Jann Robbins, The Legacy of Harold Robbins

Transcript:

Harold was probably the most exciting man I’ve ever met in my life.  It was wonderful to be around that creative mind, and it didn’t just stop when he came out of his office and left his typewriter.  That creative mind was there all the time and he made every day an adventure. 

His stories related to all people.  It didn’t matter if you were the president of the United States or a blue-collar worker.  But Harold wasn’t into the digital age yet and so I started researching, and then along came the social media and the Twittering and Facebook accounts.  So just as a lark I put up a Harold Robbins Book Club to see what kind of interest there was out there.  All of a sudden I got all of these members and they told great stories about how much Harold’s books meant to them.  

So I really became engaged in, okay, Harold’s got to go into the new millennium.  He has to go into the new age and make that transition because he can relate as well today as he did 50 years ago.  I decided to bring them back basically because I realized that e-books were going to become a very, very important part of publishing.  Then I started researching the market for the right person to publish these books.  I wanted to be a copartner because sometimes with the traditional publisher they take it over and you don’t have any input into what they’re going to do or how they’re going to do it.  I have a really clear, what I think is a very clear understanding of Harold Robbins and his writings. 

I found that AuthorHouse had the perfect stage for a book that you wanted to sort of be a copartner with.  There’s a whole new industry for authors now.  It’s author entrepreneur.  You play a part in it.  You can promote your book.  Harold taught me one thing about writing a book. You’ve got to believe in what you’re writing.  You’ve got to believe that you’re the best one to write that book.  I think that’s important for every writer to keep in mind, because they can now take it a step further and become the entrepreneur, promote and there’s such a great way with the social networking and the social media to get your message out.  If you’re excited about it your reader is going to be excited about it.  Author House gives you the perfect stage to put your book on and show it to the world.