ABSTRACT
This chapter covers the period between signature of the contract and the delivery date. It is a period often of benign neglect of the author on the part of the editor and, for the author, a crucial time partly spent wishing that the book did not exist (at least, as an idea) and partly spent writing furiously in order to complete it. Both parties tend to forget about each other. The editor is most likely to be reminded of the book and the author when asked to itemise the publishing programme for the year ahead, usually as part of the budgetary process.
