So far I've dealt with it by embracing how ephemeral reaction to stories is (I don't have to be defined by the book I put out five years ago!) but the constant pressure really is overwhelming.

That's how it looks. The edges that I brush up against are difficult enough for me to deal with. If my job is writing, I don't want to have to be my own publicist into the bargain, and yet it now seems to be assumed as a package deal.