Problem building shared library for C module

[Brett g Porter]

Hi --
I fear that this problem exposes my Linux ignorance more than anything. I'm
attempting to build a C extension module (Ben Gertzfield's CD-Rom extension
for his CDDB utilities), and am having troubles. I'm posting here because a
little reading indicates that it's likely an installation problem or problem
between the seat and the keyboard.

This module uses what appears to be the standard method for distributing
these extensions -- files called 'Makefile.pre.in' and 'Setup.in' are used
by make to generate the 'real' Makefile. I tried the following:
1) make -f Makefile.pre.in boot
The stated error was that there's no rule to generate target "Makefile".

2) used the additional step suggested in the docs of using
make -f Makefile.pre.in Makefile VERSION=1.5 installdir=<prefix>
Same error.

I checked out the 'standard' Makefile.pre.in from the source dist and it
appears to be identical to the one being used. I rebuilt Python from sources
and reinstalled.
No difference.

Help?

TIA,
BgP