What on earth would induce anyone to cycle around a country for six months?
"Good question," replies Leigh Norrie, who did just that in 2005, and now has a book that tells the tale. "Japan: 6,000 Miles On a Bicycle" was published earlier this year by Printed Matter Press, and he makes no apologies for it being self-published.
"Some people pull faces at the idea of self-publishing," he notes. "But at that time I was unwilling to trail around agents and publishers. Nor was I happy about some editor saying he didn't like this and perhaps I should change that. I knew how I wanted my book to look and read."