Cover Stories:Political memoirs; JK Rowling; Tina and Harry come to America

Publishers normally flourish chequebooks after an election. This year, they are remaining unopened, for few of those stepping down offer either excitement or sales. Teresa Gorman is not an alluring prospect, though she's touting for custom; nor is her former boss, William Hague. The Tory everyone wants is Kenneth Clarke, whose outspokenness and good stories would make him a guaranteed bestseller.

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From the Labour benches, only Mo Mowlam appears to be scribbling away. Hodder will publish an autobiography next year, as Dr M broke with HarperCollins after Eddie Bell's departure. The publisher promises that she will not mince words in her criticism of "high-ranking Labour figures". So, no happy bedtime reading for Tony Blair, who will be saddled this autumn with James Naughtie's account of the Brown-Blair relationship in The Rivals. Fourth Estate plans to publish in September.

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Good to know that J K Rowling – rumoured to be in talks with Marvel Comics about a comic-book series based on Master Potter – has not lost touch with her roots. Awarded a Scottish Arts Council Book Award, she has donated the £1,000 to the SCA's New Writers Scheme, which gives bursaries to first-time authors. J K once received its modest largesse.

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The former Washington Post reporter Judy Bachrach has a biography due from Simon & Schuster late next month that will make uncomfortable reading for the first couple of American media. Tina and Harry Come to America is already being described as "a stealth bomber of a book" about Miss Brown and Mr Evans, who led the British invasion of New York journalism. Bachrach has said her book is "about what has happened to journalism in the US – and to good writing". Which presumably has to do with Tina's endless schmoozing and her pursuit of sanitised celebrity journalism.