[kevinr]

Folks are experimenting with models like this around Kickstarter, Patreon, Serial Box, etc.

The jury's still out on how successful it will be, for what kinds of projects, but I think it's clear that the world in which $15 retail packages are the only form factor prose fiction is ever sold in is basically gone, and that's probably for the better.

My favorite early example of this was Shadow Unit (http://shadowunit.org/), an entirely donation-supported serial.