Get out of Gaol free card

I went to bed last night with a fevered brow. I had read that the sainted Jeffrey Archer had just signed an £18Million advance with his publisher for a five book deal to produce a contemporary 'Forsyte Saga,' based on a fictional family called the The Cliftons. Now, whatever you think of our Jeff, he is a proven bestseller, so he's in the big league when it comes to advances, but 18 big ones is a tad excessive methinks. Just think how many new writers Macmillan could publish and promote that will be selling millions of copies when the dear lamented gaol bird 'Wor Jeff has long left this mortal coil. Forward thinking, I think not.