Bestselling ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ Series Has Over 150 Million Copies in Print Worldwide
New York, NY – Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS, announced today that Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series will surpass 150 million copies in print on November 4, 2014, when the ninth book, The Long Haul, releases worldwide. It will have a 5.5-million-copy first printing in the United States, and will be the biggest publication in countries around the globe. Wimpy Kid is among the elite ranks of the few series that have surpassed the 150-million mark, including Peter Rabbit, Star Wars, and The Babysitters Club series. This major triumph comes just seven years after the first book in the series went on sale.
Published in 2007, the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid book was an instant bestseller, and just a year later, more than 100,000 copies were in print in the United States alone. With each subsequent book, in-print numbers continue to grow exponentially both here and abroad.
“We are thrilled to have one of the best selling series of all time,” says Michael Jacobs, president and CEO of ABRAMS. “It is clear to us that millions of kids have become readers because of the Wimpy Kid series.”
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul has an extensive, ongoing prerelease and on-sale integrated marketing campaign. A major national summer promotion at Six Flags parks coast-to-coast ran concurrently with the first-ever Geocaching promotion for a middle-grade book series, with fans passing thousands of Wimpy Kids trackables around the world. The campaign continues with national publicity, an online consumer campaign, national print and television advertising, direct-to-consumer outreach, a book tour with more than 45 stops in over 28 cities, promotional materials for stores, schools, and libraries, and much moree, all culminating in the giant Greg Heffley balloon appearing in the 2014 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has been a fixture on the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. The series has remained consistently on the New York Times lists since the publication of the first book. The books have been sold in more than 44 territories in 42 languages. Published by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS, Kinney’s work has been widely praised for its ability to turn reluctant readers on to books. Jeff Kinney was named one of Timemagazine’s most influential people in the world. Three movies based on the book series have grossed more than $250 million internationally. The book series won Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in 2010, 2011, and 2012, and Jeff Kinney won a Children’s Choice Book Award in 2012 and 2013. Books in the series have won numerous awards voted on by students and teachers around the globe. The Wimpy Kid island (Wimpy Wonderland) on poptropica.com, a virtual world for kids, remains one of the most visited on the site.
About ABRAMS
Founded by Harry N. Abrams in 1949, ABRAMS was the first company in the United States to specialize in the creation and distribution of art and illustrated books. Now a subsidiary of La Martinière Groupe, the company publishes visually stunning illustrated books in the areas of art, photography, cooking, interior and garden design, craft, architecture, entertainment, fashion, sports, and pop culture, as well as children’s books and general interest titles. The company’s imprints include Abrams, Abrams ComicArts, Abrams Image, Abrams Books for Young Readers, Amulet Books, Abrams Appleseed, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, and STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books. Abrams also distributes books for The Vendome Press, Victoria & Albert Museum, Tate, Royal Academy of Arts, Booth-Clibborn Editions, Five Continents, and others.
