NEW YORK (AP) — Meet the latest bookstore owner: “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” author Jeff Kinney.

The beloved children’s writer surprised and delighted a breakfast gathering Friday at BookExpo America, publishing’s annual national convention, by announcing that he and his wife are converting the site of an abandoned general store in Plainville, Massachusetts, where Kinney and his wife live.

Kinney, whose books have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, joked that he was opening a store to get rich.

Kinney isn’t the only author to go into the bookselling business. Ann Patchett runs Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee, and Larry McMurtry is the longtime owner of Booked Up in Archer, Texas.

BookExpo America is being held in New York City.

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