Vikram Seth fails to deliver

       Reema Gehi reports (here in The Times of India) that Publisher demands million dollar refund from Vikram Seth as he hasn't delivered his A Suitable Boy-sequel, A Suitable Girl, by its June deadline.
       Yes:

At the time of going to press, Seth's agent David Godwin was in furious negotiations with Hamish Hamilton, the imprint under which A Suitable Girl was to be published by the end of the year. "It would be unfair to say the deal has been called off," he told us in the course of a telephone conversation hours before his meeting with the publishers was to begin in London.

       Such a quick and drastic reaction is, however quite unusual -- indeed:

It must have been more than a minor delay that set the wheels of discontent rolling at Hamish Hamilton, says another publishing industry insider. "It's possible that Vikram Seth has not started on the book or that it's nowhere close to completion, which explains the move."

       Having little understanding of the publishing 'business' I don't get the whole advance-concept (especially for works of fiction); still, this quick reëvaluation seems pretty unusual for the way publishing 'business' usually is conducted. Of course, if he hasn't even started they probably have a point .....
       See also Somak Ghoshal's 'Lounge Opinion' on Unsuitable Vikram Seth at live mint.