BLACK FRIDAY, with a dedication page that says “for BLACK INK ON WHITE PAPER,” is Holly Melgard’s “attempt to ‘break an industrial printer.’” The book is about “testing if and how poetry could actually, and not just metaphorically, break things” (Sophie Seita, “Thinking the Unprintable”).

The book’s 734 pages are completely filled with black ink except for the page numbers. Ink being the most expansive resource in the printing process makes this extensive tome one of the most expansive print-on-demand books possible in production costs (a consideration that Jean Keller also chooses as the starting point of his Black Book). But because the price of a book on print-on-demand platforms is usually calculated by the number of pages and not the amount of ink used, BLACK FRIDAY is a losing deal for Lulu—thus referencing “Black Friday” shopping discounts.

There have been instances when the book could not be printed because, according to Lulu, the “source file contains errors that are preventing it from being printed.” Until the author fixes the error, the availability status of the book will be changed to “private access” (the mail exchange is documented below). On the one hand, these difficulties are a reminder of the fragility of the print-on-demand publishing system, which can cut off access to books at any time. On the other hand, the author can chalk them up as a success, since she has almost made it a point not to be printed. One could speak here of an “imagined printedness” (Sophie Seita, “Thinking the Unprintable”) that characterizes print-on-demand in general, since ultimately every uploaded book is waiting to be ordered and printed at some point—a potentiality that is naturally taken to an extreme with BLACK FRIDAY.

As always, Troll Thread offers this publication as both a (free) PDF and a print-on-demand book on Lulu. This time, however, the publication is also available in hardback and paperback, giving the option of an even more extensive production.