About three years ago, I spotted a social media post by another author: “‘Taking a break from the ‘literary hustle.’”

Hustle? I thought. When did our creativity or art become a hustle?

Yes. I know. Here, we could quote recent statistics about 40% fewer people reading books. Or we could cite publishers’ diminished (or no) marketing budgets. Or we could chat about our dual (and dueling?) roles as authors and marketers.