How do I go about maintaining a module when the author is unresponsive?

Sometimes a module goes unmaintained for a while due to the author pursuing other interests, being busy, etc. and another person needs changes applied to that module and may become frustrated when their email goes unanswered. CPAN does not mediate or dictate a policy in this situation and rely on the respective authors to work out the details. If you treat other authors as you would like to be treated in the same situation the manner in which you go about dealing with such problems should be obvious.

* Be courteous.
* Be considerate.
* Make an earnest attempt to contact the author.
* Give it time. If you need changes made immediately, consider applying your patches to the current module, changing the version and requiring that version for your application. Eventually the author will turn up and apply your patches, offer you maintenance of the module or, if the author doesn't respond in a year, you may get maintenance by having interest.
* If you need changes in order for another module or application to work, consider making the needed changes and bundling the new version with your own distribution and noting the change well in the documentation. Do not upload the new version under the same namespace to CPAN until the matter has been resolved with the author or CPAN.

Simply keep in mind that you are dealing with a person who invested time and care into something. A little respect and courtesy go a long way.