“[To] build the reputation of DLSU as a serious center of intellectual production and dissemination.” This is the purpose of De La Salle University Publishing House (DLSUPH), as Dr. David Jonathan Bayot echoed in 2013. More than a decade later, DLSUPH continues to disseminate intellectual works from the University and beyond.
Nine years later
In 2017, the house reported that it was digitizing 100 books from its archive as part of the University’s centennial celebrations. The publishing house collaborated with Buqo, an app developed by Hands.Interactive to serve as Summit Media’s “mobile content and solutions arm.” Unfortunately, it is unclear whether Buqo made any effort in this regard. And as of press time, Buqo’s website is no longer accessible, nor is it found in major mobile app stores.
Lamentable as it may be, Dr. Bayot stated that they have no plans to pursue the initiative again or to build a platform to expand their digital presence, not only due to budgetary constraints but also because the ventures become senseless when they are restricted from accepting e-payments.
“The digitalization [and] dissemination is not difficult at all…but that will require [a] platform…but what is the point of a website if I’m just going to tell people, we don’t accept anything other than cash payment,” Dr. Bayot explained. But as luck would have it, online payments are set to be available soon.
In an inquiry with Vice President for Finance Jerk Jansen Miranda, he says that transactions with DLSUPH are distinct from those for tuition payments, which accept online methods. The latter uses student information to process transactions, so non-student patrons of DLSUPH cannot use the same system. But, he adds that the University has now found a partner that can provide a payment system fit for DLSUPH. The system is currently under review by the University’s legal and data privacy teams and is planned for deployment before the end of the academic year.
While waiting for the system’s implementation, patrons may continue to avail DLSUPH’s books at local partner bookstores. Although, Dr. Bayot regretfully said, “[While] we still have [partners,] many of them closed…there are people who try to be our distributors [but] they eventually vanish.”
The publication’s strategy
Currently, the publishing house focuses on attracting manuscripts from renowned local and international writers, promising that their works will be distributed through DLSUPH’s global partners.
“I started partnering with international publishers like Springer [and] Palgrave Macmillan…[and] the prospect of worldwide dissemination attracts good manuscripts,” Dr. Bayot says.
Alongside attracting manuscripts from non-DLSU authors, the publishing house maintains a rigorous publication process to build DLSUPH’s brand not only as the University’s publishing arm, but as a publication of quality.
Even with its external focus, DLSUPH continues to support DLSU faculty who wish to publish through the publication. On a related note, The Asia Pacific Education Researcher, a DLSU journal under DLSUPH’s purview, is indexed as a Q1 research journal by The Web of Science. While DLSUPH continues to seek to expand its local reach, operational constraints leave them with no choice but to seek international partners to at least ensure published works have a wide reach.
Versus other university presses
Compared with other local university presses, DLSUPH operates differently because of manpower and resource constraints. For instance, while similar publishers have designated personnel for book delivery, Dr. Bayot personally books transportation and sometimes delivers books off campus.
To make do with what he is given, Dr. Bayot prioritizes expanding DLSUPH’s capacity. According to him, other university presses do not write to foreign authors. However, Dr. Bayot believes that an active role should be taken in soliciting manuscripts. One example is the publication of “Poetics in a New Key” by the Austrian world-renowned avant-garde poet and scholar Marjorie Perloff in 2013. Dr. Bayot approached Perloff for a partnership and helped her conceptualize the manuscript. After publication, it caught the eye of the University of Chicago Press, one of the largest university presses in the United States. An international edition of the book was also published, making it the first Philippine-published book to be released internationally.
Dr. Bayot compared this to “standing on the shoulders of giants,” as big publishers like the University of Chicago Press, a 300-person machine, would not notice a three-person operation like the DLSUPH. By partnering with known authors like Perloff, the house can widen its market.
He also sees the importance of international reach for research journals. Traditionally, research journals published in the Philippines remain “stuck” in the country, hindering their potential. By collaborating with international publishers, DLSUPH can give its research journals a global readership.
Critically, Dr. Bayot attributes the success of DLSUPH publications to the people he has worked with. “We have good people to work on the particular thing that we would like to accomplish. In this case, the journal is the editor in chief of the journal.” Further solidifying that, despite challenges, “We have moved beyond what other universities have achieved.”
