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Lightning Source celebrates printing of 10-millionth book

Press release from the issuing company

LAVERGNE, Tenn. – Executives of Lightning Source Inc. tomorrow will join with customers, associates, family and friends to celebrate the printing of Lightning’s 10-millionth “on demand” book. The event marks a major milestone for the company that in six years has become the industry leader in digital content management solutions for the book industry. “Just six short years ago, our goal was to create a whole new business opportunity for the book industry, and today it is clear we have achieved that goal,” said Lightning Source Chairman and Founder John R. Ingram. “Today, publishers are more profitable when they use print-on-demand to better control their inventories, and retailers have learned to make thousands of niche titles available to their customers through their powerful search engines.” Lightning Source’s CEO J. Kirby Best: said: “The most impressive aspect of this 10-millionth-book milestone is this: It means Lightning Source has helped publishers capture some $200 million in ‘found revenue’ based on an average retail value of $20 per book. This is truly a significant milestone for the book industry.” Lightning Source’s 10-millionth book is the biography Edison: A Life of Invention by Paul Israel. The publisher is John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This important biography was published in 1998 with traditional offset printing. After four years, John Wiley & Sons added the title to Lightning Sources' library where it remains available and in print. Mr. Ingram and Mr. Best will recognize the 10-millionth book milestone tomorrow in a brief ceremony at Lightning Source headquarters in LaVergne, Tennessee. The growth of Lightning Source’s print-on-demand services is symbolic of the dramatic changes underway in the publishing industry, Mr. Best said. In addition to “on demand” printing, increasing numbers of consumers are requesting books and other information in a range of readable formats. Lightning Source’s wide range of printing and digital-fulfillment services give publishers, authors, retailers and libraries an easy, cost-effective way to meet that demand. The growth in Lightning Source’s business volume has been dramatic. Only two years ago, the company observed the printing of its landmark one-millionth book: Poems, a collection of poetry written by Hermann Hesse, the world-renowned author of Siddhartha and Steppenwolf, and published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. “The moral of the on-demand story is that everyone wins – authors, publishers, retailers and consumers,” Mr. Best said. Increasingly publishers are turning to Lightning Source to provide a range of digital services, built primarily on the successful track record of print-on-demand. Today, Lightning Source has more than 2,300 domestic and international publishing partners and its rapidly growing digital library includes more than 100,000 titles that range from religious texts and academic or reference books to bestsellers and a range of specialty and trade publications. On average, about 1,000 titles are added to the Lightning digital library each week. Lightning Source printing facilities are located in LaVergne, Tennessee, and Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom.