The problem I see with Steve's model is that authors would be expected to front the costs that publishers currently front. Essentially a self-publishing model. Today few authors are willing to front those costs, many because they simply do not have the financial wherewithal to do so.
And to buy those services from a publisher as opposed to buying them from a freelancer is likely to be significantly more costly. Rather than paying for these services, authors will do it themselves, to everyone's detriment. For some examples of current problems that I think would expand exponentially, see
Give Me a Brake!.