Fascinating idea. Reminds me of the Hol Art Books Team Publishing way of publishing, though Hol Art contributors take a much more active role:

The publishers are now looking for co-editors to help fund publication of the books. Each co-editor must invest €11 in their chosen title, and will then be able to discuss the book with its author on Éditions du Public’s forum, following each stage as it is written. Each title has six months to sign up 2,000 co-editors and some are already proving more popular than others: Tavignot’s thriller has 45 subscribers, while Hammer has just two.

via France pioneers ‘crowdfunded’ publishing | Books | guardian.co.uk.