"Peddling my work like a Viagra salesman still feels at odds with the high calling of literature"

From the New York Times:

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As every author knows, writing a book is the easy part these days. It's when the publication date looms that we have to roll up our sleeves and tackle the real literary labor: rabid self-promotion. ... In this era when most writers are expected to do everything but run the printing presses, self-promotion is so accepted that we hardly give it a second thought. And yet, whenever I have a new book about to come out, I have to shake...