Business Updates

7 March 2025

We would like to inform you that, effective April 1st, our express service level will be discontinued. However, we continue to offer the following print options to meet your needs:

Paperback

  • Economy – 5 business days
  • Rush – 1 business day

Hardcover

  • Economy – 10 business days
  • Rush – 2 business days

As a reminder, our turnaround times are for printing and do not factor in shipping times. We are dedicated to delivering high-quality printing services and are pleased to continue offering reliable options to meet your needs.

2 January 2025

Reinstating US Print Service Levels

  • US: Rush and Express service levels have been reinstated and all service levels (rush, express, economy, and mid-run) have returned to normal print times for both paperback and hardcover books in the United States.
  • AU: Service levels remain unchanged
  • UK: We continue to see higher print volumes. We are monitoring daily and hope to reinstate and/or improve print service levels soon.

Please check your Ingram Lightning Source account for current print turnaround times.

22 November 2024

Due to an increase in volume, print times have been extended for our UK print facility.

UK Economy Service – SL10
Paperback books – 8 business days
Hardcover books - 12 business days

UK Midrun Service - SL50
Paperback books - 9 business days
Hardcover books - 13 business days

14 November 2024

Beginning November 14, 2024:

  • US Rush and Express Service levels for hardcover have been suspended
  • US Economy Service Level has been extended for hardcover
  • UK Economy and Midrun Service Levels have been extended for both perfect bound and hardcover


Current turnaround times for printing:

US Rush Service
Paperback books – 1 business day
Hardcover books – temporarily suspended

US Express Service
Paperback books – 2 business days
Hardcover books – temporarily suspended

US Economy Service
Paperback books – 5 business days
Hardcover books - 15 business days

US Midrun Service
Paperback books – 10 business days
Hardcover books - 15 business days

UK Rush Service
Paperback books - temporarily suspended
Hardcover books - temporarily suspended

UK Express Service
Paperback books - temporarily suspended
Hardcover books - temporarily suspended

UK Economy Service
Paperback books – 6 business days
Hardcover books - 9 business days

UK Midrun Service
Paperback books - 7 business days
Hardcover books - 10 business days


Service levels at our AU facility remains unchanged.

12 November 2024

Rush and Express order types have been suspended/disabled until Jan 1 for the UK only. Service levels at our US and AU facilities remain unchanged.

08 October 2024

Below are our recommended order dates to give your books the best opportunity to reach readers in time for the holidays:

  • US: Order by November 22nd for Hardcover, and December 6th for Paperback
  • UK: Order by November 29th for Hardcover, and December 6th for Paperback
  • AU: Order by November 29th for Hardcover, and December 6th for Paperback

19 January 2024

Inclement winter weather across Tennessee and other parts of the United States has resulted in service delays for Lightning Source. Concurrently, several of our shipping carriers are also facing delays, contributing to extended shipping times. You may see longer than normal shipping times in addition to longer than expected turnaround times.

We appreciate your patience. We are working quickly to get orders completed as soon as possible.

10 January 2024

Rush and Express Service Levels
We are pleased to share that rush and express service levels have been reinstated for both paperback and hardcover books in the United States. All service levels (economy, rush and express) are available in our United States, United Kingdom and Australia facilities.

Please check your Ingram Lightning Source account for current print turnaround times.

1 December 2023

Current Turnaround Times in the United States
Beginning December 4, 2023 we are temporarily suspending rush and express service levels in the United States.

Current turnaround times for printing your books:

Economy Service
Paperback books - 7 business days
Hardcover books - 14 business days

Midrun Service
Paperback books - 15 business days
Hardcover books - 20 business days

As a reminder, our turnaround times are for printing and do not factor in shipping times. Many carriers are experiencing delays, so please expect shipping to take longer than usual.

Service levels and turnaround times at our Australia and United Kingdom facilities remain unchanged. Please check your Lightning Source account for additional information.

27 October 2023

Below are our recommended order dates to give your books the best opportunity to reach readers in time for the holidays:

  • US: Order by November 24th for both Hardcover and Paperback
  • UK: Order by December 1st for Paperback and November 24th Hardcover
  • AU: Order by November 24th for Hardcover, and December 1st for Paperback

21 August 2023

Upgrades to Print Equipment at Ingram’s Facility in Australia

To support our continued expansion, we are upgrading our equipment and therefore both Standard and Premium Color will be offline for a period of approximately two weeks.

