The point I was trying to make is that publicity itself is often the reason projects get put up on Kickstarter.

I suspect the author did the Kickstarter project knowing he could effectively publish for free but wanted to generate the buzz that currently comes with having a Kickstarter project. And maybe even to gauge interest. If he wouldn't have been able to raise $2K then it may have been worth dropping the idea altogether.

The negative publicity is the stroke of pure luck. Now he'll make even more because of the free publicity the book is getting now.