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Press Release
Jeff Kinney’s beloved Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is continuing to break sales records and dominate global bestseller lists. Twelve years since the first book was published in 2007, 10 million copies of the books were sold worldwide this year alone, ABRAMS, the originating publisher of the series, announced today.
The fourteenth installment in the series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball, was published on November 5, 2019, and immediately hit #1 on the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times bestseller lists. It is the #1 book in the country during a busy fall season alongside the publications of major adult titles such as Triggered by Donald Trump Jr. and The Guardians by John Grisham.
This year also marks the first publication of a spin-off book, Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid, which was published in April 2019 and also immediately reached #1 on all three national bestseller lists (New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal). ABRAMS also recently released Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Best Friends Box, a box set containing Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1 and Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid, and The Wimpy Kid 2020 Wall Calendar.
Kinney is one of the most successful children’s authors who is still dedicated to annual publicity tours. He recently developed an innovative, interactive kid-focused show, which delighted fans across the Midwest for two weeks in November around the launch of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball. In April, timed to the publication of Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid, he arranged an “Awesome Friendly People Celebration,” a weeklong series of celebratory appearances to meet over 40 individuals, ranging from third-graders to adults, who embodied awesome, friendly qualities. Celebrations included a book fair, surprise workplace visits, parties, and donations to supporting organizations.
The series continues to reach new heights globally. This fall Kinney visited seven countries on his international tour, including France, where he was made an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters, one of the country’s highest cultural honors. Both Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball and Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid ranked #1 in every country in which they were published, including in the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Germany. The series is now published in 64 languages and 76 editions.
“Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid continues to be the number-one bestselling series for children—middle-grade and otherwise—here in North America and around the world,” says Michael Jacobs, president and CEO of ABRAMS. “This year, with the addition of Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid and Rowley Jefferson’s point of view in contrast to the inimitable Greg Heffley’s, new heights continue to be scaled both in terms of sales and reach to readers globally.”
More than 200 million copies of the books in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series have been sold globally. Published in 2007, the first book was an instant bestseller and has remained on the New York Times bestseller list since its publication and through the release of the fourteenth book, for more than 686 weeks total.