Bookstore Display Racks

The almighty dollar, generally. Though some stores have a "new" rack and/or "staff picks" rack, positioning is generally contracted for. This is common throughout American retail. People just aren't aware that companies pay to have their coffee or canned beans or whatever more favorably displayed.

Correct, these are paid for the publisher and positioned accordingly for new books. As Dustry Joe said, many bookstores have "staff picks" or a "bestseller" shelf. The bestseller shelf can be a good spot to get on, and generally it only takes around 10 plus books to get on it depending on what terms they are using to define their bestseller (i.e., sales over a week/month/etc.)

The same is true for "faceout" status... it is not necessarily paid for by the publisher, but bookstores tend to faceout books that either have been selling, or they know will sell.