What This Means for You:

  • Standard, Standard 70 and Premium Color printing will be unavailable for approximately two weeks, from Monday 18th September 2023.
  • Your last day to order Standard and Premium Color books from our operation in Australia will be Friday 15th September until the color lines are available again.
  • Black & White, and Ultra-Premium printing in all available formats will remain available to order throughout the upgrade.
  • We strongly encourage all publishers to place their required orders now to meet your needs during the two-week downtime.

Should you have any questions, please contact your account representative, or email us on lsicustomersupport@ingramcontent.com.

*This includes titles priced in Australian Dollars and sold within the region during the period of the upgrade, where Standard and Premium color is offline. Titles printed in black and white and Ultra-Premium remain unaffected. This change does not impact any other Ingram print location.

5 June 2023

Groundwood Eggshell paper is now available in our Australia facility. Groundwood Eggshell paper is an excellent alternative to crème paper if you are looking for a thicker but lighter paper that works great for trade books, reader guides, and academic trade titles.

Specifications:
Weight US & AU: 38#/56.2gsm, UK: 44#/65gsm
PPI 408, Opacity 94, Brightness 70

Optimal Titles:
Small-format books, B&W only, Select Trim Size

Please reach out to your sales or client services rep to learn more.

21 March 2023

Extended turn-around times for AU print orders ended on March 6 and are now back to normal. Express and premium service level options are also available again. AU Economy service usually prints in 5 business days AU Express service usually prints in 2 business days AU Rush service usually prints in 1 business day Thank you for your patience and understanding while we managed an unprecedented volume of orders. As a reminder, our turnaround times are for printing and do not factor in shipping times.

20 January 2023

Effective March 18th, 2023, Ingram Lightning Source will be adjusting UK, EU and AU print-on-demand pricing. As you may know, material and energy prices continue to rise in the UK and AU with many businesses being affected by these unprecedented cost increases. In light of this, print prices for all products manufactured in our UK print facility will be increasing by 5% and prices for all products manufactured in our AU print facility will be increasing by 8%.

2 December 2022

Due to increased volume, we are removing Rush and Express Service levels from 02/12/2022 in the UK only.

Current Turnaround Times for UK Print Orders

  • Rush and Express service levels are temporarily unavailable
  • Proof orders are processing once a week

As a reminder, our turnaround times are for printing and do not factor in shipping times. Many carriers are experiencing delays, so please expect shipping to take longer than usual.

22 November 2022

Orders from Lightning Source – UK Only

Due to the recent announcement by the Royal Mail of additional strike action on the 23rd and 24th of December, the last date orders will be shipped via Royal Mail is now Thursday, 22 December. We encourage all publishers to place their orders early to avoid disappointment.

If you are utilising our Royal Mail shipping options, untracked to UK destinations, please check the Royal Mail website here for further updates on strike action.

18 November 2022

Order ahead to make sure you get your order in time for the holidays.

Recommended Order Dates to Guarantee Delivery on Time

  • US: Order by November 18th for Hardcover, and November 25th for Paperback
  • UK: Order by November 25th for Paperback and Hardcover
  • AU: Order by November 25th for Hardcover, and December 2nd for Paperback

Many carriers are experiencing delays, so shipping time may take longer than usual.

7 November 2022

Due to increased volume, we are removing Rush and Express Service levels and extending our current turnaround times for AU orders from 04/11/2022.

Current Turnaround Times for AU Print Orders

  • AU Economy orders for paperback books are estimated to print in 8 business days
  • AU Economy orders for hardcover books are estimated to print in 12 business days
  • Proof orders are processing once a week
  • Rush and Express service levels are temporarily unavailable

As a reminder, our turnaround times are for printing and do not factor in shipping times. Many carriers are experiencing delays, so please expect shipping to take longer than usual.

11 AUGUST 2022

Effective October 10th, 2022, Ingram Lightning Source will be adjusting UK and EU print-on-demand pricing. As you may know, material and energy prices are rising sharply in the UK with many businesses being affected by these unprecedented cost increases. In light of this, print prices for all products manufactured in our UK print facility will be increasing by 4.9%. Service fees such as title set up, revisions, proof copies, and order handling are not impacted by this change.

With this increase, you may want to consider a list price adjustment on your books to maintain your current publisher compensation rates.

Helpful Resources:

  • Use our publisher compensation calculator to see what you'll earn for existing and future titles. The week of August 22nd you will see the future pricing option on the calculator.
  • Updated Rate Card for UK
  • Updated Rate Card for EU
  • Retail price and discount changes can be submitted by the following cut-off dates to be in effect by October 10th
Monthly Cut-Off
Weekly Cut-Off

Submit changes via XML or Spreadsheet by Thursday September 15th to be effective on Saturday October 1st.

