The Daily News (Halifax) Online novel pays off for university student Dean Lisk When Joey Comeau's student loan fell through in September, the fourth-year Saint Mary's University student turned to the Internet to pay his tuition. "I was so close to graduating, I couldn't walk away from it," says the linguistics student. "I was forced to make money." Comeau - who admits he is not a 9-to-5 job kind of guy - decided to publish a novel he was writing online. Within months, he not only raised his tuition, but got a publishing deal and sold the film rights to his book - which is being taught at two universities. "It's been kind of ridiculous," says the 25-year-old, who graduates Friday. "My mom loves it." The book, Lockpick Pornography, is about a group of angry young gay men who pick locks, steal from straight neighbourhoods, and even kidnap someone. People have described the story - with its depiction of sex and violence - as a gay grenade. "It's a fun book; I had a lot of fun writing it," says Comeau, who grew up in Spryfield. In the fall, he placed the first chapter of his novella
online, asking readers to donate money if they wanted to read more.
When he checked the next day, a couple of hundred dollars were donated.
He uploaded the second Seven chapters, and 10 days later, he had the $1,600 he needed for his tuition - he also had a magazine publisher interested in printing the book. In December, 1,050 copies were printed and put on sale online and around Halifax. It sold-out in three months and a new run is being printed. "I knew how many were selling in a week, but it wasn't until I was told the first run had sold out that I realized how big it was." Things got even bigger when This Hour Has 22-Minutes' Gavin Crawford approached Comeau about turning the story into a film - "He loved it. He wants to produce something based on it" - and the author learned classes at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Wyoming are using the book. "When you have so many people reading your stuff, some of them, somewhere, are going to have power." He says gay teenagers from across Canada and the United States have e-mailed asking if it's OK to send him money to buy a copy because they don't own a credit card. They like the book's humour, and relate to the characters. "I get a lot of people writing and saying it is a book they wanted to see written," says Comeau, who plans to go on a book tour this summer. "I get a lot of creepy people, too. They say I am writing their life, and that is a little weird." He's also been surprised by the reaction of some people in the gay community. One woman accused him of setting back the gay-rights movement. "People assume the main character is me, and this is a political manifesto," says Comeau. "It's not. l read science fiction and I don't assume the author has been to the moon." dlisk@hfxnews.ca
Serial author: Joey Comeau first published his novel online. Category: Arts and Culture C 2006 The Daily News (Halifax). All rights reserved.
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