Maplewood resident, Bill Perry’s fold-out book of a road trip from Maplewood all the way to Hawaii is set to be enjoyed by by many more road-trippers — it’s getting picked up by Barnes & Noble.
Road Trip began as a fold-out book for his then three-year-old son to drive a toy car along its pages. In 2014 he raised $17,000 to have it published. Now it’s in every independent bookstore in St. Louis except one on South Grand. It is available at The Book House (7352 Manchester Road) in Maplewood.
Perry said he received the acceptance letter from Barnes and Noble last week. “I mailed in the stuff,” he said. “I don’t know what the next step is, but I’ve done my part, and waiting to see what’s going to happen.”
See also: Kids drive ‘Road Trip’ at The Book House
He’s tried to get it into stores outside of St. Louis. He sent books and a promo kit to independent bookstores in Chicago, New York, Kansas City and Columbia and nobody picked it up. “I think the personal touch has to be there,” he said.
So he’s planning a road trip.
“What I want to do, depending how my family can handle it, is do a promotional drive to Columbia, maybe Kansas City, possibly Chicago — try to push it out of the St. Louis market,” he said. “What I’ve learned about that book, is I have to go in and show it to the people personally. They have to see it, and I have to tell them the story behind it, and then they carry it.”
We love this book!! So creative, so fun, and so unique. Bill was kind enough to donate a few copies to our school, and he even came in to “play” with it with our students. As a member of our alumni community, The College School could not be more proud or excited for Bill’s great book!
This book is still available right here in your neighborhood at The Book House ! Your independent alternative to Barnes and Noble. Please stop by and get a copy! And remember this Saturday Dec. 5th is Bring a Child to a Bookstore Day!
Thank you, Doug for the great article!