Today we have a guest post from children’s author Dr. Dawn Menge, author of Queen Vernita’s adventures children’s book series, who was kind enough to share her story of how she got her books featured in film festivals and won several international awards!
“Our district just closed,” a science teacher announced.
“As did ours” a special education teacher stated.
I was sitting on a committee in Sacramento with teachers from across California. We were all a little baffled and unsure of what we would face when we returned home, though I soon found out the next day.
I returned to class on a Friday and we were not allowed to return, not even to collect our curriculum to transfer to online learning. It was a trip to the dollar store and hundreds of copies to be made for our students. Teaching students with severe cognitive delays by Zoom was going to be a challenge for both myself, my assistants and our parents. Were we up to the task at hand?
Now that I was home and not able to attend in person author events my focus changed from promoting my books in person to online networking and writing more books.
I set a goal of publishing five new Queen Vernita’s adventures and building my networking contacts. My educational series had won over 35 international awards at this point, and I am grateful for each one. I had joined many new author groups on Facebook and noticed a film festival called Conquering Disabilities with Film.
Many of my books include children with disabilities, so I contacted the director of the festival and inquired if I could submit my books, even though I did not have a screenplay, or a movie made. She said, “absolutely” and my journey into the film festivals began.
I entered my book trailers and several of my books, and they were selected to be part of the festival. I was interviewed on the directors’ podcast on my birthday, and I was featured in their Megafest movie magazine! It was all very exciting and overwhelming. I had no idea what I was doing.
From AOF Megafest September 2020 Magazine
We were all set to attend the festival in Vegas but then with great disappointment it was postponed. The Megafest in Vegas includes many different festivals all taking place at the same time.
To enter a festival, you need to join FilmFreeway and upload your work. You can then search festivals by subject, geographical area or content. I then entered several different festivals involved in the Megafest: The Action on Film, Hollywood Dreams, No Fee Fest and Miracle Makers. I will be attending red carpet and black-tie award dinners for my written and short, short films.
One morning before work I heard my book trailer being announced in Italian as a Special Mention winner in Italy, and I had won in Bali and Europe! It is all very new and exciting, and I am super excited about attending the Megafest.
Just recently I was contacted by the directors, and they sent me a wonderful message. “Erin is so thrilled to have your submissions and can’t wait to honor you. Congratulations again. On behalf of Erin and myself, we look forward to celebrating you and your work!”
Such magical words for an author to hear. To have their work appreciated and honored. Join FilmFreeway and submit your work! You never know what will happen from just one click of your mouse.
Written By:
Dr. Dawn Menge has a PHD in curriculum and instruction, SPED teacher, lecturer, mentor and is the author of the multi-award winning educational adventure series Queen Vernita’s Visitors.