Los Angeles - Anthony Zuiker, the creator of CBS's successful "CSI" franchise, has signed a "seven-figure" deal with Penguin Group's Dutton imprint to write a trilogy of "digital novels" that will encompass Web-based videos and social networking, Variety reports.

Zuiker tells Variety that readers will be directed to two-minute online videos after every five chapters, and will be able to meet other readers and suggest new storylines for future titles via an online social network.

The multiplatform digital novel "offers publishing a chance to catch up with the YouTube generation that has lost passion for reading," Zuiker told Variety.

The first title in the crime novel trilogy, "Sqweegel," is set to be published by Dutton in the fall of 2009.

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