Larry Harrison on self-publishing: 'We joined together in an informal cooperative'

A published academic author, Harrison wanted to reach a wider audience in fiction

• Glimpses of a Floating World was recommended by MarNYNY

• Larry Harrison interviewed by Michael Griffith
• theguardian.com, Tuesday 12 November 2013 

'I was keen to counter stereotypical views about the need for the war on drugs...' Opium pipes on a stall. Photograph: Yang Liu/Corbis

Why did you decide to self-publish Glimpses of a Floating World?

As a Reader at the University of Hull, I was already a published academic author, and my books on alcohol and drug problems were selling well. I wrote a BBC radio feature on the history of tobacco which was well received, and this gave me the idea that I might achieve more if I could reach a wider, non-academic audience. I was keen to counter stereotypical views about the need for the war on drugs, or the 12 steps cure for addiction, and thought this could be done through fiction. My publisher was only interested in selling more textbooks. Sending out unsolicited manuscripts to other commercial publishers was demoralising, especially when they were seldom read - 'If it's on the slush pile, it must be crap.' So I decided that the only way to write the fiction I wanted to write was to self-publish. A number of other authors were reaching similar conclusions, so we joined together in an informal cooperative, and helped each other with editing and promotion. We linked up with indie bands and singer-songwriters, at venues like Rough Trade Records in London's Brick Lane and Oxford's Albion Beatnik Bookshop, and held events where we performed songs and readings together. It was good fun.
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