NEW YORK - FORMER vice presidential contender Sarah Palin will publish a memoir to come out in the United States in Spring 2010, the year she is up for re-election as Alaska's governor.

Although Republicans presidential candidate Senator John McCain and Mrs Palin were easily beaten by Democrats Barack Obama and Joseph Biden in November, Mrs Palin emerged a favourite among conservatives, an object of tabloid gossip and - as the only candidate in the race who had never written a memoir - a natural for a publishing deal.

Mrs Palin's memoir, currently untitled and to be published by HarperCollins, will cover her personal and political life, from her childhood in Alaska and last year's campaign, to her conservative political beliefs and her family life, including the pregnancy of her teenage daughter, Bristol Palin, who gave birth in December to a baby boy, Tripp.

Mrs Palin declined to name any specific misunderstandings and avoided detailed comments about her family, her political aspirations or about the divide in the Republican Party between moderates and conservatives, a divide her vice presidential run helped widen.

The book will be co-released by the HarperCollins imprint Harper and, for the Christian market, by the HarperCollins-owned Zondervan.

A memoir (or two) have become a virtual requirement for White House seekers, especially after President Obama's 'The Audacity of Hope' and 'Dreams From My Father' established him as a stylist and storyteller with a vast following.

Although Mrs Palin denied any presidential ambition during Tuesday's interview, she did pick the most presidential of literary representatives, Washington attorney Robert Barnett, to handle negotiations. Mr Barnett's clients include President Obama and former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Mrs Palin was widely expected to get a multimillion-dollar contract. Barnett and Harper publisher Jonathan Burnham both declined to offer details. Mrs Palin will work with a collaborator, to be determined.

Mrs Palin and Mr Burnham said the memoir will emphasise Mrs Palin's Alaskan upbringing, and the governor will talk about her 'unpretentious' lifestyle.

Mr Burnham described the book as the story of an Alaskan encountering a national audience, 'the soccer mom and the political operative, and how one became the other'. Mrs Palin has never written a book and her critics, noting her disjointed television interviews, have questioned whether she could. -- AP