Best-selling children's author Craig Smith is pitching his latest book idea directly to the masses.
Tapping into the growing phenomenon that is crowdfunding, Smith is asking his fans to raise the $15,000 he needs to get the book designed, printed and distributed.
The Queenstown-based musician and author of The Wonky Donkey may have sold a million copies of his five books to date, but that does not mean publishers jump at all his ideas.
Smith says his usual publisher, Scholastic, has turned down the book several times, often for ''legitimate reasons''.
But what he calls his ''market research'' - performing his songs to thousands of children every year - means he trusts his instincts.
Those instincts were telling him his ''silly and ridiculous'' song Eating, which is being wrapped into a story with illustrations by Arrowtown's Scott Tulloch, would sell well.
''To get the cash together, I'm asking my fans, fans of children's books and people who enjoy the idea of self-publishing and following their dream - without relying on a publisher or some philanthropist.''
For a $25 pledge, they would receive a signed copy of the book and a CD containing the song. Other pledge options ranged from $5 to $65.
If the $15,000 target was not reached, the money stayed in pledgers' bank accounts.
''But I think it's going to be huge - I think it's going to be oversubscribed.''
Smith's confidence is well-founded - all his books have had lengthy stints at No 1 in the best-sellers' list for New Zealand children's books.
It is not his first foray into self-publishing. In 2012, after Scholastic turned down his idea for Kaha the Kea, he took the ''huge risk'' of investing $25,000 of his own money to publish it himself.
It went straight to No 1, and has sold 15,000 copies and counting.
Smith said if he worked with a publisher, he needed to sell 2000 copies of a book to break even, but crowdfunding reduced that target to 600.
''It doesn't mean I won't work with publishing companies again, but it gives me another option.
''Scholastic is particularly good for overseas sales.''
• Craig Smith's crowdfunding project, which has a June 6 deadline, went live on PledgeMe last week. A link can be found on his website.
