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r stopping by!
Please stay a while and see some of the exciting things on my pages.
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Visit my Books
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Visit Fun Stuff for kids
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Visit some Exciting Skype/Zoom Interactive Presentations.
- If you are an educator and looking for school, library, or museum programs, I have exciting Skype and Zoom presentations to reach every child. I have gifts for the kids, teachers, and the library. Lots of fun for everyone! I am one of the few presenters that can handle large audiences and all ages from pre-school and up.
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Visit my free information for Children’s Authors and Illustrators. Lots of fantastic links and information for you based on my thirty-eight years of writing. Click: HERE
- Contact me janpeck at gmail dot com (to stop spammers I’ve written this out)
I wanted to know your opinion on having your book professionally edited before seeking a publisher. It is very expensive. Is it worth the money? Hope to hear from you soon. I really have enjoyed browsing your website.
Mark, I’m wondering if you are in a good critique group? I do think it is good to have your manuscript in as best form as possible.
I have used professional editors myself, but mainly for grammar and spelling, etc. For story, characterization, plot, etc., I use my critique group that meets every week. Thank you for your question and best wishes on your writing! Jan
My book(s) were not professionally edited first.
The editing was done by me. And when publisher got the book(s), the publisher edited it and I made the only few corrections. It was published “as is”.
But I took 2 years (minimum)before I felt it was like I wanted it. e.g.I keep re-vising it after I looked it (them) over..and all this was done BEFORE I sent it out to publishers. Good Luck. When I went to the International Conference in NYC…The Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators SCBWI…we all were raising our hands to question: Will you publish a book NEXT YEAR? (about FOUR HUNDRED of the 500 there). After the extensive conference..the same question was asked…after we learned more about getting books published the next year…there were only THREE who raised their hands and I was not one of them. And I have not written a book since.
Hi Jan,
I hope you are well. I am hoping to book you and David for my Young Author’s Day event next year. We’ve been doing a lot of fundraising and will be ready to bring you to our campus if you are free. The event is usually held sometime in the beginning of May, although no date has been set yet for next school year. We would be booking 2-3 presentations in the morning only. We have Pre-K to 5th graders and will be celebrating their own writing, illustrating and publishing successes that day. The author visit in the morning is the reward for their hard work (amongst other things throughout the day).
Please let me know how your calendar looks for May 2014 and what you would need to know from me to see if we can work something out. Thank you!
Hello Mr. David and Ms. Peck, 4-12-13
My name is Ta’Juana I just wanted to ask you a question how many books have you made in one day? I heard that you saw my teacher. You gave her a golden ticket so we will know about a real author instead of a fake author. You are so funny. Can you make me a book me a book like a funny fiction story. Can you come visit our school SOUTH WARD ELEMENTARY in Longview, TX? You can go on Google Earth School. I LOVE YOUR BOOK!!!! Can you come and read a book to our class. We are on Mobberly Ave.
I love school! Do you?
My sister is going to school next year I will tell her all about you.
I am moving to go to a different school next year. My favorite game is http://www.superteacherideas.com.
I hope you have a great day writing new books.
Sincerely,
Ta’Juana
Hi Ta’Juana!
Jan Peck showed me your letter, and I wanted to write you back! The best part of writing books for children is getting the chance to visit their schools and answer their questions. Let me answer yours one at a time.
How many books do I make in one day?
Sometimes I get ideas for more than one book in one day. I sit down with paper and pencil and write down all the ideas that come to me in a list. Lots of times that is all I do on that day. I come up with as many ideas as I can. Then a day or two later I will pick out one of the ideas and write a story. I have to tell you that it takes many days of work and rewriting before I finish with one story. Sometimes I work on two stories at a time. I work on one for a while, and then work on the other one for a while. It keeps my thoughts fresh that way. I may get several ideas for stories in one day, but to write the story always takes me many days. When I mail the story to the company the editor will have many suggestions for changes, too. The editor looks over my stories just like your teacher looks over your stories in class. A good editor catches mistakes I might have missed and makes the story even better.
Can you make me a funny fiction story?
Ta’Juana, I am always trying to make funny stories for folks! I have loved telling stories since I was a boy in school. I used to write and draw comics with my friends. I loved making the comic stories and then showing them to my classmates and teachers. I have two new books in the works that I think will be funny fiction. I hope you will get to see them when they are published, but even more, I hope that YOU will write and draw some funny stories.
Jan Peck and I would LOVE to come visit South Ward Elementary in Longview! Both sides of my family come from a little town, New Summerfield, not too far from Longview. My daughter went to college in Longview and I love visiting East Texas. If your school would like to have us come, please tell your librarian to contact us for details. She can see our contract information on Jan’s site.
Ta’Juana, thank you for writing us–and have a wonderful summer. Summer will be here before you know it!
All the best,
David Davis
My wife is writing her first book now, I wish I could convince her that she needs a critique group instead proofreading every two paragraphs.
Any advice to give her?
She is probably feeling very vulnerable and scared to read in front of people. If you can find a good group and have her bring her manuscript (without an intention to read but having it available) then listen to others critique each other first. Check at local libraries for groups and also on the Internet. Listening to others read and critique can be valuable and save years of making mistakes.
This is a great question!
Hello,
My name is Valerie and I am a parent of a pre k3 student at a private school in San Antonio and would like to know if you as an author could visit the pre k 3 class and teach them about reading, writing and the importance of it. Also, possible read them one of your books. Please let me know if this is at all possible and if so what needs to happen as I am unfamiliar with everything….i joined the PTC club at school and had an idea. Don’t really know if it can come to fruition. Here’s hoping!
Thank you in advance for your time.
Valerie
My little cafe, La Divina Italian Cafe has been featuring local children’s authors every Wednesday Night to promote our Kids Night. We have booked… January 21 Teri D’armond “Cotton Feels Rotten”, January 28 Chanler Holden “Flippy and Friends” February 4 “Georges The Goose from Toulouse who only ate Cous Cous” and February 11 Ari O’Pry Hammell “The Grass is Always Greener”. We would like to round these nights out to about 8-10 consecutive authors …would you be interested ?
We will promote your book…. you can sell your book. We ask that you read your book twice to children. Let me know what you think about this opportunity.
Thank you,
Mary
(225) 907-3911
maryrleblanc@gmail.com
@ladivinabatonrouge
hi, Jan,
I’m the editor for GreenSourceDFW.org, based in Dallas-Fort Worth. We’re interested in interviewing you about your book “The Green Mother Goose,” cowritten with David Davis.
I’ve interviewed both you and David Davis before when I worked for the Star-Telegram and was the editor for a community paper called “Neighborhoods Up Close.”
Can you contact me via email?
Jan Peck and David Davis’ presentation was WONDERFUL! All of the students were fully engaged and participating in their stories and songs. All of teachers couldn’t stop complimenting the positive and professional nature of Ms. Peck and Mr. Davis (including myself). This duo is well worth your time and they are great with young kids (my school is a Primary school). Book them for a school visit, you won’t regret it!
Thank YOU so much, Ms. Briggs! We LOVED visiting your school! You are such a dynamic and dedicated librarian–you made our visit a BIG success! Hope you are having a wonderful summer. All best wishes to you and your students in the coming years, Jan Peck and David Davis.
What a great website! I love the resources page. Thank you!
So wonderful to meet you, Mary!
It was great to meet you in Fort Worth on Jan. 21st. Thanks for providing a wealth on interesting information on your web page.
I’m at the proof stage of the non-fiction memoir collection I edited and compiled with my mother. Once that book is published, I will resume my illustrations on my children’s picture book about monsters in the kitchen.
Peace,
Beth