Abrams announced the previously undisclosed title of Jeff Kinney’s fifth Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, which publishes on November 9, and The Ugly Truth will get a first printing of 5 million copies. Abrams says 35 million copies of Wimpy Kid books are in print already in the US. Last fall’s DOG DAYS had an announced four-million-copy first printing and the publisher went back to press for another 500,000 right after the release, with an estimated first-week sale in excess of 750,000 units.
Kinney says in the announcement, “To me, the fifth book is the linchpin of the series. Since Greg Heffley is a cartoon character but also a literary character, I’ve always wondered if he should grow up or stay in a state of arrested development forever. This book answers that question once and for all.”