From geek to hero, Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney keeps fans screaming for more

And when he strolled into his old elementary school gymnasium as a multimillionaire author, not the Dungeons-and-Dragons-playing goofball he once was, he was greeted like a celebrity. More than 200 children lost their minds, screaming and waving fans decorated with covers of his books.

Kinney returned to the school in Fort Washington, in the US state of Maryland, on Tuesday to launch Double Down, the 11th book in his Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, a global publishing phenomenon that has sold 180 million copies in 52 languages. Kinney earned nearly US$20 million (HK$155 million) last year, according to Forbes magazine, making him the second-highest-paid author in the world, in between James Patterson and J.K. Rowling.

Within hours, his new book was already the top seller on Amazon.

Kinney, 45, built his not-so-wimpy empire – the books, three movies, a musical headed for Broadway and an upcoming animated TV series – by mining the high jinks and awkwardness of his childhood. Greg Heffley, Kinney’s main character, does and says things a lot like he did.

With the children sitting on the gym floor where Kinney used to shoot hoops, Kinney told stories that have made their way into his books, including the time he hid in a swimming pool bathroom and wrapped himself in toilet paper because it was cold.