Janie knew many techniques for preaching from house to house. She knew how to get people's attention and get them to buy our magazines before they knew what they were doing. When a door did not open, she would put her finger through the keyhole, or move the mat slightly, and in this way she would determine whether the owners had long since left, or whether the house was completely uninhabited.

The following week she explained to me in some detail the system of house-to-house preaching. The city was divided into zones between the communities of Jehovah's Witnesses. The zones, in turn, were divided into sections, which were distributed by a special minister in charge of the area among the brothers, who were to go around them by knocking from door to door. Each preacher could easily have three or even more precincts.

When we came to someone who showed at least some interest or accepted some literature, we entered in a small notebook data about his civil status (age, sex, characteristics, etc.) and what exactly he had acquired. A few days later, we were returning for a so-called "follow-up visit." This time our goal was to leave him a book, usually The Truth That Leadeth to Eternal Life, and to begin his studies immediately. During these first months, although I had to study a lot in school because I was going to university the following year, I spent twenty to thirty hours a week, sometimes even more, in the ministry.

First Report

After I had been preaching for two months, I was asked to write a report. To do this, I had to fill out a few printed forms, including the number of magazines, books, and issues of The Watchtower sold in a month, as well as the number of hours I spent on them. If someone was being taught, another form had to be filled out with the name, address, personal circumstances, how many times a month the class was held, and relevant comments on the course of the class.5 With such reports, the Watchtower is able to monitor the work of its adepts perfectly, and to blame or reward people according to their results.

I was also informed that I should send an order for magazines for the sermon. The Watchtower never incurs losses in connection with its publications, since it has a secure market. With each new book, each new essay, it was announced at the Kingdom Hall, and each member bought it for himself and for his friends. At the same time, not one copy was bought per family, which would have been four or five times less profitable for The Watchtower, but one for each, including children. As for the magazines, the system was even more cost-effective. Almost all of the Witnesses subscribed to The Watchtower and Awake!, and if their income was insufficient, The Watchtower encouraged every activist to order sets of magazines for which they had to pay in advance. Whether they were sold or not did not matter, for it was the preacher (the seller) who was losing, not the Watchtower. Hence the need to sell their copies as soon as possible, because it was inadmissible to offer old magazines. Thus, it was not uncommon for activists to accumulate dozens of copies that they had not been able to sell to get their money back, but for which The Watchtower had received in full a few weeks or months earlier. Since each branch of the organization bought magazines for itself in advance, it sometimes had more copies than could be distributed among its members, and then resorted to a system called the "magazine tour." This happened on a weekday, when a sermon was not read, but everything had a completely commercial purpose. The magazines were sold to members at a discounted price so that everyone could buy them, and then they were offered to their homes without a second visit. According to the members who took part in the "tour", in this way it was possible to sell a good hundred copies in a very short time.

Such a pyramidal system of selling publications was the most unfair, because the piety and naivety of the weakest were most exploited. In the first place, The Watchtower sold its publications to associations at prices and in quantities that it found suitable and reasonable; In turn, the association, which needed to return its money, sold this number of copies to its members. Naturally, he succeeded, and sooner or later he reimbursed all his expenses, even if he resorted to a "magazine tour". Finally, the preachers tried to accommodate them, but their success or failure meant little, for the Watchtower's economic interests had already been respected.

In order to better organize this entire system of production and commerce, the Watch Tower Society has various methods at its disposal. First of all, the payment of its employees is minimal: food and an apartment plus a small amount "for pocket expenses". Their situation is similar to that of medieval serf slaves: payment for work in kind without any of the social benefits inherent in the twentieth century.

Because The Watchtower prepares and prints its own works, its income is very high and is reinvested at great profit.

At the same time, the pyramidal structure of the Watchtower makes it easier to have complete control over the sale. The minister who is engaged in literature encourages the members to multiply their monthly orders, being himself encouraged to do so by the elder or senior in the congregation, who in turn is encouraged by the "itinerant minister" who regularly attends the assemblies.

At group meetings of the youth each Thursday, they were taught various techniques, such as putting their foot in the door or complaining about the cold or heat to be able to enter the house 9. There were also monthly sales of literature at a reduced price, which had to be carried from house to house.