Submit changes via online account by Thursday October 6th to be effective Friday October 7.

Thank you for your continued business as we help you reach readers worldwide.

28 JUNE 2022

Due to system upgrades, colour printing at our Lightning Source production facility in Melbourne, Australia will be offline from 5pm (Melbourne, VIC, GMT +10) 17th July to 24th July 2022.

Any order of Premium or Standard Colour submitted during this period will be placed on hold until 24th July. From this date, orders of colour titles will be printed and shipped.

Turnaround times for orders placed for theMelbourne facility during this time will be counted from colour printer reactivation on 24th July rather than from the date on which the order was placed. We therefore advise that any time-sensitive orders of Premium or Standard Colour titles be placed as soon as possible.

Please check your Lightning Source account dashboard frequently for the most current business updates regarding Ingram service levels.

10 FEBRUARY 2022

Current Turnaround Times for U.S. Print Orders

  • U.S. orders for paperback books are estimated to print in 5 business days
  • U.S. orders for hardcover books are estimated to print in 10 business days
  • Rush and Express service levels are temporarily unavailable

As a reminder, our turnaround times are for printing and do not factor in shipping times. Many carriers are experiencing delays, so please expect shipping to take longer than usual.

10 JANUARY 2022

Effective March 8, 2022, Ingram Lightning Source will be adjusting print rates in all of our print-on-demand markets.

Here are a few highlights associated with March’s rate adjustments:

  • US premium paperback prices have decreased
  • US and AU hardcover prices have stayed the same
  • US paperback prices have increased
  • UK paperback and hardcover prices have increased, with the exception of Premium Color
  • AU paperback prices have increased, with the exception of Premium Color
  • US returns fees for titles with a returnable status of ‘Return – Yes, Deliver’ will move from $2 a unit to $3 a unit

Helpful Resources:

Throughout these global inflationary times, Ingram Lightning Source has endeavored to manage its costs closely by improving its manufacturing efficiencies and supply chain sourcing in order to minimize pricing increases.

Going forward, if there are any additional pricing updates we will notify you of those adjustments, to help you plan ahead accordingly.

Thank you for your continued business as we help your titles reach readers worldwide, in a sustainably responsible way through printing on demand and closest to your customer.

16 NOVEMBER 2021

A new version of the Lightning Source Publisher Operating Manual is now available here. Changes made in this version include:

  • Supporting information for our new Sharjah printing facility.
  • Changes to AU ordering availability for retailers located outside of the country.
  • Supporting information for newly available Small Duplex product offering.
  • New rules for repayment terms of negative publisher compensation.

15 NOVEMBER 2021

Coming soon, retailers located outside Australia will be able to purchase print-on-demand books from ICG in Australia in AustralianDollars (AUD). This is great news for retailers ICG trades with globally and benefits you. With fewer limitations on who can place orders and where your titles can be sold, your titles' sales potential is much greater.  

If your titles are already priced in AUD, there is nothing additional you need to do to be included in this new opportunity. If you would not like ICG to sell your AUD-priced titles globally, please contact us at ingramwholesaleau@ingramcontent.com by 15th January 2022 to opt your content out of this sales channel.This sales channel is only available to titles priced in AUD, so if you have not yet set your pricing for this, please do so now to be included.

3 NOVEMBER 2021

Beginning the week of November 8th, you will notice new web ordering processes for orders printing in the UK and shipping to the EU27 countries due to changes to EU VAT regulations. Please see our updated FAQ for additional information.  

5 OCTOBER 2021

Based on this year’s volume and ever-changing conditions, we’re sharing recommended Lightning Source order dates for the best opportunity to reach readers worldwide for the holidays.

Recommended United States Order Dates

Order by November 5, 2021, for Paperback and Hardcover

Recommended United Kingdom and Australia Order Dates

Order by November 19, 2021, for Paperback and Hardcover

As a reminder, current U.S. turnaround times for economy print orders are as follows:
(Subject to Change)

  • U.S. Economy orders for 70# paperback books are estimated to print in 20 business days.
  • U.S. Economy orders for 70# hardcover books are estimated to print in 25 business days.
  • U.S. Economy orders for all other paperback book formats are estimated to print in 10 business days.
  • U.S. Economy orders for all other hardcover book formats are estimated to print in 15 business days.
  • Rush and Express service levels are temporarily unavailable.

