HIT THE ROAD WITH THE FUNNIEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Hit the road with the funniest book of the year!
BOOK 9 AHEAD!
TITLE, COVER, AND COLOR OF THE NEXT BOOK IN THE BESTSELLING DIARY OF A WIMPY KID SERIES REVEALED!
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LONG HAUL, THE BIGGEST BOOK OF THE YEAR, GOES ON SALE 11.4.14!
NEW YORK, NY—April 28, 2014—In a major press announcement, Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS, revealed today during a live global webcast the cover, title, and color of the biggest book of 2014, on sale 11.4.14. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, the ninth book in Jeff Kinney’s blockbuster series, will be fiery orange, which follows the red, blue, green, yellow, purple, ice blue, chocolate brown, and lime green of the preceding eight #1 bestselling books. Today’s reveal wraps up the first-ever Wimpy Kid month, which began April 1 with a major campaign that included authorless events, national publicity, special appearances by Jeff Kinney, a national ad campaign, and much more.
A dynamic multi-platform campaign throughout April promoted Wimpy Kid Month and built up excitement for today’s reveal. Bookstores nationwide brought fans together to recount the stories, jokes, characters, author, and more, with major retail promotions and in-store authorless events. Materials for teachers and librarians offered activities for curriculum that incorporated Diary of a Wimpy Kid and encouraged readers to exchange ideas and favorite moments. A far-reaching national consumer advertising campaign to kids and adults delivered millions of impressions.
“The next Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, The Long Haul, promises to be Jeff’s best book yet,” says Michael Jacobs, president and CEO of ABRAMS. “This Diary of a Wimpy kid release will also be the biggest book of the year, just as in years past. It is another hilarious and historic milestone in the incredibly popular and evergreen series. These books have turned millions of kids on to reading. The Long Haul will do the same.”
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 U.S. alone. With each subsequent book, in-print numbers continue to grow exponentially both here and abroad, to a combined 115 million by the time the eighth book, Hard Luck, went on sale in 2013. There are currently more than 120 million Wimpy Kid books in print.
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has been a fixture on the USA Today bestseller list (the first book in the series remained in the top 150 for more than 200 weeks) and is also on the 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 48 different editions in 44 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. Kinney was named one of Time magazine’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 is nominated for one in 2013), and Kinney won a Children’s Choice Book Award in 2012. Books in the series have won numerous awards voted on by students and teachers around the globe. The Wimpy Kid island (Wimpy Wonderland) onwww.poptropica.com, a virtual world for kids, remains one of the most visited on the site.
