Lightning Source
Encyclopedia
Lightning Source is a subsidiary of leading U.S. publishing services company Saab Content Group. The company is the leading printer and distributor of print-on-demand books. Originally incorporated in 1997 as Lightning Print Inc., the company is headquartered in La Vergne, Tennessee
. Its UK operations are based in Milton Keynes
. They also have operations in Paris, France and have announced an Australian facility to open in mid-2011.
Lightning Source has printed over 100,000,000 books for over 20,000 publishers around the world. The Lightning Source digital library holds over 5.5 million books and adds several hundred thousand each month.
Lightning Source works with publishers, unlike some other print-on-demand service providers such as Lulu that work directly with authors. The company prints books in any quantity, from as little as a single copy, and has local printing plant supplying the book distribution chains in the US and Europe. It gives its customers access to the most comprehensive bookselling channel in the industry in both the United States and the United Kingdom, including distribution partners Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Gardners and Bertrams.
2.0 is a compact (3.8 feet wide by 2.7 feet deep by 4.5 feet high) book-printing kiosk that can be installed in a bookshop or public place to print, bind and cut books on demand while the customer waits. The EBM 2.0 can download encrypted book files from Lightning source. Publishers must specifically give permission in order for their titles to be included in the scheme.
The EBM project can theoretically allow faster access to LS print-on-demand books in regions where there is no existing LS plant, and where shipping times would otherwise create significant supply delays. It also allows large bookshops to offer their customers almost immediate access to a wider range of titles than could be held onsite. However, to date, uptake of the Espresso Book Machine system has been low.
Although the scheme originally allowed electronic LS editions to be sold on Amazon alongside "conventional" print-on-demand editions, Amazon withdrew from the scheme. Lightning Source still offer their e-book on demand service to publishers who have a suitable vendor website, and supply eBooks to their retail partners Powells.com
, Ebookmall.com, Diesel-ebooks.com, Fictionwise.com
, Booksonboard.com and eBooksAboutEverything.com, but have no online retail outlet themselves to sell eBooks.
In March 2010 Ingram Digital (a wholesaler part of the same group) warned its customers it might not be able to sell them e-books, as most large publishers were moving from the wholesale model (publishers offer wholesale discounts, and the final price is determined by retailers) to the agency model (publishers set the retail price and offer agents a commission, so retailers earn more by buying direct from the publisher rather than via a wholesaler). This was triggered by the eBook pricing dispute between Amazon and Macmillan
, and the imminent launch of the iPad
.
La Vergne, Tennessee
La Vergne is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 18,687 at the 2000 census. La Vergne lies within the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
. Its UK operations are based in Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
. They also have operations in Paris, France and have announced an Australian facility to open in mid-2011.
Lightning Source has printed over 100,000,000 books for over 20,000 publishers around the world. The Lightning Source digital library holds over 5.5 million books and adds several hundred thousand each month.
Lightning Source works with publishers, unlike some other print-on-demand service providers such as Lulu that work directly with authors. The company prints books in any quantity, from as little as a single copy, and has local printing plant supplying the book distribution chains in the US and Europe. It gives its customers access to the most comprehensive bookselling channel in the industry in both the United States and the United Kingdom, including distribution partners Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Gardners and Bertrams.
Printing Options
Lightning Source can print laminated paperback books and hardback titles on demand in a number of standard sizes and formats. With an emphasis on automation and standardisation, the company doesn't offer "special" options or services such as paper dustcovers, colour inserts, special inks or lacquers, or other special-effect cover processing options.Espresso Book Machine
The Espresso Book MachineEspresso Book Machine
The Espresso Book Machine is a print on demand machine that prints, collates, covers, and binds a single book in a few minutes.The EBM is small enough to fit in a retail book store or small library room, and as such it is targeted at retail and library markets. The EBM can potentially allow...
2.0 is a compact (3.8 feet wide by 2.7 feet deep by 4.5 feet high) book-printing kiosk that can be installed in a bookshop or public place to print, bind and cut books on demand while the customer waits. The EBM 2.0 can download encrypted book files from Lightning source. Publishers must specifically give permission in order for their titles to be included in the scheme.
The EBM project can theoretically allow faster access to LS print-on-demand books in regions where there is no existing LS plant, and where shipping times would otherwise create significant supply delays. It also allows large bookshops to offer their customers almost immediate access to a wider range of titles than could be held onsite. However, to date, uptake of the Espresso Book Machine system has been low.
E-book services
Lightning Source have an e-book supply system that can serve up protected PDF copies of books from their library through a vendor's site, if a publisher chooses to participate.Although the scheme originally allowed electronic LS editions to be sold on Amazon alongside "conventional" print-on-demand editions, Amazon withdrew from the scheme. Lightning Source still offer their e-book on demand service to publishers who have a suitable vendor website, and supply eBooks to their retail partners Powells.com
Powell's Books
Powell's Books is a chain of bookstores in Oregon's Portland metropolitan area. Powell's headquarters, dubbed Powell's City of Books, claims to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. Powell's City of Books is located in the Pearl District on the edge of downtown and...
, Ebookmall.com, Diesel-ebooks.com, Fictionwise.com
Fictionwise
Fictionwise, owned by Barnes & Noble, is one of the largest electronic book sellers in North America with an estimated 1.5 million ebook content units sold in 2008. Fictionwise sells ebooks in various formats...
, Booksonboard.com and eBooksAboutEverything.com, but have no online retail outlet themselves to sell eBooks.
In March 2010 Ingram Digital (a wholesaler part of the same group) warned its customers it might not be able to sell them e-books, as most large publishers were moving from the wholesale model (publishers offer wholesale discounts, and the final price is determined by retailers) to the agency model (publishers set the retail price and offer agents a commission, so retailers earn more by buying direct from the publisher rather than via a wholesaler). This was triggered by the eBook pricing dispute between Amazon and Macmillan
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...
, and the imminent launch of the iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
.