Spikes in demand as well as anticipated carrier shipping delays during November, December, and early January will likely cause extended turnaround times. Please review the latest turnaround times when placing your orders and plan to meet the above recommended order dates, especially for higher volume orders.

8 SEPTEMBER 2021

Amidst significant uncertainty in the global supply chain, Ingram Lightning Source is committed to supporting the book industry with the best possible service through the busy holiday season and into 2022. Over the past several months, the publishing industry has seen several cost increases for consumables, such as paper and packaging materials, as well as an increase in the cost of labor. Operating safely during the pandemic also has required additional resources and investments in manufacturing and distribution centers.

As a result of these industry-wide challenges, effective November 6th, 2021, Ingram Lightning Source is increasing print pricing as follows:

  • US market: 6% increase
  • UK & AU markets: 3% increase

These changes do not apply to freight, handling, or title setup related fees.

You can view our updated rate cards below:

To help you assess any increases you may need to make to your retail pricing, we will be adding the future pricing view to our online pricing calculators. You should expect to see that view appear within the next two weeks. As a reminder, we offer the following retail price change options:

Weekly: through the Lightning Source website or via XML upload, with changes effective every Friday at 12:01 AM US Central Time

Monthly: through our spreadsheet template. Prices to be submitted no later than 15th of the month to be effective 1st of the following month.

We will also be identifying titles that will move into negative publisher compensation because of these price changes and will communicate that title information to you within the next two weeks.

13 AUGUST 2021

We are extending our current turnaround times for U.S. orders.

Current Turnaround Times for U.S. Economy Print Orders

  • U.S. Economy orders for paperback books are estimated to print in 10 business days
  • U.S. Economy orders for hardcover books are estimated to print in 15 business days
  • Rush and Express service levels are temporarily unavailable

As a reminder, our turnaround times are for printing and do not factor in shipping times. Many carriers are experiencing delays, so please expect shipping to take longer than usual.

22 JUNE 2021

Due to scheduled maintenance to update foundational IT systems, ALL Lightning Source accounts will be unavailable for log in starting Friday, July 9 at 9:00 pm CDT for U.S. customers and Saturday, 10th July at 3:00 am BST for UK customers and 12:00 pm AEST for Australian customers.

This maintenance is expected to take 24 hours to complete. If there are orders you need to place, titles you need to upload, edit, or approve, or any other actions or information you need to access in your account, please do so before or after the weekend of July 9-11. This advance notice is intended to help you plan accordingly for this temporary outage.

We appreciate your patience as we make these necessary database updates to better support our growing customer base and allow for future platform development.

Your Lightning Source Team

16 JUNE 2021

Due to EU VAT rule changes effective from 1st July 2021, Ingram Content Group UK (ICGUK) will be making alterations to the web ordering process for orders printed in the UK shipping to EU27.

Changes will be effective from Q3 2021, please see FAQ for more details.

9 JUNE 2021

Please be advised that from 8th June 2021 there will be a change to the requirements for the Declared Unit Value (DUV) field on all orders being exported from the UK. For more details, please refer to our Support Pages.

There will also be an update to the UK to EU27 shipping rates in the run-up to changes being implemented by the EU from 1st July 2021.

Please note this refers to Publisher Direct Orders Only.

Wholesale orders (i.e. when Ingram sells your titles to resellers in our wholesale network on your behalf) are unaffected by this change.

21 MAY 2021

Due to increased volume, Rush and Express Service levels have been temporarily removed for United States hardcover orders. The Rush and Express Service levels remain for hardcover orders in the United Kingdom and Australia and for paperback orders in all facilities.

Please note this refers to Publisher Direct Orders Only.

17 MAY 2021

From 1 July 2021, the European VAT rules on cross-border business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce activities will change. The EU will be removing the current €22 VAT threshold meaning all goods passing into the EU will be subject to customs clearance and VAT charges. They will also introducing a new ‘Import one stop shop” (IOSS) system which will allow distance sellers to make their VAT returns and payments online, away from the border.

If you are selling directly to customers in the European Union and plan to continue doing so after the 1st July, it is likely you will need to take action now. Further details can be found at https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/vat/vat-e-commerce_en

This information in no way constitutes tax advice, you should seek the services of a registered tax specialist if this is required.

3 MAY 2021

Lightning Source AU Pty Ltd, an operating company of Ingram Content Group, has been renamed Ingram Content Group Australia Pty Ltd. This change helps bring together Ingram Content Group’s publisher and retail services in Australia into one named entity.

