Cover Stories: Rudy Guiliani, Louis Theroux, Green Ink, Northern Rock Foundation

Six months ago, a book on leadership by the outgoing Mayor of New York would not have caused great excitement in Britain. But time and chance have made Rudy Guiliani a hero, and his book this week became the subject of a furious bidding war, finally won by Little, Brown (in the US, Talk Miramax have world rights). In Leadership, due next summer, the honorary knight will describe the horror and chaos of the Twin Towers and show how the rules of management he enforced as Mayor to gain control of the emergency can help and inspire anyone, "from the head of a large corporation to the owner of a corner shop".

Fresh from his "scoop" with When Louis Met the Hamiltons, presenter Louis Theroux has decided to follow in father Paul and brother Marcel's footsteps and write a book. He is at work on a journal based on both his BBC documentaries and his Weird Weekends series. Weidenfeld & Nicolson says the book "will use as a point of departure Louis's relationships with the celebrities he has encountered".

A group of 150 authors – all of whom necessarily contribute to deforestation – have banded together to found Green Ink. It's an initiative in support of the Suffolk-based World Land Trust, which funds environmental projects in Latin America and the Philippines. The group, which includes Terry Pratchett, David Attenborough and Will Self, will donate PLR earnings (from library loans) to help buy rainforest and areas of wilderness for conservation.

Tyne (and Tees) literary pride received a lavish boost this week when the Northern Rock Foundation announced a sponsorship package worth £180,000. Three authors from the North East will pick up £60,000 each – spread over three years – from the award fund, run in conjunction with New Writing North. Candidates must be already-published writers who live in Teeside, Tyneside, Durham or Northumberland. The judging panel includes local girl Pat Barker – but also Helen Dunmore, Yorkshire born and bred. There'll be ructions in Bigg Market.