Jeff Kinney

Jeff Kinney is an author and cartoonist best known for the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series.

In 1998 Kinney came up with the idea for "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," a story about a middle-school weakling named Greg Heffley. Jeff worked on his book for almost eight years before showing it to a publisher in New York.

Kinney attended the University of Maryland in the early 1990s where he ran a comic strip called “Igdoof” in the campus newspaper, and he knew he wanted to be a cartoonist. Kinney was not successful in getting his comic strip syndicated after college, and in 1998 he started writing down ideas for "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," which he hoped to turn into a book. Jeff worked on the book for six years before publishing it online on Funbrain.com in daily installments.

In 2006, Jeff signed a multi-book deal with publisher Harry N. Abrams, Inc. to turn "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" into a print series. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" was released in April 2007 and quickly became a New York Times bestseller, eventually reaching the No. 1 spot. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" was released in January 2008 and also became a No. 1 bestseller.

In 2007, Jeff created Poptropica.com, where he continues to work full-time as the creative and editorial director. Jeff lives in southern Massachusetts with his wife and two sons.