On May 16, 2006, at 8:54 AM, Bill Guindon wrote:

> I think Chris Pine's 'Learn to Program' is probably the best example
> of free distribution leading to increased sales.  He started out by
> publishing a free tutorial, people found out that it was well written,
> and was a great intro for beginners, and it eventually became a book.

Web comics make for a number of good examples.

http://www.megatokyo.com/ became a paper book after getting popular  
enough. the paper copy says in it that you can view them all, for  
free, at the website. it sells anyway.

another is http://www.exploitationnow.com/

-- Elliot Temple
http://www.curi.us/blog/