Interview: Jeff Kinney
Nine years ago, game developer Jeff Kinney started to write the diary of a boy named Gregg Heffley. A few years after that, he began to publish the story on the website FunBrain.com. Charles Kochman picked it up for the Harry N. Abrams imprint, Amulet Books, and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid phenomenon was on.
Since then, Kinney published a sequel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules and, this month, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do it Yourself Book. A third story, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Last Straw is due in January.
The series has a passionate following. Like Harry Potter, the books attract kids (who may be too young for Rowling’s longer novels) who can’t wait to read them. Bookstores plan parties around new volumes.
Jeff was in Baltimore for the recent Comic-Con, where Abrams sold advance copies of the new Do It Yourself book. We spoke with him at the Harvey awards, where he was nominated in eight categories, including Best New Talent, Best New Series, Best Writer, and Special Award for Humor. He lost in every category, but he had the longest lines at the show, as kids waited an hour and more for his autograph.
ComicMix: I read your books this week. Sorry I’m a little late, but my kid is grown. They’re really fun. I met your mom today. I saw the line for your signing, which was thrilling.
Jeff Kinney: Thank you very much. I had no idea if it was long or short. I just sat there and signed.
CMx: Was this your first comic convention? I know you’ve done book conventions.
JK: I’ve done a few others. Actually, I got my book picked up at New York Comic-Con two years ago. And I just wandered around with a manuscript and lucked into meeting Charlie Kochman, who picked it up on first sight. He took a look at it for maybe 30 seconds and said, “This is what we want. This is why we came here.”
CMix: And you’d been on FunBrain before then?
JK: Yeah, in about 2004 I started writing the book on FunBrain.com. I felt very ambivalent about that. I wrote the book for adults, and FunBrain is a kids’ site. But I knew there was this huge audience of millions of kids. I’m really glad I ran it on FunBrain, because it’s had over 60 million readers so far. That helped a lot when the book came out. It got on the best-seller list in the first month. I think that’s just because of its exposure online. I feel grateful for that.
CMix: I read an interview with you that said it’s based on your childhood.
JK: It is. It’s got a lot of my family stories in there. I don’t want to go so far as to say it’s based on my childhood or I’ll have to get my lawyer involved, probably. A lot of my family’s DNA is in those books.
CMix: Is your mom happy to see it?
JK: I think so, yeah. I think it’s strange for her to see. A lot of the things are true but not true – true with a twist. There’s a lot of distortion, but the essence of the stories are true. It’s sort of a mythology built around my family, my growing up.
CMix: I saw kids waiting in line with the new book, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do it Yourself. reading it, and drawing in it.
JK: Oh, that’s good to hear. You know, I have no idea how that book is going to be received. It started off as product. The idea was to do a blank journal in the family of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I thought, when kids see a new book, they’re going to think it’s a new book and they’re going to open it up and its just going to be blank pages. I felt awful about that. I really wanted to create something that was like a writing prompts to get kids to start writing or thinking in that creative sort of way. My books have been enjoyed by reluctant readers, and I thought there may be a lot of people who are writers but don’t know it yet. I’m happy with it now.
CMix: You’re a full-time dad?
JK: I’m a full-time dad and I also have a full-time job as a design director and a computer programmer.
CMix: What do your kids think of your books?
JK: They are five and three, so they don’t think about it much, except that I tell them I can’t play with them a lot, which I feel awful about. I’m back to being “Normal Dad” now. My son, Grant, who is three, leapt for joy last night when I finished my third book. He said, “You can be Normal Daddy forever!”
CMix: What does that mean?
JK: Normal Daddy doesn’t write all night. For the past two months, my schedule has been, at eight at night, I sit down to draw. I draw straight until four in the morning. Then I wake up at nine in the morning and do a full day’s work until six or six-thirty. I do this over and over and over again every single day for two months.
CM: With the success of your books, are you interested in quitting your day job?
JK: I could quit my day job, but I don’t want to. I don’t want to be one-dimensional. I know I could do Wimpy Kid pillowcases and everything like that. I’m very grateful for my regular, humdrum life. I’m also doing something I really love as much or more as Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
CMix: You have another book coming out in January. Tell me about that.
JK: It’s called, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw. They’re making a big deal out of it and doing a lay-down, an embargo. “Don’t Open These Boxes Until Midnight!” I don’t know if anybody is going to care.
CMix: Are kids going to dress up like wimpy kids to wait in the bookstore?
JK: I thought about that. You see those kids in the Harry Potter lines, with the glasses and the hats. For me, they’ll have a bunch of kids with bad posture. I don’t think the kids who like my books are going to be up past midnight. We’ll see how that goes.
CMix: Are you going to have the characters age, like in Harry Potter? Will they go through high school and then college?
JK: He’s in middle school, which is kind of vague. You don’t know what grade he’s in. I think the best cartoon characters don’t age, and I think he’s more of a cartoon character than a literary character. I’d like to keep him in that zone forever.
CMix: He goes from school year to summer and back to school in the fall. That piece of cheese is still there. It feels like time has past.
JK: Right. I think Charlie Brown always has a first day of school, and you never know what grade he’s in. I’d like to keep it like that.
