Teach Them Diligently 2025 Follow-up!

Dear Friend,

I’m finally posting my Teach Them Diligently 2025 Follow-up!

I’m so excited to share the results of my first year attending the Teach Them Diligently Convention (TTD)! It was quite different than my previous (and only) convention experience with the Great Homeschool Convention (GHC). In one sense, they can’t be compared, and yet I’m going to kinda compare them. I love each of them for different reasons, but for today’s post, I’m just going to share about my experience at the Dayton Convention Center and give you a Teach Them Diligently 2025 Follow-up! 🙂

What was my initial impression?

Teach Them Diligently was very organized! As an exhibitor, this was highly appreciated…and yet a bit of a foreign concept. haha. A creative venue that is organized? No way! LOL. Everyone expects creatives to be highly UN-organized people…but I disagree. There are those of us who are highly organized. Hint. Hint. (Shhh, me!). Well, in some things. So I very much appreciated the process of preparing for this convention.

I even had to sign-up for an unloading time! This was also much appreciated, but I must admit, a bit stressful only because I’d never attended before and wasn’t sure what to expect. In the end, everything was very laid back and easily navigated, once I had a handle on the scene.

My dad helped me unload, and then I started setting up for my very first time of carrying out a convention all on my own! Scary, but I made it. There’s something nice about having another person there just to back you, you know?

Did I take pictures of my set-up?

I didn’t think to take pictures as I set up my booth little by little, but I did take a picture of my booth at the end (see down below). Lydia, a children’s writer who had the booth next to me, took a picture of me in my booth the first night. I don’t like pictures of myself, but I’ll be brave and include this one, just for kicks and giggles.

Did I change my booth aesthetics at all?

If you’ve been to the GHC with me, you’ll notice something’s missing! I didn’t use the pretty heather wreath or my mum’s Luminara candle, as I usually do! I tried to make it work, but I’d placed too many papers on the tabletop, and therefore rendered the space unusable. There wasn’t any room left for anything. In part, I think this was secondary to the fact that I’d actually used up more space by adding my hardcover to the mix, which I’m glad I did include it because a very special someone bought it! I’ll tell you who in a minute! You’ll never guess! Haha, I had no idea who this person was either. I definitely was familiar with her name, but I’d never seen her before. It was crazy cool!

Will I make some more changes to my booth at the next convention?

Yes! Most definitely I will be making some additional changes to my booth space/tabletop for the GHC. I’ll be making some small changes to the arrangement of the tabletop, so maybe I’ll be able to add the wreath and candle back in.

How was this convention different?

To get to the crux of this post on the Teach Them Diligently 2025 Follow-up, the major difference I noticed right off was that the whole feel of this convention was very relaxed and laid-back. It was smaller and more intimate, which left a good many attendees more time to chat. It was wonderful getting to know readers and their moms and dads, as well as writers or aspiring ones!

There were also a lot more quiet times, in which I could restock my booth and organize things a little easier. Take a breath. Eat a snack. And then engage with more potential readers!

Once I got used to the slower pace, I really enjoyed my time; although occasionally, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. Haha.

So, who bought my hardcover AND Book 2?

Ah, so here’s an unexpected twist to the convention! Have you a guess who might have bought my hardcover version of Book 1- The Lost King’s Daughter? I’ll give you a hint. It was someone who’s quite famous in the world of traditional Christian publishing. Enclave Publishing to be exact.

Her initials are K.S.

Any guesses?

Kara Swanson! Crazy, right? Sadly, I had no idea who she was (in-person) when she came to my booth, and I totally didn’t even think to take a picture of her actually buying my books! Sigh. The effects of thinking too late about things. But, while I don’t have proof of her buying BOTH my books (which she did! Eek!), I did think to grab a picture with her when I ended up purchasing her books. She said she would give me Dust for free, but I couldn’t do that. While that would be really cool, it wouldn’t be fair. So, I was happy to swap book purchases!

Here’s another rare photo of me with Kara and my new books of hers!

I got Dust and Shadow! I’m looking forward to delving into them and reading them through for the first time.

My overall impression of this convention?

I really enjoyed my time at the Dayton Teach Them Diligently Convention, and honestly, I’m looking forward to coming back next year, Lord willing!

If you didn’t make it out this year, then I hope to see you there next year!

In conclusion…

Thank you for joining me today, and for the time you’ve taken to read this post! I know there’s a thousand other things you could be doing with your time, so thank you for sharing some of the precious moments of your day with me! I’m honored you’ve stopped by, and I hope you enjoyed this Teach Them Diligently 2025 Follow-up!

If you just happened upon me and my books, you can discover more about why I wrote my clean, YA, medieval Christian fantasy trilogy, In the Shadow of Emerald Fire by heading here to the Books section. Then head over to my About page to learn a smidge more about me personally. After that, you can review my book descriptions for Book 1- The Lost King’s Daughter by heading here, and Book 2- The Heir by heading here.

Would you like to purchase my books?

You can find Books 1&2 available for purchase at either Amazon or at my website store!

Are my books in the library?

Yes! In some! If you live local, then check out my books at the Dayton Metro Library or Book 1 at the New Carlisle Public Library (which also services Troy and Tipp City area). Or if you’re from the northeastern portion of Indiana, you can find Book 1- The Lost King’s Daughter at Wabash-Carnegie Public Library!

Can’t find my books at your library, but you’d like to? Tell your librarian she/he can find my books on Ingramspark, and they should be able to order a copy or two for your library, wherever you may be!

I’m still trying to get my books into other libraries across the United States, but I’ll admit, it is a slow and difficult process, potentially due to limited funds for libraries to make purchases. Thus, if you would really like to read my books and would like your library to carry them, ask your library! Readers have a little more clout than authors do, simply because if you ask, then they know that others will read it, too! So, if you haven’t found my books in your corner of the world yet, then consider making a request at your local library today! 🙂

Until next time, dear friend, thank you for spending part of your day or evening with me. I always look forward to meeting with you and sharing what’s been happening behind the scenes. If you’d like to write me and share with me what you’ve been doing, I’d love to hear from you! Email me at contact@adgermanbooks.com. It may take me a hot minute to reply, but I always will.

Take and God bless xoxo