Fiction Readers at Homeschool Conferences

Taking a middle-grade fiction book called “Demon Tide” to a faith-based homeschool conference had me a bit worried. 

I’d already heard a protest from someone at church about the title: “Why did you name it that? I would have read it, but with that title, now I’m not going to.” 

And, to be perfectly honest, she was probably right. I could have chosen a title that was a bit more palatable to the faith-based audience I was marketing to. But that decision was long past making: Demon Tide had already been published. I’d already bought the domain name. I was in too deep to change it now. 

Since the book is about some teens who end up stumbling upon a supernatural war and have to fight some of the fiercest dark creatures in existence, the title made sense. But it was evident that with the countless hours I had put into audience targeting, marketing, and SEO compatibility, I ultimately believed I had failed to keep the sensitivity of my core audience in mind. 

As we were setting up our booth at the Teach Them Diligently Homeschool Conference in Pigeon Forge, I thought of all the ways I could ‘preempt’ shoppers from shying away from my book simply because of the title. 

As it turned out, however, I didn’t have to. Demon Tide sold like wildfire. Sure, some wary parents asked what the book was about (many were concerned if the book had magic or not), and several parents asked me personally about my faith, but in the end, it sold very well. Readers trusted me as an author (and perhaps the conference’s ability to vet good authors) to provide an exciting story with clean content for their children, even with the edgy title.

So, to answer the question about whether there are fiction readers at homeschool conferences–the answer is a resounding ‘yes.’ There are plenty of homeschool parents and kids looking for good, clean fiction books from faith-based authors, and I believe that audience is growing larger by the day.

Writing Update

As I breathe a sigh of relief that I didn’t have to stop a protest out in front of my booth, I look forward hopefully to the future of the Demon Tide series. Book two is written and is nearly ready for beta readers. I am in the middle of amping up some of the dialogue to make scenes more powerful and tweaking character arcs to be more consistent, and it’s grueling work. Analyzing every line, second-guessing the structure and tone, trudging through the book chapter by chapter until it is ready.

When will it be ready? Just before Christmas, late this year! In fact, the preorder link is already out on Amazon if you’d like to be one of the first to order!

Bus Adventures

Stacy and I woke the bus from hibernation this past weekend for a quick jaunt to Shipshewana in Indiana. If you’ve never been, it’s quite an interesting place. Cheese shops and Amish-style buffet restaurants adorn this tiny town, and it is common to see horse-drawn carriages clippity-clomping down the streets.

It was a great trial run for what we hope will be an awesome trip this fall–though we aren’t quite sure where we are going just yet! If you’d like to follow our adventures as we write and publish books, check out our Instagram page: @everyroadleadshome.

That’s all for now! With that, I’m signing off…