  • The change came into effect on 29 March 2021.
  • Our print-on-demand services will continue to trade as Lightning Source and contracts remain unaffected by this decision.
  • Our Company registration number remains unchanged.

Please continue to direct email invoices and enquiries to: AR_Invoices.AU@ingramcontent.com

23 APRIL 2021

We're pleased to announce that Express and Rush Service levels have been reinstated for both paperback and hardcover US orders. With this addition, all service levels (Economy, Express, and Rush) are now available from our US, UK, and AU print facilities.

29 MARCH 2021

We’re pleased to announce that print turnaround times have improved for US hardcover orders from 15 to 10 business days.

Current Global Print Order Turnaround Times

  • Global paperback orders are estimated to print in 5 business days
  • UK and AU hardcover orders are estimated to print in 7 business days
  • US hardcover orders are estimated to print in 10 business days

29 MARCH 2021

We’re pleased to announce that print turnaround times have improved for US hardcover orders from 15 to 10 business days.

Current Global Print Order Turnaround Times

  • Global paperback orders are estimated to print in 5 business days
  • UK and AU hardcover orders are estimated to print in 7 business days
  • US hardcover orders are estimated to print in 10 business days

12 MARCH 2021

Post-Brexit UK to EU Shipping Options

Following our most recent Brexit message on 30th December, Ingram Content Group UK (and all associated company brands, including IngramSpark) has updated its tracked shipping options and rates for deliveries into the European Union. For more details, please refer to our FAQ.

Please note this refers to Publisher Direct Orders Only.

Wholesale orders (i.e. when Ingram sells your titles to resellers in our wholesale network on your behalf) are unaffected by this change.

5 MARCH 2021

We’re pleased to announce that print turnaround times for US hardcover orders have improved from 20 to 15 business days.

Current Global Print Order Turnaround Times

  • Global paperback orders are estimated to print in 5 business days
  • UK and AU hardcover orders are estimated to print in 7 business days
  • US hardcover orders are estimated to print in 15 business days

1 MARCH 2021

Updated versions of the Operating Manual and File Creation Guide are now available with the following changes:

Print on Demand Operating Manual

  • Page 7: Updated to reflect new perforation availability.
  • Page 8: Updated to reflect changes to our Catalog Integrity guidelines.

File Creation Guide

Trim Size Matrix and Text Setup pages updated to reflect new perforation availability.

17 FEBRUARY 2021

Due to extreme winter weather conditions affecting some of our Lightning Source facilities in the U.S., you may experience delays in order processing and transit times. Please continue to check this page for more updates.

12 FEBRUARY 2021

We’re pleased to announce that print turnaround times for US hardcover orders have improved from 30 to 20 business days.

Current Global Print Order Turnaround Times:

  • Paperback orders are estimated to print in 5 business days
  • UK and AU hardcover orders are estimated to print in 7 business days
  • US hardcover orders are estimated to print in 20 business days

We’re monitoring the lockdown in Australia closely and will let you know on this business updates page and the orders page of your account if anything changes, as well as keep you informed on the return to standard print turnaround times for US hardcover orders.

22 JANUARY 2021

We’re glad to announce the print turnaround time for paperback orders placed from our US, UK, and Australian print facilities has returned to our standard print turnaround times. We anticipate a reduction in US hardcover print turnaround times soon and will keep you updated via this business updates page when we have information to share.

Current Global Print Order Turnaround Times:

  • Paperback orders are estimated to print in 5 business days
  • UK and AU hardcover orders are estimated to print in 7 business days
  • US hardcover orders are estimated to print in 30 business days

11 JANUARY 2021

We are pleased to announce that we have now completed the move to our new Australian facility. Consequently, we have resumed production of Standard Color and Standard Color 70 formats. These book types are once again available for publisher direct and wholesale orders.

All other product lines–paperback, hardback, premium color, and black & white–remained in production throughout the move and are therefore unaffected by this announcement.

To find out more about how we are growing in Australia, please visit: www.ingramcontent.com/publishers/lp/australia-facility

10 FEBRUARY 2022

Current Turnaround Times for U.S. Print Orders

  • U.S. orders for paperback books are estimated to print in 5 business days
  • U.S. orders for hardcover books are estimated to print in 10 business days
  • Rush and Express service levels are temporarily unavailable

As a reminder, our turnaround times are for printing and do not factor in shipping times. Many carriers are experiencing delays, so please expect shipping to take longer than usual.