Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams, just announced the "Wimpy Kid Drives Reading" campaign. Fans of the series will recognize that each of the seven cars correlates to a book in Jeff Kinney's mega-selling Wimpy Kid series. "It kicks into gear this month and burns rubber until the release of Diary of a Wimpy Kid book 8 on November 5, 2013," said Jason Wells, executive director of publicity and marketing.
The seven cars, owned and operated by Abrams sales reps and staff, will each cover one of seven regions across the country. Doug Cochrane, of New England Book Sales, stands next to a light blue car representing Cabin Fever. Abrams sent out Wimpy Kid car window cling sheets and character cutout kits to retail stores and libraries nationwide for use in displays. Additional materials are available to bookstores, schools, and public libraries by request via e-mail to wimpykid@abramsbooks.com. A social media campaign encourages those who spy a Wimpy Kid driver to tweet a photo, using the hash tag #readwimpy.
The second phase of the campaign will go into overdrive during BookExpo America in New York City at the end of the month.