I'm guessing there might be someone willing to take over the project for free (if he's abandoning it anyway) and invest the time in actually getting the word ou

I'm guessing there might be someone willing to take over the project for free (if he's abandoning it anyway) and invest the time in actually getting the word out and improving it? Who knows. Ask for a small percentage of profits or something. The author can't lose more than he already is by completely abandoning it and letting the domain expire. If only because when someone else is keeping it running, he could still use it himself.