The Sentinel ad: Jeff Fisher wrote thebook on identity design...literally!

Seldom during my 30-year career have I promoted my design or writing efforts with print ads. However, I recently redesigned the identity for my local neighborhood newspaper, The Sentinel, and as part of the compensation package publisher Cornelius Swart offered me a series of ads in the publication. The latest edition hit the streets this week with the ad marketing my local North Portland logo design efforts and my book, Identity Crisis!: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities Into Successful Brands.

No Identity Crisis! at Powell's?

I've had numerous phone calls, emails and forum postings from people who have gone to Powell's City of Books (or have intended to do so) in downtown Portland and found that Identity Crisis! is not in stock. With recent local appearances, and published mentions, I know local designers are seeking the book. I thought it odd that the major independent bookstore in my hometown, with the best section of graphic design books in the city, didn't have the book at all. When my first book, The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success, was released the store had numerous copies available immediately.

The Powell's website, which still posts the incorrect title of the book (Update 11.19.07: OK, that's funny - overnight the title was corrected on the Powell's site), has shown a couple "used" copies of the book in recent weeks - which simply means that some individuals receiving local review copies have sold them. In contacting Powell's over a week ago, I learned that the two copies of Identity Crisis! ordered from the publisher were never shipped and therefore never arrived at the store. I was also told that the website listing for the number of book copies in a local warehouse is actually not that at all. The number of copies supposedly in a Powell's warehouse is, in reality, the number available from various regional book distributors.

I do understand that many interested in Identity Crisis! want to peruse a copy before buying the book. In buying design books, I always want to look before I buy. So, if you want to physically buy the book at Powell's you need to let them know they need to make copies available at the stores. (Years ago I lived four blocks from the store and was almost in need of rehab due to the illness of purchasing so many design volumes.) You may order the book from them and it will be shipped to the store for pickup or to your address.

If you are an individual who likes to support local, independent bookstores I would suggest picking up a copy of Identity Crisis! at St. Johns Booksellers in North Portland. Multiple signed copies of the book are available at my neighborhood bookstore - and the support of a small retailer will be greatly appreciated. You might want to inquire about the book at your own local independent bookstore, too.

In the Portland metropolitan area, I have also seen multiple copies of Identity Crisis! at major chain bookstores like Borders and Barnes & Noble. In fact, the other day I saw multiple copies of Identity Crisis! right next to two copies of my friend Von Glitschka's book Crumble. Crackle. Burn. I did some creative product placement on the shelf so both of our books had a much higher profile.

I do appreciate all the positive comments I have received about Identity Crisis!. The published reviews have been great. The book is out there - it just takes a little searching for it in some parts of the country (like my hometown).

Signed Identity Crisis! copies availablefrom St. Johns Booksellers in Portland

Last night I had a very successful Identity Crisis! book signing event at St. Johns Booksellers in North Portland. Owners Liz Dorman and Nena Rawdah hosted the fun evening at their store, located at 8622 N. Lombard in the St. Johns neighborhood.

Following the event, I signed numerous copies of Identity Crisis! and the store now has the books available for purchase. Unfortunately, they don't have website ordering. However, you may visit the store in person, email them at info@stjohnsbooks.com, or call (503)283-0032, to place an order or get additional information about the book. As other Portland area bookstores have limited quantities of the volume in stock - or have not yet received orders - St. Johns Booksellers is a great independent bookstore option.

If someone would like a personally inscribed copy, provide the store with the necessary information and I would be happy to stop by and personalize the book before it is shipped out.

For any order over $25 St. Johns Booksellers will ship by USPS media mail for free to Oregon, Washington, and California. (They don't recommend trying media mail for longer distances, because it can take an unreasonably long time and the additional handling is hard on the books.) The UPS ground fee is $6 for the first book, $1.50 for each additional item.

Identity Crisis! book signing reminders

It was great to see the notice about my Thursday book signing in the O! section of The Sunday Oregonian. It's also posted on the paper's online Literary Calendar.

