What Are You Waiting For?: A Guest Post by Jeff Kinney
Hardcover
$10.49
$14.99
Hot Mess (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #19)
Hot Mess (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #19)
By Jeff Kinney
In Stock Online
Hardcover
$10.49
$14.99
No one wants to be caught in the middle of family feud of this size and magnitude, but that’s where Greg finds himself, because of course it is.
No one wants to be caught in the middle of family feud of this size and magnitude, but that’s where Greg finds himself, because of course it is.
Back in 2006, I presented my would-be publisher, Harry N. Abrams, with a book proposal. At the time, I didn’t realize just how foolish my concept was. A single novel which chronicled an academic year in the life of a middle-schooler named Greg Heffley entitled, tentatively, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. 1,300 pages long. That there were no phone-book-sized novels sprinkled with cartoons on the market didn’t seem to have registered with me.
Abrams wisely told me they’d have to publish my novel in bite-sized morsels, as a three-book series. Further – and this really blew my mind – if things went well, they might even extend the series to five books. I called my brother to tell him the good news. His reply: “How are you going to come up with enough ideas for five books?”
I had no idea. A worry for another day. Even the three books weren’t guaranteed – in fact, my contract suggested that if things weren’t going great on the sales front for the first book or two, they might ask me to pivot and come up with, uh, something else instead.
Fast forward to this moment, as I’m about to embark on tour for the 19th book. Please don’t judge and call me creatively bankrupt. This is the only thing I really know how to do. Hey, Charles Schulz drew Snoopy for fifty years.
I’ve toured extensively over the past seventeen years, visiting forty-two different countries and meeting hundreds of thousands of eight-to-twelve years olds along the way. But last year, I had an unusual experience. I had the privilege of unveiling a Greg Heffley statue at the University of Maryland, my alma mater. For the first time ever, I saw the full breadth of my readership – from the eight-year-old new readers to twenty-five-year old grad students who were my original fans. They were all there, in one visual sweep. Everyone seemed equally excited to be there for that moment. It moved me beyond words.
That’s the miracle of publishing. Something that starts off as an idea in someone’s head gets put into print, distributed, and becomes part of the fabric of people’s lives. And then entire generations of readers can share a common thread between them. A twelve year old and a person twice their age can share a joke about the Cheese Touch or a Secret Freckle.
The DNA of my books is in my own childhood. I’ve had the chance to tell my story, and then some. But there are so many more stories to be told. Stories that will enrich us, challenge us, and unite us.
Your story hasn’t been told yet, and there are so many people that need to hear it. So what are you waiting for? Pick up a pen and get started.