Smells and the city: New NYC guidebook

The inspiration for Amber C. Jones' first book was right under her nose.

"I was walking home from work with a friend and I caught a whiff of pizza," said Jones, 36, author of "New York, Phew York."

"I said, 'Oh my God, that pizza smells so good,' and as I was saying this, I stepped in horse droppings. Then I turned the corner and was engulfed in shish kebab smoke."

Jones, a Times Square hotel concierge, decided to pen a scratch-and-sniff guide to New York City featuring the urban terrain's telltale scents: pastrami, fresh bagel, sewer steam and garbage, among others. (Horse droppings didn't make the cut.)

"New York, Phew York," a 20-scent, 40-page children's book that Jones calls "a full-blown love letter to New York," could be available as soon as the holiday season. The self-published book costs $34 and can be ordered at scentsationalbooks.com.

Jones, of Flatbush, Brooklyn, and friend and business partner Jennifer Lamirata, 31, of West Islip, said they've worked tirelessly for a year to bring "New York, Phew York" to print.

They realized they had children's book gold on their hands after a Pitchapooloza book-pitching event last November in Huntington.

Jones delivered her pitch in couplets -- the style in which she wrote the book -- and the idea was applauded, she and Lamirata said. Publishing consultants at the event warned the pair, however, that the scratch-and-sniff feature wouldn't be cheap.

"Scratch-and-sniff, it's almost like it doesn't exist anymore. It's from the '80s and kind of nostalgic," Jones said in an interview earlier this month. "They do something like it for magazine perfume ads, but to get a book form is really expensive."

Jones and Lamirata found most publishing houses weren't willing to pick up the hefty production tab -- and Jones said taking the "regular publishing route" would cost her creative control.

"They were like, 'Great idea. We like this, but let's do the good smells instead of the bad smells,' " Jones said. "But New York doesn't smell like cocoa and lavender. It smells like all things good and bad."

They decided to go at it themselves. They hired freelance illustrator Tim Probert, 24, a West Islip native now living in Providence, R.I., whose art for the book includes scenes of Times Square, Chinatown and the subway.

Probert called Jones' brainchild an original and unique concept.

Jones and Lamirata turned to microfinancing site kickstarter.com, earning more than $22,000 from 317 donors.

They're currently working with a printing house that will outsource work on the scratch-and-sniff element. They hope to print between 1,000 and 2,500 copies for the first batch. They said they believe "New York, Phew York" will appeal to children, adults and especially tourists.

"We've put in a year of work and we're still going," Lamirata said. "It hits on all the major New York sites: baseball stadium, subway, Meatpacking [district], Times Square -- where all tourists would go."