Eyer Middle School auditorium was filled to capacity and everyone was super excited anticipating the arrival of Jeff Kinney, author of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series recently.

It all started when Kirsten Hess, owner of Let's Play Books in Emmaus, received a phone call from a publicist asking if she knew anyone who could host an author with over 750 people, and there was no charge and Jeff Kinney was the author. Hess immediately said, "Yes", knowing Eyer Middle School and its Authors-to-Schools program would be perfect for Kinney.

Kinney was to arrive about 8:45 a.m. in his orange tour bus painted like the cover of his new book, "The Long Haul," book number nine in the series.

Eyer organizers decided the first two students who pre-ordered Kinney's book, would be given the honor of introducing him to the assembly.

Student Chris Venturini was first to order and Rebekah Brosky was second. Tables were set up in the halls stacked with piles of "The Long Haul" for Kinney to sign for buyers.

On the lookout for an orange bus outside in front of Eyer was Michael Kelly, school principal, Travis Bloom, assistant principal, Hess and Molly Magro, school librarian. Even though there was no sign of an orange bus when the time came, Kelly gave the order to release the students to the auditorium.

Brosky and Venturini arrived with their orange covered books, ready to introduce Kinney to the students. Venturini was wearing a shirt his mom bought him with the Wimpy Kid logo on it.

Then a telephone call came notifying the school the bus was running late. There was a detour because the tall orange tour bus could not fit under a low overpass. To save time and keep on schedule Kelly jumped in his car and picked up Kinney at the bus and personally drove him to school.

The auditorium was filled, the movie screen was up, sound and light systems were working, everything was ready and Brosky and Venturini did their introduction. The audience cheered loudly.

Kinney told the students about himself and how he got started in the business, including the disappointments, the joys and the rewards. This year on his book tour he was away from home Nov. 3 to 25. Jason Wells, Kinney's executive director of marketing and publishing, arranges the tour stops. In that time Kinney made 20 appearances and visited 50 schools.

Kinney has met many famous and influential people over the years including three U.S. presidents, many authors, creators of comics and cartoonists, he said. With the many photos he showed, one he included was a photo of his family with President Obama's family, a balloon he created for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and a photo of "Igdoof," a cartoon he created in college that never made it to syndication because Kinney was rejected so often he finally concluded he was not a good cartoonist.

After three years of rejection with Igdoof, Kinney did think he was a good writer so he started writing and illustrating his own books.

Seven years after starting to write, Kinney took "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" to the comic book convention Comicon and asked people there to look at it and not one person would. But he did not give up. Kinney persisted. He asked one more person, a man, to look at his book and that man said he would. He glanced at it briefly and said, "This is exactly what we are looking for" and accepted Kinney without even reading his book.

To write a book Kinney claims he writes it backwards and always starts in January. He thinks about it for six months while writing jokes with his dog Thunder by his side.

In June, he reads over all his notes and jokes and decides what the story will be about. He then thinks of the cover and what he wants to put on it.

Deciding on the color is the longest and most important process, Kinney said. To do this he surrounds himself with swatches of color he places on the floor. Then he gives the book a title and writes it. Next, Kinney starts rough drawings for the illustrations. He draws 13 to 17 hours a day for four to six weeks.

When everything is completed he sends the book in for publication and about a month later he gets the book. The process takes about nine months.

Then Kinney goes on a book promotion tour.

"Put in the work, take your time and nurture something. Make your ideas fly," Kinney said.

Then he answered a few questions like these from the audience.

Q: How much of your money did you invest in your first book?

A: "That was the best question anyone ever asked. I did not invest any money. I came up with the idea, did the work and someone else paid for it."

Q: Which is your favorite book?

A: "My new book is always my favorite."

Q: What do you do on your tour bus?

A: "We Karaoke every day. We love to Karaoke."

Q: Do you get to see your family sometimes while you are on tour?

A: "Sometimes they join up with us for a visit."

Kinney also develops online games, is the creator of Poptripica.com and is in the 100 most influential people in the world. He is a best-selling author and illustrator and some of his "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books series will be made into movies.