Abrams' Amulet Books imprint has announced a six million-copy first printing for the next book in Jeff Kinney's bestselling children's series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Book six, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever, is scheduled for November 15 and the massive laydown, the publisher said, will be one of the most significant of 2011.
Cabin Fever, which is getting the biggest first printing of the Wimpy Kids books to date, follows on the success of Kinney's last entry in the series, Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book, which hit #1 on the bestseller lists. In the new book, the Heffley family is kept indoors by a major snowfall, and Kinney said his inspiration was, in part, the "tough New England winter" that just passed.
Abrams, as part of its marketing push for the book, plans to do six summer events – each one will be called a "snowball" – that it will announce in July. The publisher said it will continue to promote the book through August by mailing promotional materials to booksellers and librarians.
