[7] With digital publishing, Fitzpatrick envisions a shift in the accepted conception of authorship from a solitary enterprise with a definite endpoint in the creation of the text to one of writing within a community as part of an ongoing process.

This change is a result of the capabilities of word processing, which allows for the swift and simple revision of text, and the digital networking, which enables linking, reader commentary, and version control.

By releasing text to be read and commented upon online authorship becomes ongoing, process-oriented work taking place in a community of interested readers.

Fitzpatrick acknowledges that online writing, and particularly the use of platforms that enable reader comments, will require authors to develop a different relationship to their work.

In addition to focusing on the development of preservation practices through community organization, Fitzpatrick argues that creators of digital artifacts must take steps to ensure the compatibility of their work with preservation efforts, stating: “…planning for the persistent availability of digital resources as part of the process of their creation will provide the greatest stability of the resources themselves at the least possible cost”.

[11] In addition to community cooperation and coordination, Fitzpatrick shows that the incorporation of open standards and built-in extensibility are crucial to the development of successful digital text preservation practices.

To support her argument for social solutions, Fitzpatrick examines several successful projects concerned with the development of text markup, metadata, and access standards and practices (including TEI, DOI, and LOCKSS) and shows that each is based in the creation of a community organization that values openness and extensibility.

In a time of unfavorable economic conditions, Fitzpatrick suggests that the university may continue to fulfill its role in these endeavors only by rethinking its mission and repurposing its operational units.

If the university is reimagined as a center of communication, rather than principally as a credential-bestowing organization, its central mission becomes the production and dissemination of scholarly work.

These new interactions may lead to roles for the library, the press, and IT as service units that provide guidance during and add value to the scholarly production process.

"[14] Alex Halavais notes that Fitzpatrick "masterfully" threads history, questions, and practical implications of technologies for writers, while neither ignoring nor relying too heavily on the theoretical concept of "the death of the author".

In particular, her critique of the traditional mores of academic publication, whereby texts are first reviewed by colleagues and only published if they meet certain criteria, lacks clear "requirements for a proposed alternative system".