Destructible Heart News

So Long and Thanks for all the Books

Well, the moment is here. In a little over an hour we'll shut down the Store for the foreseeable future. The company will go on, housing Gourmet Books and Books for Books, and producing The Treehouse for the life of the series.

It's hard not to feel the squeeze on our hearts (you'll forgive us the pun). We tried to make the most beautiful books of the best poetry we could find, and where we succeeded, we're more proud than we have words for in a dinky blog update such as this. Where we failed, we will reinvent. This is not a death, rather a deep hibernation.

It's been a great 8 years. Those who have supported, monetarily and with love, we thank you.

Adam Rubinstein
Publisher, Destructible Heart Press
(for the next 75 minutes)

The End of the Heart We Know

Effective October 15, 2009, Destructible Heart Press is shutting down publishing operations. Gourmet Books and Adam's new artist's book imprint, Books for Books, will continue, as will the Treehouse reading series. We're thinking of this as a hibernation, and hope to reappear in ten years, with books that will make ours look lame by comparison.

Books will be available from our Store until then, thereafter you will have to seek them from the poet her/himself. At this time it's unclear whether we'll be relinking all the Buy Now links to point to individuals, or whether the Store will simply be replaced with a message much like this one.

We thank endlessly all of you who've bought books over the years. It's been a great run.

Not much, but we report it anyway!

Howdy book-lovers,

While nothing much has changed since our last missive, we feel it's important to let you know we're still kickin' hard against the economic undertow. We've rejected all but one submission this year, and are still deciding our feelings on it. It's actually a little relieving, as we're still looking into experimental binding techniques (experimental for us, anyway) and as we're not sure of what's coming it's rather nice making no commitments. What we can be sure of is it'll look damn sexy when it comes.

Heads still high, more as it comes.

–Ed.

What's Happening at the Heart, August 17 Dispatch

1. We've almost finished reading manuscripts, and will have public answers by the beginning of next month.

2. Plans for the D. Heart Club have been slowed, as we're all struggling with our other jobs, but heads high, we'll be coming at you with it soon.

3. Swamp Yankee is in its blurbing stages and we expect it to head to production next month. Badger is hot on its heels.

4. The first meetings for An Underground Guide to Alburquerque: 2010 have transpired, God help us, and we think those of you following this project will surely lose your socks when you get a gander at the new marketing materials.

Thanks, as ever, for reading on!

love,
Corazón Destruible

Adam on Vacation, Orders Slower than Usual

Indeed, the title says it all. Adam's taking a little him-time, and we expect him back Saturday.

He'll be working, however, on a multi-tiered D. Heart Member-Supported Package deal we're all giddy about. More on that when he returns.

Be good, buy books, stay cool.

Sunday Updates

As Adam Day's strange and disturbing Badger is nearing completion, and Christopher Jones's flexing masterpiece Swamp Yankee gathers up its blurbs, the Heart office is alive with new possibility.

We're almost done reading manuscripts, and have just acquired a spate of new production equipment (can you say die-cutting machine?!) that we think will titillate even the most bored and demanding readers alike.

There will also be a D. Heart fan club coming in late summer. Stay tuned for how you can snag great handmade books at great handmade prices, and all with the satisfaction of supporting our small but perky dream.

Party Canceled

Hey folks of the Destructible variety,

Word's been out a few days now in essential circles and it's time you know that we're canceling the party. Long story short, we realized we're not yet set up to put on a party as sophisticated and bad-ass as we know we should, and as you deserve. So stay tuned for Christopher Jones's new book here, as you have always, and thank you for your steadfast attention in this manic, manic world.

Love,
Heart

And That's That

Thanks to all who submitted manuscripts this year; we are now closed for 2009. Those who submitted will be receiving letters within the month, with luck before the 15th. As soon as we know who and what we'll be publishing, the information will be posted here.

We thank you all for your questions, clarifications, and excitement through this reading period. Your enthusiasm is our crack. Meanwhile, invitations will begin appearing soon for the Swamp Yankee release.

Stay tuned!

One Week Left!

Indeed, only a week remains before we close the vaults and deliberate the findings of our 2009 submissions cycle. If you're still planning an essential manuscript in that deliberation, now is the time to hit Send. Or, if you prefer, take the remainder of the long weekend to copyedit, and submit before midnight Sunday (which, for you nitpickers at home, is 11:59 or earlier, Sunday, May 31.)

Meanwhile, plans are concretizing for this summer's Release Par-tay. Details at this time:

• Christopher Jones's Swamp Yankee will be out, burning a hole of awesome through the tablecloth.
• Every other book in our stacks will be present, and on sale.
• It will transpire in a rather awesome, rather large downtown gallery.
• There will be excellent DJs.
• There will be excellent, modestly priced beer.
• It will be an open party, but the invitations will be sweet.
• If you don't mark it on your calendar, Adam will cry a little.

A Facebook event will appear in about a month. Whooo-nelly, we're stoked!

Three Weeks Left for 2009 Submissions

Happy Mama's Day, all! In the spirit, we're keeping this transmission brief.

Three weeks remain to get that manuscript in for consideration in our 2010 publication cycle. We will be publishing as many as 4 books this coming year, and we all want one of them to be yours.

