Lightning Source Study Tour

Posted on October 2, 2008 in Uncategorized

The Lightning Source Study Tour started bright and early on the morning of October 1st. About 25 people turned up, a very good response to the SYP’s first Study Tour for many years.  The attendees came from a variety of publishers and backgrounds. There was a small editorial coterie from Springer, who were eager to learn more about Lightning Source, a company with whom they do much business. Ashley Lodge, HarperCollins’ Corporate Responsibility Manager and Chair of the Publishers’ Green Network, was there to learn more about Print-on-Demand’s green credentials.  Suzanne Collier from Bookcareers.com, was another of the luminaries present.  I, for one, was looking forward to returning to Milton Keynes, where I lived for many years while working for Amazon. Indeed, I was delighted when we passed my former place of employ, Amazon’s Marston Gate Distribution centre. I texted one of my ex-colleagues, and told them that I was on a Study Tour to Lightning Source, whereupon I was informed that Marston Gate was now doing Print-on-Demand. Perhaps Lightning Source had a competitor in their midst? However, I soon concluded that Amazon’s POD¹ facility was more likely to be aimed at self-publishing authors, rather than publishers. 
We were warmly greeted upon our arrival at Lightning Source, and after we had been refreshed by coffee and biscuits, Commercial Director Suzanne Wilson-Higgins gave a presentation about the key facets of Print-on-Demand (see copy of her PowerPoint talk below). Suzanne went onto explain that Lightning Source operates on a business to business model, and and that they discourage approaches from self-published authors, referring them instead to publishing services companies such as Authorhouse, who are also based in Milton Keynes. Tim Davies from Authorhouse then went onto talk about the phenomenon of self-publishing, which has increased exponentially in the US (see a copy of his PowerPoint presentation below).
Next, we were lead on a tour of the Lightning Source warehouse, which was every bit as chilly as I remembered Marston Gate to be. Much of the warehouse was empty, indicative of Lightning Source’s confidence in their ability to win new orders and to expand their business. We saw several state-of-the-art printers in action, fed by massive bales of paper. The paper  was then subjected to several chemical processes to ensure best quality. However, much of the procedures involved manual handling by well-trained staff rather than being wholly dependent on the mechanisation that we had imagined to exist prior to the tour. I was interested to see that Lightning Source was fulfilling orders to Amazon at Marston Gate, confirming my impression that Amazon’s own POD process is aimed more at self-publishers rather than Lightning Source’s business to business approach². This point was then reinforced by Lightning Source’s Managing Director David Taylor, after we had then been treated to an excellent lunch. David was most amusing as he ruminated on the differences between Lightning Source’s bases in Nashville and Milton Keynes, as he rounded up a very enjoyable day.

1). ”POD” – acronym for “Print-on-Demand”
2). However, as I’ve just read on the thetill.co.uk, Amazon.co.uk’s POD service has clients such as Faber & Faber, John Wiley, Cambridge University Press, and HarperCollins – you read it on the InPrint Online first!

Kevin Mahoney