Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, the ninth book in Jeff Kinney's series, is the top selling title in all English-language territories globally, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, according to publisher Abrams Books. The book had a first printing of 5.5 million copies, which was, per the publisher, the biggest U.S. first printing of any book in 2014.
The Long Haul, out November 4, moved nearly 320,000 copies in hardcover, in the U.S., during its first week on sale, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks roughly 80% of print sales. While the title has the highest first-week sales of the year, the number is down 17% from the previous book in the series, Hard Luck, which sold 384,000 copies during its first week of availability, in 2013.
Michael Jacobs, president and CEO of Abrams, attributed the sales drop to the book's Election Day release, which resulted in it performing slower at retail than the previous year. He added that the rate of sale increased steadily through the weekend, and called the sales for Long Haul out of the gate "exceptional," noting that the book has sold more than one million copies worldwide in its first seven days out.
"Our strategy of releasing the new book simultaneously in all the English-language territories has shown the global power of Jeff's books," said Jacobs, who added that the title is still yet to publish in eight additional countries before the end of the year.
Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams, launched an extensive U.S. author tour for the book, the largest ever for the series, lasting almost four weeks, and with stops at more than 60 bookstores and schools, in 20 cities. Kinney will visit the U.K. and France in December.
This story has been updated.
