Is Francis Heaney smart or dumb for giving it away for free:

Most publishers are still pretty leery of this whole giving-books-away idea (although libraries have been doing it for quite some time), but I persuaded the open-minded folks at Emmis that it was a good idea. Basically, in the course of trying to promote this book, I've found that when people flip through it, they tend to be very enthusiastic about it. Sometimes they like it so much, they buy multiple copies to give away as gifts. The problem is, not all that many people know about the book. And it seemed like the best way to get the book into as many people's hands as possible was to give it away.

After all, we all have opinions on working for free. (Holy Tango of Literature, yes, for free online.)