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Sure but there's no way to offer any actual money in exchange.

If the author didn't earn your trust prior to the exchange you won't convert to become his 100th customer and their content upgrade lost a potential customer. And if that's the case you're better off reading You've Got 8 Seconds.

You're right. IMO, there should be a "Download with your email OR pay $1 to access this file" option.

Offering a PDF/Ebook with good content (one hopes) in exchange for joining an email list is Lead Generation 101. The book is a runup to a paid course he is offering.

"Pay $1 to access this file" OR Sign up for email sends confusing signals to users. To the author, book is not worth $1, it is worth one email list signup. To the user, the book's value is entirely relative. They can offer up their email (positive value perception), or they can leave the site (zero value perception).

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