potboiler
Mercenary creative output
A potboiler is a book, film, or other creative work produced quickly and formulaically to make money rather than for artistic merit—something churned out to keep the pot boiling, to pay the bills.
The term carries mild disdain: He dismissed the novel as a potboiler.
Many respected authors have written potboilers between more ambitious projects.
Soft wet mass
- genreCategory of creative work
- thrillerSuspense-driven narrative genre
- mysterySomething unexplained or unknown
- paperbackBook with flexible cover
bestseller · plot · twist · suspense · hackneyed · cliché · predictable · derivative
Of only moderate quality
- uninspiredLacking creative spark
- second-rateBelow acceptable standards
- inferiorOf lower rank
- pedestrianOne traveling afoot
trashy · lowbrow · forgettable · disposable · shallow · superficial · schlock · cheap
Producing financial benefit
- money-makingYielding financial returns
- lucrativeYielding substantial profit
- commercialPaid broadcast promotion
- mass-marketFor widespread commercial sale
publishing · royalties · serialized · prolific · hack · ghostwritten · commissioned · deadline-driven
pulp
Soft wet mass
- genreCategory of creative work
- thrillerSuspense-driven narrative genre
- mysterySomething unexplained or unknown
paperback · bestseller · plot · twist · suspense · hackneyed · cliché · predictable · derivative · trope
mediocre
Of only moderate quality
- uninspiredLacking creative spark
- second-rateBelow acceptable standards
- inferiorOf lower rank
pedestrian · trashy · lowbrow · forgettable · disposable · shallow · superficial · schlock · cheap · escapist
profitable
Producing financial benefit
- money-makingYielding financial returns
- lucrativeYielding substantial profit
- commercialPaid broadcast promotion
mass-market · publishing · royalties · serialized · prolific · hack · ghostwritten · commissioned · deadline-driven · marketable
- thrillerssuspense, thriller, nail-biter, page-turner, cliffhanger
- Bollywooditem number, song and dance, dance numbers, masala, dream sequence
- melodramavillain, heroine, hero, damsel in distress, happy ending
- pulp fictionpulp, pulp fiction, pulp magazines, pulp novels, dime novels
- schlockschlock, schlocky, trash, junk, dreck
- fictionfiction, novel, novels, novella, novellas
potboilermasterpiece
Supreme artistic achievement
magnum opus · classic · literary fiction · tour de force · work of art
potboilerlabor of love
Work done for fulfillment, not payment
passion project · life's work · artistic vision · art for art's sake · vanity project