Career Highlights
- Began his career as a cartoonist doing comic strips for the University of Maryland's school paper when he was a student
- Published daily installments of Diary of a Wimpy Kid online before signing a book deal
- Works full time as a game designer for an internet publishing company
Career Overview
Jeff Kinney attended the University of Maryland in the early 1990s and it was there that he created the popular comic strip Igdoof that was published in the campus newspaper. After creating this comic strip he knew that he wanted to be a cartoonist however he was not successful in getting his strip syndicated after college. Kinney began writing down ideas he had that he hoped to turn into a book and spent 6 years working on it before it was published online in daily installments. Finally in 2006 he signed a book deal to turn his stories into a print series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
In 2007 his book was released and it quickly became a New York Times bestseller, eventually reaching a #1 spot. To date, four Wimpy Kid books have been released along with a do-it-yourself book. At least one additional book is going to be released in the near future. Kinney also works full time as a developer and designer director of online games at a Boston-based internet publishing company where he created the kid-friendly website Poptropica.
Our Interview
Cartoonist and author of the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid Jeff Kinney shares personal experiences and advice for upcoming authors and cartoonists. ThinkTalk host Erika Thomas discusses with Kinney how he got his start writing comics for his college newspaper, whether there is autobiographical truths in his stories and what advice he has for aspiring writers.
