Sexual Confidence

I wore the t-shirt in the Bay to Breakers marathon in San Francisco and nobody looked twice.

                          We thought Sexual Confidence was a great title.  The head of PR at Houghton Mifflin gave me a T-shirt that read "Author of Sexual Confidence" in black flock letters against a red backgrouind.  

                          I had my first doubts when I wore it in New York Citry.  Some people would cross Lexington Avenue to talk to me.  But others would cross the street to the other side.

                          Sales in bookstores were slow. 

       So one rainy Monday I went into Scribners, a major bookstore on 5th Ave. to see who was buying the book.  It was raining so I was wearing a raincoat.  I hid behind a pillar next to the Self Help section.

                           Right off the bat I got lucky.  A shy, pale young woman picked Sexual Confidence off the shelf, flipped through a couple of pages, and started for the cashier.  I stepped from behind the pillar and proudly said, "I wrote that book.  Would you like me to sign it.?"

                           "ARRRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!" she screamed.

                           I stepped back behind the pillar. 

                           She still bought the book.    

                          We sold tons of copies through book clubs, but the book was a slow mover in bookstores.