So put them finishing touches on your book (starting tomorrow) and send it into the ether by the 31st.

That's all we got. Enjoy your Mother's Day, or rather, make sure a certain someone you know does.

5 Weeks Left for Submissions; Underground Guide; Books; Web

Well, it's Sunday again (for the rest of you; it's always a sunny Sunday at the Heart HQ, somehow) and we have calendar items:

1. Submissions close on May 31 at midnight MST, which is exactly 5 weeks from and 12 hours from now. Those of you on the fence, now's a great time to start prepping your manuscript. Those of you ready to go, now's an even better time to send it over.

2. As you may be aware, we love our city. Albuquerque has been kinder to us than just about any city in our collective imagination, and every year we try to give a little something back. An Underground Guide to Alburquerque, a project on our imprint, Gourmet Books, is on track for a June 12 release. Details to be posted soon at its Facebook page.

3. Swamp Yankee, poems by the imitable Christopher Jones drops July 11. Badger, by Adam Day, has been pushed back to a Fall date, TBD. Details for the former posted soon on our Facebook page.

4. Website work has officially begun. Awesome sauce alllll over.

Hard Times and Good Books

It's another Sunday here at Heart HQ, and we're beginning prep for this summer's release of Swamp Yankee, by Christopher Jones. We're pretty friggin' stoked to unleash this torpedo of cynical surrealism, and we'll be celebrating its release into the wild with a hell of a party on Saturday, July 11, at 516 ARTS in Downtown. More on that next month.

Meanwhile, as we negotiate the particulars, we remain far short of our fundraising goal. We saw a brilliantly generous push from you, our readers, a month back, and we need to ask for that same generosity now. We have a few hard expenses we need to meet for the party, namely for advertising, production, and security.

As ever we thank you, for your patronage, your loyalty, and your good taste. Back at you in two weeks.

–Adam

Two Weeks in and Strong!

Happy Sunday Hearters,

We've now been fundraising two weeks and are proud to report that your purchases have helped us make some long-overdue office purchases. And even with those deductions we've reached the $300 mark!

Of course, we think we can do still better, and given the huge response, we're cooking up a few ways to say thank you. If you haven't bought a book yet, we ask humbly again for your $12.50; there are few businesses that can make it go quite so far as we do.

And now, more warming thermometer action:

The Great Facebook Push

Today marks the beginning of our Facebook-led fundraising campaign. If you have a FB account (and if you're reading this, you probably do) and haven't added the Heart Fan Page, we encourage you to. And of course, if you have, and know people who'd be into what we do, we ask you to pass on the link.

The neat thing about supporting us is its simplicity: just buy a one of our awesome books. For $12.50 (with shipping) we make it just for you and drop it in the mail typically the very same day you order it. And then you've supported this stalwart and lovable micro-press. And you can prove it to your friends.

Not sure what you'd like? Try our current catalog; it's allll answers.

We look forward to making your book!

Order Fulfillment Unavailable Tuesday through Sunday

First, we want to say thanks for all the submissions we've been receiving. We're very excited about this year's reading, and we look forward to much, much more by the end of May.

Next, we're sorry to say it, but once again we'll be unable to fulfill orders for a few days. This time it'll be Tuesday, March 2 through Sunday, March 8. All book orders received during this time will be logged, and will ship out Monday, March 9.

Thank you for your patronage!

Orders on Hold Until Sunday

Greetings hearty-hearters! As Christian is on tour at the moment and Adam has stepped out on a family emergency, all orders will be received joyfully as ever, but shipped Monday morning. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,
Hearty-Heart

Reading Period Begins! …and Sad News

First, we'd like to announce heartily that today marks Day 1 of our 2009 Reading Period! Peep our Guidelines and send those 'scripts any time between now and May 31.

Second, word has come that we've lost our beloved Brenda Moosey. We'd like to extend our sincere condolences to all who knew and loved her, and all who knew and loved her work. She will be terribly, terribly missed. Brenda passed on January 29, far, far, far too young.

A Great Little Review of Jeremy Richards's An Inaccurate Theory of Everything at The Stranger

Check it out here. A wee excerpt:

The book opens with "T. S. Eliot's Lost Hip Hop Poem" ("Straight out of Missouri,/Harvard University in your face./I've got ladies in waiting all over/the place, singing each to each;/do I dare eat a peach?... For I will tell you/that I have scuttled across the floors of ancient clubs..."), and it continues with poems that start with a standup comic's sense of playfulness and land with a perfect dismount as something more profound.

(emphasis ours)

Our Reading Period Starts in 2 Weeks!

All you submitters, we'll be reading new manuscripts from February 1 to May 31. We will be taking only 2-4 books. All decisions will be sent by email the first week of June.

Not sure if you're a good fit? Dig our Spring 2009 Catalog. It includes enough sample poems to give you, or anyone else, a clear picture of what we like:



[D. Heart Catalog, 6.5 MB, PDF / Adobe Reader]

Before submitting, please give our Guidelines a thorough read. Don't worry; they're also in a PDF on the Submissions page.

Still wondering? We love getting mail. Send any questions to the address to the left. We look forward to reading you soon!