Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Lightning Source and Didio Communications Ink Agreement to Expand eAudiobook Market Publishers, Booksellers Gain New Options for Secure Digital Audiobooks

 LAVERGNE, Tenn., and LEEDS, United Kingdom, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ --
 
 Lightning Source Inc.(SM), a pioneer in innovative digital fulfillment, and
 Didio Communications, Ltd., a world leader in digital audio services, have
 entered into a strategic alliance to jointly market their services to the
 publishing industry worldwide. 
 
 Didio and Lightning Source will collectively leverage their technological
 expertise to galvanize the eAudiobook market and work together with publishers
 to increase the volume of eAudiobook content available to consumers.  Under
 this new alliance, Lightning Source will expand its suite of services to
 include digital audiobook fulfillment capability. 
 
Didio will work with Lightning Source to gain access to and properly support worldwide channels of
 distribution for eAudiobook content. 
 
 "Our alliance with Didio provides a strategic pairing of two key digital
 fulfillment technologies," said Ed Marino, president and CEO of Lightning
 Source. "In co-marketing our services, we'll be able to offer publishers and
 booksellers one source for secure fulfillment of eBooks and eAudiobooks, as
 well as possible future combinations of the two formats." 
 
 "Lightning's alliance with Didio confirms the growing interest in
 eAudiobooks," said Paul G. Smithson, Managing Director of Didio.  "By
 combining Didio's cutting-edge eAudiobook solutions with Lightning Source's
 established track record with digital content, we're providing access to a
 unique, combined content format offering that is sure to be of great appeal to
 all online retailers and audiobook publishers, and ultimately to their
 consumers." 
 
 As a pioneer in the new world of eAudiobooks, Didio has made substantial
 investments in delivery and encryption technology, resulting in an eAudiobook
 digital delivery service that combines superior sound quality with exceptional
 security for audiobook content. 
 
Today, Didio helps audiobook publishers and retailers in this growing market develop and implement digital audio download
 strategies, and enables publishers to transfer encrypted digital downloads of
 eAudiobooks to their customers. 
 
Didio also helps publishers enlist retail affiliates who wish to access their secure eAudiobook content, and aids
 retailers in developing their service to customers who wish to sample and buy
 eAudiobooks.
 
 Didio's services for audiobook publishers include design, hosting and
 management of the eAudiobook digital distribution platform, acquisition of
 third-party distribution channels, and safe, secure delivery of eAudiobooks
 directly to customers, both online and offline.  All of these services are
 supplied by Didio as directed by their publisher and retailer clients.
 
 Content owners retain full control of their content and brand identification
 without having to assume the technical burden, time and heavy expense of
 implementation.  Didio also has future plans to offer audio-print-on-demand
 (APOD) and fulfillment services to its publisher clients.
 
 Lightning Source, a pioneer provider of print-on-demand (POD) and eBook
 fulfillment services, electronically stores books and other content in its
 digital library, which currently offers more than 20,000 titles. Lightning
 Source has long-term relationships with more than 900 publishers, and has
 received commitments to add more than 50,000 titles to its digital library.
 
 "Our alliance with Didio is a perfect complement to Lightning's services,"
 said Marino.  "Digital fulfillment leverages the extreme flexibility and
 portability of digital content, and accommodates essentially any form of
 content that can be digitized, including the continuously growing medium of
 audiobooks."
 
 "The new alliance will enable all of our customers to reap the full
 benefits of this expanding spectrum of digital services," added Didio's
 Smithson.
 
     About Lightning Source
 
 Lightning Source Inc., a subsidiary of Ingram Industries Inc., provides a
 comprehensive suite of digital fulfillment services.  The company is
 revolutionizing the options available to the industry in the secure
 conversion, storage, management, and distribution of digital content.
 Lightning stores books and other information electronically and delivers them
 "on demand" in either traditional printed format or as eBooks in response to
 orders from booksellers, librarians, and publishers.  Lightning Source has
 printed more than 1,500,000 "on demand" books for more than 900 publishers
 around the world.  For more information, visit our website at
 http://www.lightningsource.com .
 
     About Didio
 
 Didio Communications Ltd. is a provider of digital content services to the
 Publishing and Retailing industries.  Didio is a part-owned subsidiary of
 Chivers Communications Plc, itself a specialist in Publishing, having
 Audiobook and Large Print interests through its wholly-owned subsidiary
 Chivers Press Ltd. Chivers Communications Plc also has interests in Digital
 Radio Channel, One Word Ltd., and audiobook mail-order business, Audio Book
 Collection.  Together, Didio Communications Ltd and Chivers Communications Plc
 are building on relationships in the publishing industry in delivering digital
 media services to content-owners.  For more information, visit out website at
 http://www.didio.com .
 
     The Lightning Source and Didio name, corresponding logos, taglines and
 other service marks identifying Lightning Source and Didio and their services
 are the proprietary marks of Lightning Source Inc. and Didio Communications
 Ltd. and must be represented accordingly. Other products and company names
 mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
 

SOURCE  Lightning Source Inc.

No comments: