While the U.P. Press started to show signs of life during the early 1990s, the image of the U.P. Press that was imprinted in the mind of the community was that of ‘a dying institution.’ Faculty members wanting to get published, preferred to submit their dissertations or manuscripts based on research to the Ateneo Press or De La Salle Press, even if they were, to a certain extent, subsidized by the University. The common complaints were: “The U.P. Press is too slow.” “You don’t get to hear about the U.P. Press.”“You don’t get to read about the U.P. Press.” “U.P. Press titles are not visible in local bookstores.” 

One major strategic concern then was to win back the support and respect of the U.P. community. The challenge was to make the U.P. Press visible as an institution worthy of such support and respect. 

Aware of the terrible image problem of the U.P. Press, the present promotional campaign is geared towards projecting the institution and not just individual titles. 

At the center of this promotional campaign is the practice of mass launching or simultaneous booklaunch.To introduce the ‘new’ U.P. Press to the U.P. community, the U.P. Press held its first simultaneous launch of 10 titles in January, 1995, at the Bahay ng Alumni. The same year, on September 16, the U.P. Press held its first Mega Book Launch featuring 14 titles at the Philippine Bookfair. 

The Mega Book Launch has now become part of new U.P. Press tradition. The 2nd U.P. Press Mega Booklaunch at the 1996 Philippine Bookfair featured 23 titles and was hailed as “an unprecedented flowering of literature”. On September 17, 1997, at the 3rd Mega Book Launch, 40 U.P. Press titles were featured. The launching of so many titles at one time is unprecedented in the history of the U.P. Press and of the country. 

The 4th Mega Launch on September 18, 1998, featured 34 titles grouped into the following categories: 1) Mga Piling Akda sa Kasaysayan / Pag-aaral sa Lipunang Pilipino (Selected works inPhilippine History), 2) Mga Piling Akda sa Panitikan at Panunuring Pampanitikan(Selected works in Philippine Literature and Literary Criticism), 3) Likhaan:Philippine Writers Series, 1998, and 4) Contemporary Issues in Philippine Society / Philippine Social Sciences. Majority of the authors, including N.V.M. Gonzalez, Jose Maceda, Liwayway Arceo and Kerima Polotan, graced the event. 

Some of the recent U.P. Press titles were also launched individually, usually in cooperation with the author and/or other academic institutions and private organizations. Given 30 to 40 titles released in a single year, the U.P.Press cannot afford to launch all titles individually. Some authors, however, are more than willing to take charge of the separate launching of their books and for some authors, there are always sponsors willing to help. 

This policy of ‘encouraging’ the author and/or another organization to host the launching of his/her own book has made possible consecutive U.P. Press launching events. In September 1998, for example, the U.P. Press scheduled six launching events: Maybe: Incidentally: The Satire of Federico Mangahas (September 9); “U.P. Press 4th Mega Book Launch” (September 18); Muog: Ang Naratibo ng Kanayunan sa Matagalang Digmang Bayan sa Pilipinas (September 21); Origins and Rise of the Filipino Novel: A Generic Study of the Novel Until 1940 (September 22); The Bread of Salt and Other Stories and The Winds of April (September 24); and Ginto ang Kayumangging Lupa, Saan Papunta ang mga Putok, and Mga Ritwal, Sumpa, at Panata (September 30). All these events were well-produced and well-attended, involving diverse networks and audiences. 

Another important marketing and promotional campaign is the exhibit/sales of U.P.Press publications in connection with conferences, workshops, lectures and exhibits sponsored by various organizations. 

The most important and the biggest promotional and marketing event is the Annual Philippine Bookfair usually held at the Mega Trade Hall of SM Megamall. For about four years now, the U.P. Press booth at the Philippine Bookfair has been attracting browsers and customers. U.P. Press books are distributed both locally and abroad, with all its titles carried in most major bookstores in Metro Manila and other cities (See U.P.Press Local Distributors). The Press operates a bookshop within the campus which also sells the publications of other U.P. units. Abroad, the major distributor of U.P. Press titles is the University of Hawaii Press. 

From 1993 to March 1999, the U.P. Press has generated a gross income of P17.43 million from booksales. 
 

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