
Book signing at the Springfield, Illinois, Barnes & Noble Bookstore
Early Experiences with Book Marketing
As mentioned in my last post, in mid-April I spent a week in Springfield, Illinois. I gave a presentation on the restoration of the stained glass at the Dana Thomas House, a book signing at Barnes & Noble and a presentation of my book at the Vachel Lindsay historic site. Having spent nearly 50 years in the Springfield area, I also had the opportunity to meet with many good friends. The week before these meetings, I had a book signing at the Yardstick Bookstore in Algoma, Wisconsin, and had the opportunity to make new friends.
Who said marketing can’t be fun?

I spent the first week in May in Idaho. After being interviewed by Ricky Colapietro of KISU, the NPR radio station covering the southeastern half of the state, I conducted another book signing and presentation. First I met followers of the Winnie & Mo’s Bookstore Open Mic Night in Idaho Falls. The following day I conducted a presentation at the Museum of Idaho, also in Idaho Falls. My presentation focused on what I found so interesting about the early development of this city and the long list of wild and crazy events and gutsy pioneers that were drawn to settle in this small, western rail town. For those of you not familiar with Idaho, the city of Idaho Falls started out in 1879 as Eagle Rock, the setting of my novel. It is hard to imagine that early Eagle Rock consisted of only about two blocks of this now thriving metropolis.
My presentation at the Museum of Idaho was captured on zoom and I should be able to make it available on this website soon. My interview can be downloaded with the link below.
Here’s the link to the interview: https://www.kisu.org/podcast/roar-report-podacst/2023-05-03/ralls-melotte-cats-cafe
Stay tuned and I will keep you posted on my next marketing events.
