Late writers

Blake Morrison in The Guardian considers the approach of publishers to authors who fail to deliver on time.

In 1997 I received a letter from Christopher Reid, then poetry editor at Faber & Faber. Urged to do some reminding about old, unfulfilled contracts, he had come across one his predecessor, Craig Raine, had made with me, for a book about plagiarism. I was now 11 years overdue on the agreed delivery date: did I still plan to write the book or should he contact my agent for a return of the advance?