It's all about proper product placement

When my first book, The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success, was released in 2004, my friend Lisa was known to reorganize bookstore shelves when coming across the volume in retail locations. As she would remind me, "It's all about proper product placement."

I now think about what she said every time I see my new book, Identity Crisis!: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities into Successful Brands, on a store shelf. I am always very much aware of proper product placement.

Why look, there's Identity Crisis! featured on the shelf above the design section - right next to my friend Von Glitschka's book Crumble, Crackle, Burn: 120 Stunning Textures for Design and Illustration - another HOW Books offering. What are the odds? How did that happen?

(Actually, I had just set up my little photo shoot and taken three photos, when the store manager and security were immediately all over me asking what I was doing. After explaining that I was the author of the book, and showing them some identification, I was no longer considered a possible criminal or security risk.)