Hi Mr. Kinney,My english teacher asked for us to e-mail an auther of a book we resentley read. I have read your books "DIARY of a Wipy Kid" 1&2. I enjoyed both. My favorite gener is humor and satire. What made you think of writing this book?What suggustions do you have for young readers especially boys. I have a hard time starting a book and if I start reading a book I some times don't finish. If you respond to my e-mail I get an extra credit point Please write me back.I'm a six greader at Norfolk Collegiate School in Norfolk VA. Thank YouDavid
you suck jk
Hi. I'm a fith grade student at Cunningham Elementery in Turlock, CA. My teacher is making us write to our favorite author, and I chose you. The only problem I am having is finding your address, or you're email. so pretty much, I cant contact you. I have also just finnished reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and I loved them. What's sad Is that there is no more Greg Heffley.
i just love your books you have wrote and the next book you write i am buying!please write back love your bigest fand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
how i can read this book.
Jeff,I am writing this for a school project and I have picked you as my favorite author. I'm 9 years old and I go to Oster Elementary School in San Jose, California. I really like your Diary Of A Wimpy Kid series. I have read your first and second books and I cannot wait to read the third. I have a question for you. Could you ever visit my school one day because almost everyone in the school loves your books? I like your Diary Of a Wimpy Kid series because it's funny and really cool From, Jason Wagner – Jauregg.
i love the blue book cover just finished it and is very gooood
your books r awesome
i love your books especially diary of a wimpy kid
i love your books
I have all your books and there awsome
I have all all of your diary of a wimpy kid books
heyKinney i am 14 years old and i love ur books. i am so addicted to them can u please write more about the wimpy kid. email me back at ncordner@ccsuvt.org.
hi Mr. Kinney I really like you bookes!!! Do you know when the movie is going to come out????
is there only two books
Wow, your books are amazing, I read them over and over. I love the way the story unfolds; Keep up the good words :)
I love your book. I have read the first book and am now reading the sceond book. I'm Gettig your third book. I hope to read your third.
I LOVE your books there sooooo good to read…….there AMAZING!!
is it fun to be an auther?
I love diary of a wimpy kid series
i love your books i've read all of them
i am your best fan iread all you books your awesome
Hey Jeff Kinney i have read all of your books and right now i am doing a research paper for my English and hey give a link to your website and stuff Dawg so peace out! or whatever im not trying to splash in your koolaid.
when are you going to have a signing line again and at what time is it.by the way i have all 4 books that are out right now.sincerely your biggest 10 year old fan Angel .A.
hey i love your books their amazing i hope u right alot more so i can read them! i have already read your series three times this year i love the books plz write more soon thnx-meghan GA
Mr Kinney,In the middle of 1st grade my son was diagnosed with ADHD and Aspergers syndrome. He always struggled with reading and writing and kept falling behind in these areas. By the middle of second grade, he still could not read or write a complete sentence. Spelling also did not click with him. His cousin who was a grade younger then him came home one day from school and asked his mother (my sister) to get him Diary of a Wimpy Kid, as his friend had it and he thought it looked like something he would be interested in. Within 3 days he was on page 62. My sister praised his reading (and rightfully so). I of course, wishing my son could also experience reading, yet knowing he couldn't…rushed right down to the store and purchased the book. Mainly so my son could carry it around and feel equal to his younger cousin. To my absolute shock, my son showed an immediate interest in this book. I read to him the first couple pages and he was hooked. The next day I walked into his bedroom and he was laying on his bed as if he was reading the book. I smiled believing that he was pretending to read the book, but really enjoying the comic pictures. That was until he started reading it out loud. I was flabberghasted. My heart was pounding, as he kept reading. My son can read!!! But not just read, he was reading independently. It just took one very special book to show this to him and to me. After that day, he carried the book to school every morning and read aprox. 9 pages each day during free reading time. He was proud of his progress. Everyday after school, he came to me and excitingly opened his book up at the place where he proudly displayed his bookmark, and showed me what page he was on. Thank You for writing this wonderful book, that changed our lives forever. My son is going to do great things in this world. He can read!!!
I am just beginning to fulfull my lifelong dream of writing and wanted to know if you can give advice on the best way to get published, advertisement, etc. I was looking at self publishing first or do you think an agent with traditional publishing is best? I love your series of books, so do my 6 grandchildren and they have given me inspiration as well as loads of good ideas to write about.
I love your series of books and so do my six grandchildren. They have inspired me to fulfill my life long dream of writing but I don't know how to begin. Is it best to self publish at first or go through and agent and traditional publisher? I don't know the best way to begin and advertise, etc.
jeff kinney i love your books i just finished last straw now im on the do it your self one keep writing jeff
i love the story rodrick rules OMG KEEP THE GOOD WORK UP
how many will you make? cause we love them.
hi Mr.Kinney i love your books and i do what Gregg does i use the do it yourself book and i write what i do in school and in the summer i call my book diary of a fourth grader because I’m in fourth grade and my favorite book i can say about yours is the first one most of all i like your pictures that you make does it take you a while to draw very good because i always say to my mom that I’m going to be like you when i grow up because your my hero i always look up to you please send me an email at tmydragon94@yahoo.com
I LOVE YOUR BOOKS!!!!
I really really really really really really really love love love love love your your your your your books books books books!!!!!!!!!!!