Ingram Content Group is the core of the contemporary publishing ecosystem, but this family-owned company based in Tennessee is known for keeping a low profile. On the opening day of the American Book Show, the company’s chairman John Ingram and writer Kilhunter sat down with PW’s editorial director Jim Miliott to give publishing professionals a rare insight into the internal operations of distributors, printers, and wholesalers.

Hunter, a former spokesperson for the company and the author of "Family Business: How Ingram Changed the Book World", said that the company's low-key approach in the industry was founded by John Ingram's father Bronson As part of the code of ethics, he founded the company and insisted on maintaining family ownership.

"One of the main reasons [he kept the company secret] was that it would make me think it was the patience of the business," Hunter said. He explained that without investor requirements, the company can invest in initiatives that take time to develop.

Ingram said that he has been working in the company's warehouse since he was a child, responsible for packaging books, and he said he has observed since childhood how this kind of patience can help the company's wholesale distribution business. These experiences convinced him that when encountering an either-or situation in business, the best way is to think from the “either-or” perspective.

With the rise of Lightning Source, Ingram Content Group's on-demand printing service, in the past two decades, any aspect of the company's growth has embodied the ethics of "one or the other". Although the publishing industry was beset by the idea that e-books would eradicate printed matter in the 2000s, Ingram believes that Lightning Source can help publishers develop e-books while also printing on-demand.

In seven years, the company's losses will force Ingram to abandon this idea if the business is held publicly. "We found some real bumps there," he said. However, today, Lightning Source is a core part of Ingram Content Group's success. Following the murder of George Floyd in June last year, the increased demand for anti-racism books led to a general shortage of the industry-so in that month, Lightning Source printed 400,000 books. “50% of the New York Times paperback bestseller list is basically provided by us through on-demand printing,” Ingram said.

Although the company will continue to remain silent on its important position in trade, Ingram did share a glimpse of what is about to happen: the company plans to expand its global reach by opening a joint venture in the United Arab Emirates.

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