Publishers Copy Web Success

The post at The Guardian‘s Culture Vulture blog begins with a description of recent changes at the Web sites of Penguin and HarperCollins. It ends with the truth:

Or maybe it’s a pincer movement. Some publishers–though not yet HarperCollins–have used the web to begin cutting out bookshops. You don’t need to go to a bookshop, or even onto Amazon, to pick up a Penguin. As big publishing wakes up to the potential of the web and tries to reach “customers” direct, perhaps the media are next for the chop?