Corduroy Mansions

McCall Smith to serialise novel

Alexander McCall Smith is to serialise his next novel on the Daily Telegraph's website, offering readers the opportunity to comment on each episode and shape the plot as he writes it. The first extract of Corduroy Mansions will be featured in the newspaper on 15th September. Roughly 100 episodes of the novel will be published online every Monday, with a podcast available to download through iTunes every Friday.

The audio version will be narrated by "Fawlty Towers" star Andrew Sachs. Illustrations by Iain McIntosh will accompany each episode.

A hardback book will then follow in July 2009, published by Polygon, with a paperback version under Abacus due in 2010. An audiobook will also be published by Little, Brown next summer.

The book will trace the fortunes of various inhabitants of a large house in Pimlico. According to his publicist, Jan Rutherford, McCall Smith will write each extract around a week ahead of publication, enabling readers to comment and make suggestions as he writes.

The concept was created by the Telegraph's comment and community editor, Iain Martin, who serialised a novel by McCall Smith at his previous publication, the Scotsman. "He wanted to see if he could take it one step further —I think we have gone several steps," said Rutherford. 

She said McCall Smith's ability to meet deadlines and his global appeal, as well as his writing style, had singled him out as the most suitable author for the experimental project.

The Telegraph will make his backlist of more than 60 books, including the bestselling No. 1 Ladies' Detectives Agency, available for sale through its website. Subsequent titles will now be promoted in special offers through the Telegraph.

McCall Smith said: "I can't begin to explain my excitement over this project. It is a very special opportunity for me and I look forward to having a great deal of fun with the story and the characters."

Last year, Bloomsbury published Zugzwang by Ronan Bennett, which had previously been serialised each week in the Observer