Rejected Books: The Most Unpublishable Books of All Time

by Graham Johnson, Rob Hibbert

Rejected Books is a collection of forty hilariously unrealistic, totally cringe-worthy covers for books that will never, ever be published—from the authors of Images You Should Not Masturbate To

Have you ever had a great idea for a book but then thought, “Nobody would ever read that”? Well . . . you’re probably right. But you’re not alone! Enter Rejected Books , a rollicking collection of the best book covers for books that were never meant to be. These awful pitches were turned down for any number of they’re either too long, too sad, too raunchy, or just plain bad. 

The compilation of imagined book covers in Rejected Books will have you scratching your head and guffawing with every page turn. Though Pranks with Sausages and Holy Bible II don’t actually exist, Rejected Books offers up a professionally produced series of photos imagining just what these wacky ideas (and plenty more) could look like.

Rejected Books includes delightfully weird covers of imagined books

• The Sculptors Who Couldn’t Do Hands
• Cooking with Breast Milk
• Possessed A Buying Guide
• Unfortunate Gluing Accidents
• Camel Toes Through History

Enjoy the worst book pitches of all time and rest assured that anyone can have a future in publishing . . . even if your ideas are totally horrible.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Books About Books, Art, Writing, Comedy

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2022

About the author

There is more than one author in the database with this name. Not all books on this profile belong to the same person.

For the British musicologist, see Graham Johnson, listed on Goodreads as Graham^^Johnson.

Reviews

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this entire book while waiting in line at the library to check out, which is not a testament to my reading speed but more an indicator of how diminuitive the book is. It's both small (less than mass market paperback size) and short (less than 100 pages), which is my only gripe. It's pretty funny, though, as the titles of these (so not real) books that have been rejected by publishers are quite guffaw-worthy. They range from weirdly humorous ("Camel Toes Through History") to cringe-worthy ("Cooking with Breast Milk") to the humorously weird ("Teaching Your Parrot to Not Make Fun of Your Genitals"). If you want a good laugh, this is a quick and funny read. Too quick, in my opinion.

[Jessica Fleming · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in my kitchen making lunch, when my oldest son came in the back door with a package. The package was this book. So my two sons and I sat down to eat and I opened this book. What a laugh! I won this book through a goodreads giveaway. I enjoyed sharing the laughter with my sons and our added jokes but I probably won't ever pick this book again. I only wish that it hadn't been so short, if only to continue the laughter.

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you for sending me a copy of this book. While the concept has potential, I found it lacking humor, depth, and content. Nearly all pages were pictures of books alone with absolutely no information on them. Yes, some did yield a small chuckle, but as a whole, the collection felt bland and unremarkable.

[Yulia Otrishko · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's my fault for only paying attention to the title, but as a former book publishing student I thought this is a collection of actual rejected books from some publishing house's trashcan, so now I'm depressed it wasn't that, objectively better and more sociological/revealing, book.

It also came out in 2022 so there's little reason for why this isn't just a twitter thread or something

[Andrèa Fowler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hai că am râs 😂

[Maddie Dilday · Rating 3 out of 5]

Won in a Goodreads giveaway.

A fast little read. Overall alright!

[Arshanti Tramm · Rating 1 out of 5]

This should also be a ‘Rejected book’.
It will surely make you laugh with a simultaneous desire to reject it.

[Anna Milka Arjun · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was funny..

[Paperclippe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was this like a vanity project for a graphic designer with a lot of stock photos and no sense of humor?

[Mina ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed.

It's a simple answer for my rating but it is the truth.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny little coffee table book. Quite a few made me laugh out loud, but sometimes the joke was repeated too much.

*Contains some swear words; some crude/vulgar humor.

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

**I received a copy of this from Goodreads giveaway***

I thought this was going to be a fun book for a librarian and for the most part it was, but I was hoping for something more other than just the vague covers. There are a few sections which have what is supposed to be from the inside of the book, but for the most part, it is just the front cover of books. Honestly, I really don't know what I was expecting...

