In just about a month SAS for Dummies will hit the bookstore shelves.

As a coauthor of the book, I certainly hope that it becomes popular; but I know that it will be dwarfed by the inevitable success of the final Harry Potter book which is due out just one month later in July. (Why, that's practically simultaneous in the publishing biz.) To capitalize on this timing I had proposed changing our title to Harry Potter and the SAS for Dummies, but apparently there are legal implications there.

So instead I have a plan B: invite all of my friends and family to order both books online at the same time, keeping them in the same "shopping cart" together. Sites like Amazon.com use sophisticated analytics to identify such trends and then recommend new selections to future shoppers.

If enough of my fans (Hi Mom!) participate in this plan, hoards of Hogwarts enthusiasts might find themselves faced with this question: "People who bought this book also bought SAS for Dummies. Would you like to add it to your cart and save on shipping?"