How meta is this? 740 Park author Michael Gross, responded on Romenesko to New York magazine spokesperson Serena Torrey's correction of Kevin Kelly's newsstand sales figures of the issue that featured the Marilyn-themed Lindsay Lohan semi-nudes. Kelly wrote:

''The publicity is also expected to give a sorely needed boost to the magazine's newsstand sales, which tumbled 7.8 percent in the second half of 2007 to just over 22,000 copies a week. The magazine had 363,562 paid subscribers in that period, but still had to give away another 43,542 -- now called verified circulation -- to reach its rate base of 425,000.''

In a letter to Romenesko titled ''Slumping sales,'' Gross writes:

''How things have changed. And not for the better. Back in the day (the late 80s and early 90s), I recall that one year I wrote the worst-selling cover of NY Mag (a profile of Mary McFadden) and it moved about 25,000 on newstands, and in the several years that I wrote the bestselling covers (profiles of JFK Jr. and Cindy Crawford, for instance) newsstand was above 50,000. Depressing ...''

(image via mgross)