Everybody has to self-promote now. Nobody wants to.

Writers and artists increasingly must build personal brands to find work, a pressure blamed on consolidation, streaming and algorithmic platforms that have shrunk their revenue. Rachael Kay Albers's book proposal drew enthusiasm from a Big Five publisher's editors, but its marketing department balked because she lacked a large enough following. Literary agent Carly Watters says authors' biggest worry is how to create their brand, and that millennials and Gen Xers feel like sellouts doing it. Five publishers control roughly 80 percent of the book trade, and Condé Nast folded Pitchfork into GQ in January, laying off staff.