Pestering senior colleagues for drafts I've talked a surprising number of graduate students in several disciplines, all in the same bind:


They have a very senior and well respected academic as a coauthor
That coauthor has been sitting on the manuscript for a year or more
They have written several followups with no luck.
They can't (or feel they can't) pull that person from the paper,
partly for desire to benefit from the glow of fame, but largely for fear of offending this kind of person, who so often functions as a gatekeeper to their discipline.


I don't know what to tell them, besides keep following up, or give up on getting the paper published. Any better advice?
I remember one of the early pieces of advice that I received from my primary supervising professor on this issue was that when I send a draft manuscript to coauthors, that I should set a deadline for responses. i.e. that I should say to let me know of any comments or feedback by a particular date and that I will be submitting the manuscript directly after making any amendments.