Yes, yes and yes. If you do that, I am signing up tomorrow. I love consuming content via email, especially if it's curated. Bonus points for an "export all to Instapaper" button. Another tip: sign up for Charlie O'Donnell's NYC Tech Events newsletter for a good model on this. I also have another friend who is also obsessive about curation - email me off list (email in profile) for more ideas.
You should check out HARO (help a reporter out). That's a 3ish times a day newsletter that goes out. Reporters who need quotes, information, contacts, etc list the stories they're working on and what they need, and then it goes out to x00,000 people.
Their newsletter is free, but at the top is a sponsored paragraph/text blurb about a product/services/etc. I think that is a much better monetization strategy than getting people to pay $15/m.
I'm trying to maneuver to good content, nothing more.