pot boiler

noun2

1. •
   (figurative) A creative work of low quality (book, art, etc.), produced merely to earn a living or for profit, as opposed to serious creative expression.

   • Arists and novelists of a certain stamp joke about ‘pot-boilers’, the name facetiously given to hasty, worthless pictures and books[…] — 1864
2. •
   A stone used to transfer heat from a fire into a vessel of water, so as to heat the contents.