Ingram Content Group—the dominant book distribution company in the United States—and the Sharjah Book Authority launched a joint venture operating a Lightning Source facility in Sharjah Publishing City, the world’s first free trade zone for publishing. Lightning Source Sharjah was built to serve as gateway into publishing markets in the Middle East and North Africa, while allowing retailers in that market easier access to Ingram’s expansive library of wholesale books and quicker delivery times for orders.

John Ingram, chairman of Ingram Content Group, offered remarks as part of the Professional Conference at this year's Sharjah International Book Fair, where stressed the importance of accessibility in publishing, particularly for smaller-scale producers, and noted the need for timely delivery of works to consumers in today's fast-paced market.

He highlighted how Ingram's services enable authors and publishers to be included in their extensive database, which now boasts over 13 million units in its global print-on-demand catalogue. “Over 25% of our catalogue is in languages other than English, and we're seeing significant sales for that content, particularly in the U.S.," Ingram said. "German and Spanish are currently the top two languages, but there’s no reason why we couldn't see substantial Arabic content sales as well, especially considering the number of public libraries in the U.S. serving diverse communities."

Ingram shared further details in a conversation with PW prior to the event.

Tell us a bit about the print on demand facility and evolving distribution network in Sharjah.

Print on demand is the ability to print a single copy of a book quickly and at high quality when a sale occurs. It allows publishers, distributors, wholesalers, and booksellers to sell a book first and then have it manufactured. Ingram’s global POD service has allowed titles to be made available to booksellers in other markets without the need to ship stock and have it held speculatively in a warehouse. We link our print on demand service to wholesale points of distribution so that, for example, a bookseller in London or New York can order a title and receive it within a couple of days. Ingram makes the sale to the bookseller as a wholesaler at the price set by the publisher, manufactures the book on demand, deducts the cost of printing the book and pays the publisher the balance. This model is used very widely around the world.

What do you see as the potential for growth in the global south, especially using Sharjah as a hub?

We made the decision to bring our Lightning Source-on-demand service to Sharjah in response to high market demand from publishers that had a presence in the region. Sharjah is already a cultural hub for the written word and is one of the fastest growing markets for publishing.

What are you speaking about at this year’s Publishers Conference to the professional community and what do you hope to achieve from the event?

Firstly, I’m pleased to be invited to speak at this event which has grown significantly over the years. I will be speaking about the way Ingram’s print on demand model is helping publishers globally to reengineer their business by keeping books in print, by improving their visibility globally via Ingram’s unparalleled international reach, by ensuring that no sale is ever missed, and by helping to reduce the carbon in our book trade supply chain by only printing a book when there is a demand. I’ll also be talking about our Lightning Source joint venture in Sharjah with our friends at the Sharjah Book Authority and setting out the great benefits that we can provide to publishers in the region — and let’s not forget the benefits to local booksellers who now have access to over 1.5 million titles that they can order from Lightning Source Sharjah!

What is your outlook for global book publishing in light of the changes AI are likely to bring? How has this impacted your business?

Ingram has always been an innovative company, and we’ve made it a point to be on the forefront of technological advances in our industry. The same goes for AI. I think we’re only just beginning to learn how AI can help our business and only time will tell how impactful it will be to the entire industry as we continue to learn from it.

In the past five years, is there something you have changed your mind about when discussing global publishing, distribution, or the book industry in general?

This is more of an observation from the past five years. The pandemic really changed the way we think about the business. It shifted the way people discover and buy books, and we had to learn from and adapt to that. We’ve always known that investing in technology was important, and we’ve always strived to be an innovative company. The pandemic forced us to refocus and shift our resources to concentrate on innovation and even accelerate investments in the industry.

Today, we’re truly a global company. Ingram is investing in growing outside the U.S. We have opportunities to support the publishing industry in many other places, like the U.K, Australia, and right here in Sharjah.