This morning my neighborhood monthly newspaper, The St. Johns Sentinel, published a reminder about my book signing tomorrow evening (Thursday, November 8th) at the St. Johns Booksellers.

The Identity Crisis! event starts at 7:30 p.m. at the bookstore, located at 8622 N. Lombard in the St. Johns neighborhood - about 15 minutes north of downtown Portland.

Identity Crisis! book signing: November 8, 2007St. Johns Booksellers, Portland OR USA

St. Johns Booksellers, the neighborhood bookstore of North Portland graphic designer and author Jeff Fisher, will be the location of a presentation and book signing for his new book, Identity Crisis!: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities Into Successful Brands, on Thursday, November 8th at 7:30 p.m. Bookstore owners Liz Dorman and Nena Rawdah will host the event in their store, located at 8622 N. Lombard in the St. Johns neighborhood - about 15 minutes north of downtown Portland.

St. Johns Booksellers is a full-service, independent neighborhood bookstore offering new and used books. The store is one of only two U.S. bookstores featured in the 2008 Unique Bookstores calendar published by the International Booksellers Federation.

Anyone having questions about the Identity Crisis! book signing event is encouraged to contact the store at 503.283.0032, Tuesdays through Sunday.

Check out independent bookstores in your local area through Book Sense, and contact them to see if they have Identity Crisis! available.

An introduction to the neighborhood bookstore

I do love bookstores - especially an inviting small, independent operation. Seldom can I walk by any bookstore without going in and getting lost in the selections available. If one is on the horizon, as we walk in just about any city in the world, my partner Ed will actually try to create a diversion to keep me from seeing the bookseller.

With my previous book, The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success, I had a lot of fun stopping by and volunteering to sign copies on the store's shelves. Even the large chain bookstores were very pleased to have me do so.

Last weekend, my friend Mike told me about our friend Chuck's relationship with an independent bookstore - and he suggested I might also want to establish such a cooperative venture. Those wanting copies of Chuck's books can order them through the bookstore and then he will go in to sign the books on a somewhat regular basis. With the number of books I signed with Savvy Designer, it might be wise to set up such a situation for Identity Crisis!.

For some time now, North Portland friends and clients have hinted that I needed to visit the fairly recent business community addition of St. Johns Booksellers. I think I was avoiding an introduction to the place due to concerns about my book-buying addiction. In the past, for a period of five years, I'd lived four blocks from Powell's City of Books and it was detrimental to my finances and book storage abilities. A new bookstore could be dangerous for me.

Earlier this week, I saw an ad in The St. Johns Sentinel announcing the second anniversary of St. Johns Booksellers. I couldn't believe a bookstore had been in my neighborhood for two years and I had not visited. This needed to remedied immediately.

The St. Johns Booksellers (located at 8622 North Lombard, Portland, OR 97203) is a great little store. It carries new and used books, and the variety ranges from local authors to children's books, to poetry and more. Chuck's latest book, Rant, was prominently displayed when I walked in the door. I introduced myself to the two women working in the place and learned they were the owners, Liz Dorman and Nena Rawdah. The two met years ago when both worked at Powell's and we seemed to immediately hit it off. I told them I was a previously published author who had a new book coming out in the fall. They said they would be very interested in hosting a signing, or some type of workshop event, to announce the release of my book to the Portland market - and they would serve cake! I mentioned that I'd be very interested in also coming in to sign ordered books on a regular basis - but the details will need to be ironed out in the future.

I appreciate the fact that the St. Johns Booksellers is affiliated with the BookSense organization. Whenever I'm in another city I always check BookSense for listing of stores I may wish to visit.

So, it looks like I'll have a book signing at St. Johns Booksellers in the fall. I'll post announcements of future signings, or speaking engagements, on the Identity Crisis! blog. I'll keep blog readers posted about the possibility of ordering personally signed volumes, too.

Until then, if you're in the neighborhood, I suggest you stop by the St. Johns Booksellers and say "hi!" to Liz and Nena.