Newbie Contractor needs advice

[temoore -at- BELLSOUTH -dot- NET]

I'm new at this consulting gig. I'm sure you all remember that email I
sent about a client who wanted a 100-page manual in 8 days. Well, as
anticipated, the whole thing is a mess. The plan was that the SME would
submit the content, and I would import the text and graphics into the
template (basically a layout job). I expected to work 40-50 hours a week
to get this accomplished. (Unfortunately, I was not able to negotiate a
fixed-rate.)

I arranged time in my schedule to accommodate this client, and the SME
has not been keeping up their end of the bargain. The result is that the
manual has been reduced to around 50 pages and I have not put in the
hours expected. I wait and wait for the SME to submit the information
needed, and I call and leave messages and email with the SME and the
Project Manager to no avail. In fact, I spent an entire day and a half
trying to get someone to answer my phone calls and even physically
visited the office with no results. (Do I bill for that time?)

Because it's an hourly assignment, I've lost significant $ in the
process. How do you, as contractors, protect yourself against this? Is
it possible to require a client to agree to, say, a minimum of 40 hours
a week for two weeks? How do you handle such situations?

Thanks for your help.

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=