diff --git a/AuthorAgent.cs b/AuthorAgent.cs
index b1d8c52..8c27975 100644
--- a/AuthorAgent.cs
+++ b/AuthorAgent.cs
@@ -105,9 +105,20 @@ public async Task<ResearchState> AuthorNodeAsync(ResearchState state, Cancellati
 
         if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(draft))
         {
-            // Keep whatever draft already exists rather than clobbering it with a
-            // placeholder — an empty/failed generation shouldn't erase real content.
-            _logger.LogWarning("Author agent produced no draft; keeping the previous draft (if any).");
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(state.Draft))
+            {
+                // No prior draft to keep either — the workflow must always end with
+                // some draft, so assemble one from the research findings rather than
+                // sending the reviewer (and ultimately the user) an empty draft.
+                _logger.LogWarning("Author agent produced no draft and none exists yet; using a fallback draft built from research findings.");
+                state.Draft = BuildFallbackDraft(state);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                // Keep whatever draft already exists rather than clobbering it with a
+                // placeholder — an empty/failed generation shouldn't erase real content.
+                _logger.LogWarning("Author agent produced no draft; keeping the previous draft.");
+            }
         }
         else
         {
@@ -118,4 +129,21 @@ public async Task<ResearchState> AuthorNodeAsync(ResearchState state, Cancellati
         state.RevisionNumber += 1;
         return state;
     }
+
+    // Last-resort content used only when the model never manages to produce a
+    // draft at all, so the workflow still always yields something reviewable.
+    private static string BuildFallbackDraft(ResearchState state)
+    {
+        string researchText = state.ResearchFindings.Count > 0
+            ? string.Join("\n\n", state.ResearchFindings)
+            : "No research findings were available.";
+
+        return $"""
+            # {state.MainTask}
+
+            _The author agent could not generate content for this topic; this fallback draft was assembled automatically from the raw research findings._
+
+            {researchText}
+            """;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/BlogWriter.Tests/AuthorAgentTests.cs b/BlogWriter.Tests/AuthorAgentTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c5ac71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/BlogWriter.Tests/AuthorAgentTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+using Microsoft.Extensions.AI;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace BlogWriter.Tests;
+
+/// <summary>Verifies the Author stage always leaves the workflow with a non-empty draft.</summary>
+public class AuthorAgentTests
+{
+    private static AuthorAgent CreateAgent(IChatClient chatClient) =>
+        new(chatClient, new ChatOptions { Temperature = 0, MaxOutputTokens = 100 }, NullLogger<AuthorAgent>.Instance);
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task ModelReturnsEmpty_AndNoPriorDraft_UsesFallbackDraft()
+    {
+        var state = new ResearchState { MainTask = "topic", ResearchFindings = ["some findings"] };
+
+        state = await CreateAgent(new EmptyChatClient()).AuthorNodeAsync(state);
+
+        Assert.False(string.IsNullOrEmpty(state.Draft));
+        Assert.Contains("some findings", state.Draft);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task ModelReturnsEmpty_ButPriorDraftExists_KeepsPriorDraft()
+    {
+        var state = new ResearchState { MainTask = "topic", Draft = "existing draft" };
+
+        state = await CreateAgent(new EmptyChatClient()).AuthorNodeAsync(state);
+
+        Assert.Equal("existing draft", state.Draft);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task ModelReturnsContent_UsesModelDraft()
+    {
+        var state = new ResearchState { MainTask = "topic" };
+
+        state = await CreateAgent(new FakeChatClient(10)).AuthorNodeAsync(state);
+
+        Assert.Equal("ok", state.Draft);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/BlogWriter.Tests/TestChatClients.cs b/BlogWriter.Tests/TestChatClients.cs
index 9d3c50e..09deeaa 100644
--- a/BlogWriter.Tests/TestChatClients.cs
+++ b/BlogWriter.Tests/TestChatClients.cs
@@ -39,6 +39,35 @@ public void Dispose()
     }
 }
 
+/// <summary>An <see cref="IChatClient"/> test double that always returns an empty response, simulating a model that produced no content.</summary>
+internal sealed class EmptyChatClient : IChatClient
+{
+    public Task<ChatResponse> GetResponseAsync(
+        IEnumerable<ChatMessage> messages, ChatOptions? options = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    {
+        var response = new ChatResponse(new ChatMessage(ChatRole.Assistant, ""))
+        {
+            Usage = new UsageDetails { TotalTokenCount = 10 },
+        };
+        return Task.FromResult(response);
+    }
+
+    public async IAsyncEnumerable<ChatResponseUpdate> GetStreamingResponseAsync(
+        IEnumerable<ChatMessage> messages,
+        ChatOptions? options = null,
+        [System.Runtime.CompilerServices.EnumeratorCancellation] CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    {
+        await Task.Yield();
+        yield return new ChatResponseUpdate(ChatRole.Assistant, "");
+    }
+
+    public object? GetService(Type serviceType, object? serviceKey = null) => null;
+
+    public void Dispose()
+    {
+    }
+}
+
 /// <summary>An <see cref="IChatClient"/> that fails the test if it is ever invoked.</summary>
 internal sealed class ThrowingChatClient : IChatClient
 {