any sales. It was fine, as his expectations were set low, so he decided not to look at it again for a while. The next time he checked, he was in for a surprise.

“It was probably about two weeks later, I finally checked it,” said Matt Meppelink. “I was in Memphis visiting my brother and I got one sale. That was in mid-August. I didn’t have a sale for another week and then the fire truck one sold. I was like ‘oh cool, I have two of them sold so far this month.’ Then September 2nd, I sold a couple of books in one day and now I’ve been selling a few books each day.

They have started to take off.” His process begins with an idea - let’s say a zombie coloring book - then he will design 30-70 images for the book. Each image takes about ten minutes. From there, he puts the book together and then sends his work to Amazon for the next steps. “I create the book into an all-digital format and then I send it to Amazon,” said Meppelink.

“Amazon is my publisher and distributor. I do all that legwork and they do all the shipping and printing. I do my own advertising.” He only makes a couple of dollars per book but he doesn’t mind, as he loves the process of it all – from coming up with ideas, to designing, to putting the book together, to seeing his sales.  His books are for all ages, including coloring books about trucks, motorcycles, unicorns, mermaids, zombies, monsters, and even dinosaurs playing sports.

He loves to think about all the people who might be enjoying his work. “I’ve always liked the brightly colored artwork,” said Meppelink. “With the coloring books, you can get more out of it. Who knows where my coloring books will sell? Come to find out I’ve sold them in five different countries now. Some kid around the world could be coloring one of my books that I’ve created from right here in Lowell, Michigan.

“My first zombie book was bought in Australia.” He is always looking for feedback from people about what would be good
topics for his books. When he started, he only made coloring books for young boys because he knew what his son enjoyed, but then parents of girls wanted him to create books about unicorns and mermaids, things their daughters loved. “I’m still pretty new at this and learning everything as I go and I’m learning more with each book, and I do enjoy talking to people and getting their feedback,” said Meppelink.

“I want something of quality out there.” He has only been doing this for about six months, so he hasn’t had time to think about what he might do in the future. He has thought about maybe creating some activity books filled with crosswords, word
searches, and other games. Right now, he has enough to do with his coloring books. “I have a big old list, and I have three or four books ready to go,” said Meppelink. 

“I’m just seeing where this is going. I might have to create an LLC and have a side business.” If you would like to see and maybe buy Matt Meppelink’s work, please visit his Amazon page.