I'm an unresponsive CPAN author and it's because I don't have time. I hit email bankruptcy a year ago and now only check my mail once every few months. Most things I just discard and never look at. This includes most messages about modules. I wish this weren't so but I simply don't have time to do on-going maintenance for things that aren't actively requiring my attention. I am nearly always easily found on IRC and I hand out PAUSE permissions freely.
Perhaps next life I can be a good CPAN author.