For 2014 and 2015

Mark Watson has sold the rights to his next two novels, which will be published in 2014 and 2015.

The first is Hotel Alpha, four characters whose lives intersect both in a London hotel and online. The second will be titled Unhappy House.

The books will be published by Picador – a change of publishing house for the comedian, whose previous novels were published buy Simon & Schuster. Watson tweeted: ‘ I'd like to thank my previous publishers @simonschusterUK, who were bloody amazing. It's a 'nice' breakup. One of those.’

Hotel Alpha will be accompanied by 100 mini stories that Picador will publish as a free ebook, which will develop the themes and characters of the novel as well as other stories from the fictional building’s history.

The company’s editorial director, Francesca Main, said: 'This is a wonderfully exciting prospect: a novel accompanied by 100 mini stories that will create a whole world around it online whilst also working as standalone vignettes.

‘Mark Watson is a writer who brings big ideas to life and creates characters who feel at once recognisable and distinctive – this feels like the perfect way to tell the kind of stories that he tells best and inspire new readers to discover them. The entire team at Picador is thrilled to have the opportunity to publish him.’

Watson, who recently completed a 25-hour show for Comic Relief, was also a judge of the Costa First Novel Award 2012. His previous novels include Eleven and The Knot.

Published: 27 Mar 2013