Weekly News Digest

Lightning Source (www.lightningsource.com), an Ingram Content company focused on enhancing book sales for publishers with innovative, low-cost, and minimum-risk print-on-demand solutions, announced the launch of an Espresso Book Machine (EBM) title pilot with On Demand Books (www.ondemandbooks.com), proprietor of the EBM. Participating publishers in the pilot include John Wiley & Sons, Hachette Book Group, McGraw-Hill, Simon & Schuster, Clements Publishing, Cosimo, E-Reads, Bibliolife, Information Age Publishing, Macmillan, University of California Press, and W.W. Norton.

The pilot, being offered initially to a small group of publishers that currently work with Lightning Source, will enable these publishers to enhance the availability of their titles at point-of-sale EBM locations. Approximately 85,000 titles from these publishers will be available for purchase at EBM locations in the U.S. in May 2009.

Upon the completion of a successful pilot, publishers that print and distribute books with Lightning Source will have the option to participate in the EBM channel. Complete channel automation is expected in the first half of this year, and rollout of the program to publishers globally is expected to follow shortly thereafter.

The EBM, which was named a TIME magazine 2007 "Invention of the Year," is essentially an ATM for books. Placed primarily in bookstores and libraries, the machine automatically prints, binds, and trims perfect bound paperback books on-demand, at point of sale. On Demand Books will be demonstrating the new Espresso Book Machine 2.0 model at the upcoming London Book Fair. More information on the Espresso Book Machine and Lightning Source can be found on the Lightning Source and On Demand Books websites.

Source: Lightening Source