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Used to be that some authors would put their book online, for free, while it was being written. The open-access allowed for greater reader feedback, helping the author to write a better book, and get more exposure for the author.

Some folks kept the book available online, for free, (so-called "open-source" publishing) as they discovered it helped sales of the print version. Other people were less enamoured of the idea of such free, open access, and pioneered the idea of charging people for occasional updates of a PDF version of the work-in-progress.

Now O'Reilly has added yet another take on the pre-publication preview idea with their Rough Cuts series. They're offering PDF and online access throug Safari while the book is being written.

Commit to purchasing a product that isn't finished, and then volunteer to find the bugs and typos. Sounds like a win for all involved. I have to go see what the return policy is.

There are two new Ruby books available this way: Ruby Cookbook: Rough Cuts Version, and Ruby on Rails: Up and Running: Rough Cuts Version.