MILTON KEYNES, UK – Lightning Source UK, today announced it printed over two million books in 2008, a significant increase in print on demand book manufacturing at its UK facility.

Lightning Source is an Ingram content company focused on enhancing book sales for publishers with minimum cost and no risk through print on demand.

The Lightning Source UK operation, founded in 2001, manufactured over 30,000 books on behalf of its publisher partners in its inaugural year. Less than a decade later, the company manufactured over two million books in 2008 using an on demand model that allows publishers to bring books to market, explore new content formats, reach more customers and test international markets with very little risk and investment.

“Books are by no means dead – they are very much alive and well,” said David Taylor, President of Lightning Source. “To remain in step with change and to confront and win the challenges many publishers are facing today, print on demand must be used to its full potential.

“With print on demand, publishers are able to match supply to demand perfectly – no guesswork, no risk – and with predictable costs,” Mr. Taylor continued. “Print on demand is no longer an option; it is a necessity.”

Print on demand reverses the traditional print, store and sell method of book sales. Through digital technology and storage, publishers are first selling, and then printing books. As print on demand has continued to evolve, the tipping point for an offset/digital print decision is migrating. Taylor says, “Publishers are starting to look at print on demand for print runs of 1,000 books or less, rather than the 250 book norm. Print on demand is an all encompassing inventory solution. It’s not just about the long tail.”

“We have recently been surveying the market to assess the impact of the economic turmoil on the book printing industry,” said Gilles Biscos, President of INTERQUEST, a leading market and technology research and consulting firm specializing in digital printing and publishing. “Our preliminary data show that digital book printing will continue to experience rapid growth—15 percent to 20 percent annually in volume, both in North America and Europe—while the overall book market will remain flat.”

“Advanced technology used by leaders in the on-demand book field open up opportunities for book publishers to evaluate their offset/digital print decisions,” Mr. Biscos continued. “With on-demand quality no longer an issue, market trends indicate that digital printing is very much transforming the way the book industry operates.”

Lightning Source is committed to the success of the book industry though print on demand innovation. Lightning Source will continue to provide to publishers the best solutions to allow them to succeed in a challenging economy as they position their businesses for the future.