Brand signs £1.8 million book deal

Russell Brand has signed a £1.8 million two-book deal with HarperCollins, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The first book will be released this Christmas, with the second expected to hit shelves in 2009.

Brand's previous memoir My Booky Wook has sold more than 600,000 copies in the UK and spent several weeks at the top of the Sunday Times bestseller list.

"I am very pleased to get money for writing these books as I was going to write them anyway," Brand said.

Victoria Barnsley of HarperCollins said: "No matter what the subject, he has a one-off take on it, which is guaranteed to make you laugh. It's a real coup for HarperCollins to have signed him."

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