Looking to lessen costs associated with its traditional print business, Macmillan has reached an agreement with the Ingram Content Group under which Macmillan will use Ingram’s print on demand and physical distribution infrastructure to manage its traditional inventory and POD needs for "long tail” titles. Macmillan will continue to service its customer relationships from its primary warehouse in Virginia.
According to Peter Garabedian, senior v-p and chief operating officer for Macmillan, the publisher will work with Ingram to have the company store and print through its Lightning Source division titles that no longer make sense for Macmillan to hold in its warehouse. As inventory from slow-moving titles winds down, fulfillment for those books will move to Ingram.
ICG CEO Skip Prichard said the agreement with Macmillan represents a recognition by the house of the need to rethink traditional business models, and the company was "thrilled" to be working with Macmillan. The company is in discussions with other publishers about doing deals similar to the one with Macmillan.
