New sales figures, tentative, but highly trustworthy, indicate that circulation has dropped off alarmingly within the past month; from 110,000 to 80,000 or perhaps even a little less. Everyone seems at a loss to understand this; the newspaper has remained in the same format for two years and the quality of the last issues did not vary from the standard we have established. It is true that the book reviewer quit, saying that he had run out of books to review, but this can hardly be called an outstanding feature and otherwise the mix has held to its previous level.
I have a series of conferences with myself — there is really no one ese to talk to about this, Virginia is nothing more than a secretary and the faggarts are purely mathematical types — and decide that I can do nothing but ride on as before. The basic soundness of the package has been proven, even if the District Attorney took some of the strength out of it at the beginning. Perhaps it is a reflection of the overall economic situation and people, cutting back on their purchases, are reusing materials to jerk off to. This is plausible and means that when the stock market and employment begin to curve upward again, masturbation will begin to occupy its role once again as a joyous release in the lives of our consumers and sales will move far beyond the initial curve.
Part of the problem could be solved by a sophisticated advertising campaign to upgrade masturbation; make it as status-mobile an activity as full-dress suits and new automobiles. There is no reason why a persuasive, well-researched advertising campaign could not accomplish this within a very few months — the potential is certainly there — but we simply lack any kind of a budget for promotion of this sort and will have to make do with our present standing.
The afternoon after my conference, I fuck Virginia savagely and she takes it all without making a sound.