Nobody likes rejection, but it’s an obligatory part of a creative’s life. However, this does not mean that it cannot be enhanced to become a winning work. Take Rejected Books by Graham Johnson and Rob Hibbert, which features 50 covers of titles that should never exist, including How To Cook With Breast Milk, DIY Glory Holes and Shit Kites.
Recently reissued with a dust jacket that mimics the style of a classic Penguin paperback, Rejected Books is the sequel to the pair’s previous title, Images You Should Not Masturbate To. “Our proposal was a Black Label edition sealed in plastic,” Graham tells Creative Boom. “The concept had been approved until a beanstalker at Penguin expressed concern that it might ‘cannibalize sales of the existing book,’ which was still selling well. So, well, it was rejected. “
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In an ironic quirk of life imitating art, the pair introduced several other books that didn’t quite hit the mark. “We joked that if we got enough rejections, maybe one day we could publish a book called 50 Books Rejected by Penguin,” Graham says. “Then, somehow, we discovered this as a real concept to present, and the damn thing was approved, although the title was rejected and changed to just Rejected Books.”
The uncanny similarities don’t stop there either. After the proposed cover for the book was rejected, Graham and Rob licked their wounds and came up with the idea of creating a limited edition dust jacket that showcased the original idea, art and title in all its glory. “Luckily Henry Vines at Penguin London (who is extremely supportive of our stupid ideas) allowed us to sell the custom-made dust jacket.”
This does not mean, however, that all the obstacles to the project had been overcome. While promoting the book, the two faced even more difficulties. “We thought it would be a good idea to post a billboard featuring the cover of our favorite book, Holy Bible 2,” says Graham.
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“We created a concept for a billboard with an imaginary commandment from the new Bible and tried to spread it in the American Bible Belt. But unfortunately, it was rejected. In fact, our billboard was rejected in all 13 Bible Belt states. As soon as the media companies and vendors saw our layout, we got very positive drops.
“This prompted us to try another approach. We decided to produce a true Holy Bible 2. Our extremely limited edition (only one copy exists in the world) contains ten new commandments, such as ‘It’ is OK to be gay,” “You “You won’t grab other people by the pussy,” and “You’ll have an abortion if you need to” (as rejected in the Bible Belt).
“These new decrees are repeated on every page, accompanied by a small instruction encouraging the reader to ‘Tear and Share: Remove this page and insert it into a copy of the Holy Bible 1.’ This more progressive Bible even comes with Pride Rainbow Bookmarks and is currently in progress auctioned online“.
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As for creating the covers themselves, some were completed more quickly than others. “The stock photos came in handy,” says Graham, “but in the end I spent over a year sculpting, building, making, photographing and sticking my butt in plaster of Paris, while Rob had his son take photos of him wearing Trump, Putin and owl masks, and asked his friend to make him a coffin fit for a clown.”
Ass sculptures aside, Rejected Books has come a long way in its journey to publication. The couple’s previous book came out in 2011, and since then, they’ve faced their share of rejections. “I wasted my time producing a range of stupid products, such as invisible figurines and an illustrated Geordie guide to Tyne Chi,” says Graham. “Rob wasted time writing a web series called How To Talk Australians, which is currently being produced as a feature film.”
But their fortunes changed when they were connected with a top literary agent who did the pitching for them. “You still get rejections, but you spend more time creating and less time selling.”
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Rejection can erode a creative’s self-esteem, but oddly enough, Graham doesn’t take a pessimistic view of the matter. “It’s not just a routine part of the process; it’s an essential part,” he says. “If you only heard ‘yes,’ you wouldn’t end up striving and pushing your work further. So you can’t really see it as a bad thing. As Samuel Beckett wrote, ‘I already tried. I already failed. No. important. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
That being said, when asked how he handles rejection, Graham admits he answers “poorly.” But more seriously, he adds that creatives must accept rejection. “Even after our book was approved, we faced many waves of rejections.
“As mentioned, the title and the cover itself were rejected. And there were also a number of book ideas that we had mocked up that were rejected by Rejected Books. At one point we joked about a second book called Rejected Rejected Books. Some of these can be seen at @rejected_rejects“.
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Graham’s vision is based on practicality. He wants to remind art directors and editors that they are paid for their concepts, whether they are purchased or not. It’s a different story for real artists. “If an artist doesn’t sell their work, they don’t get paid,” he says. “If you’re feeling sorry for yourself, read about Monet. Or talk to any real artist who cleans toilets to make ends meet.
“Like most advertising creatives, countless ideas have been rejected throughout our careers. You have to accept that your best ideas just don’t pan out. Take this as a signal that you should probably try to ‘create’ in another field. So try creating something that isn’t an advertisement. Make time for your own ideas, not just clients’ ideas. Ideas for which you own the intellectual property.
“And you can’t just touch it. You have to commit to it. If you have an idea for something you’d really like to do, you have to find a way. As the great Ry Cooder once said (long before Dan Weiden), ‘Find a way to do it. Do it’.” Amen to that.