I know this would work well for a gag gift but you would have to know your audience because some of these are just very crude humor. I am a fan of the website awfullibrarybooks and I was hoping this would be more like that but I was mistaken. It is also a very short book, so it basically took me less than 5 minutes to go through the entire thing. I am sure this has a place, but it won't be on my shelves.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, it’s a funny humor book though a little bit short. I kind of would’ve liked more in the way of titles compiled together and more of those pseudo ample pages. Also, a few of them I’m pretty sure might make the cut strangely for other humorous actual titles. Just saying that because I think I saw one for breast milk recipes in there and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen one for a other fluid recipes on Amazon. 😝
Also, apparently there’s some running gag with owls and birds because there’s a lot of those in here.

[Jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 5 min.

I think that it would have been better for a little info to be attached to the pics. I'm still not 100% sure if these were real submissions (because let's face it, I wouldn't put it past people to try and publish a book of famous people wearing owl masks) or not... if they were created just for the book, then the lack of info accompanying each makes sense.

The book of Rhetorical Questions Answered though would have been a hoot and really should get published. Reminded me of the "What if?" books

[RebeccaReviewedIt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yall, I knew this was a parody book.  What I did not realize was that these were book COVERS.  This short book is full of silly (and sometimes vulgar, so at least PG-13 rated) book covers that were rejected, and every once in a while there's a reasoning why the book was rejected.  A few have a couple pages inside of what the book might look like, but it's all in jest.  It's a silly little book, fun for the book lover in your life - especially if they're trying to write their own book.

[Susannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short, incredibly silly book about fake book proposals that were rejected. Each book proposal gets a cover where the title and cover image are enough to explain the rejection of the book proposal idea. Some book proposals get a couple of pages, and sometimes a reason is given for its rejection. Altogether a fun little read.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Rejected Books. It was laugh-out-loud funny. It certainly allows the reader to conjure up ideas of who the authors of these incredible books might be. Bring your imagination and your sense of humor to the table.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Goodreads for sharing this delightful book.

[Sara Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the greatest book ever! Short and sweet it has pictures of book covers that have been rejected. The pictures and titles are so funny that it really made my day. This one may stay on my desk for awhile so I can look over it and start giggling throughout the day

[Snapdragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and even laughed out loud, but the disappointing part was the crass and vulgar language. I didn't feel that the bad choice of word usage made it any funnier. In the course of reading the book it went from one I considered keeping on my coffee table to one that will go on the shelf. I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

[Maryann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you love books? Do you need a laugh? Read REJECTED BOOKS by Graham Johnson and Rob Hibbert. Each page pictures an unpublished book that was REJECTED for some reason. Surely you can think of a few of your own! Thanks to Potter Books and Goodreads I received a free copy for an honest review.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just a silly gag book that literally just has book covers for terrible book ideas that don't actually exist. Don't think too hard about it, and if you want to encourage a writer in your life, you can give them this book and say "At least your idea didn't make it in here!"

[Jenifer Greenwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the book (112 pages) this review will be short. 2-1/2 stars rounded up. I laughed out loud at 4 -- almost 5 -- of the rejected books. I smiled at several more. And the rest were ... meh. Great idea but the execution was off.

[MHP · Rating 1 out of 5]

No. This hurts on so very many levels.

[Jeannie · Rating 2 out of 5]

While some of these book covers are amusing, sure, the book is much too short to be worth much more than a chuckle. One singular chuckle!

[Megan]

WTF

[LibraryKath · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very silly book. And lots of fun. A good silly Christmas gift for someone with a good sense of humour.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny little book worthy of a few chuckles.

[Shannon Kovarik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway. I though this book was super funny. I shared it with my family.

[Bridget Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s quirky and not everyone’s sense of humor but worth the time since it’s super quick. Good conversation piece.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a goodreads win and it was a fun little book to read. Honestly, I could see myself picking up a few of the "titles" to read. Great fun. Thank you.