A Tasmanian best-selling author says he feels betrayed and shamed by his own publishing company for signing a book deal with prominent US "alt-right" provocateur Milo Yiannopolous.

Hobart-born Bradley Trevor Greive, a former Australian Army paratrooper whose Blue Day Book featuring animal photos and humorous captions sold an estimated 20 million copies, attacked publishers Simon and Schuster (S&S) for their deal with Yiannopolous, who he described as a "hate peddler".

"They have shamed me and tainted my book," Greive wrote on his Facebook page.

"I am livid and nauseated in equal measure, and I know that many other S&S authors feel exactly the same way."

Yiannopolous, a 33-year-old US-based Brit, has expressed views on Islam, feminism, social justice, homosexuality and other issues that have enraged many and resulted in him being banned from Twitter.

He is reportedly set to release his book Dangerous with the S&S-owned affiliate Threshold Editions in March this year, in a deal reported to be worth $US250,000.

"To share a printing press with Milo Yiannopoulos cheapens us all," Greive said.

"It's one thing to liberate a rat from the sewer, but something else entirely to place its likeness on our coat of arms."

Publisher 'does not condone hate speech'

Yiannopolous, who is openly gay, has also infuriated much of the LGBTI community with his opinions, which include the view "no-one would choose to have a gay child rather than a straight one - it would be like wishing that they were born disabled".

Greive described the book deal by S&S as purely a commercial decision "and an ill-conceived and wildly irresponsible one at that, with serious cultural ramifications".

"Yes, free speech must be defended, and yes there is money to be made - but that is what shitty extremist blogs and online newspapers are for," he said.

In a statement on their Twitter account, S&S - which has released books by prominent US conservative figures including Donald Trump, former Bush-administration figure Dick Cheney and right-wing commentator Rush Limbaugh - said "we do not and never have condoned discrimination or hate speech in any form".

S&S said while "many may disagree with the books we publish" the opinions contained on the pages "belong to our authors".

Outrage part of sales plan, author claims

Milo Yiannopoulos' publisher says the opinions contained in the pages "belong to our authors". ( Supplied: Facebook )

Greive singled out S&S executives Carolyn Kroll Reidy and Louise Burke, alleging the two were banking on outrage to fuel book sales.

"Self-styled provocateurs like Yiannopoulos rely on shock and unforgivable cruelty to attract an audience and we'll soon see this double-headed snake give insidious form to Threshold's entire marketing plan; indeed Carolyn Reidy and Louise Burke are counting on it in order to reap a handsome return on their considerable investment," he said.

The Yiannopoulos book deal has led to a backlash from some in the literary community, with the Chicago Review of Books declaring "in response to this disgusting validation of hate, we will not cover a single S&S book in 2017".

Greive said he supported the reviewer's ban and denied it was censorship.

"Let me be absolutely clear, this is not about about censorship, far from it. Yiannopoulos has unlimited access to far-right and alt-right media outlets," he said.

As of today, Dangerous is ranked 11th on the "hot new releases" for online book seller Amazon.