> I imagine it represents an effort, across the publishing industry, to make non-fiction books more appealing to the general public. 

I'd never thought about that, but I think you're right. And it really comes off distastefully -- like the writer feels they're so important that we must care about his job rather than the product. It's a sort of "code smell" for journalism for me, like the journalist is trying to personalize the story so that I feel a connection with them and accept whatever narrative they're trying to create.