SF Romance
by Annie
(Beijing, China)
Question: I'm writing a novel that is basically a romance novel, but it takes place in 2025 and the protagonists are working in technology field. There's some technology advances in the setting, but they doesn't play a big part in the main plots of the story. They're majorly used as a device to reveal the characters' personalities. I'm worrying if it could work out because it seems very rare that romance novel do combine with technology. Indeed, there's romance in many science fictions, but inversely, there are very few romance novels that contains science, or contains characters who works as a computer programmer or engineer. Will it be harder to get a novel like this published? Am I better off writing a 100% romance novel?
By the way, I'm an ESL writer, so I'm afraid that my submission might contains misspelling and grammar mistakes.
Thank you in advance!
Answer: I think the challenge you have here is that romances are marketed to a mostly female readership. By "romances," I mean stories in which the primary throughline concerns a female main character who finds true love.
For a long time, romances were seen as the pastime of housewives. At the same time, there is a tradition of science fiction being marketed mostly to a male readership -- so-called "science nerds."
These are stereotypes, of course, that are in the process of changing. Not only do many women enjoy and write science fiction (though their numbers are still often ignored), there are also increasing numbers of women working in science and technology.
It's all a matter of timing. You could be the person who has the right book at the right time that appeals to a generation of female readers longing for something new -- a story that reflects the lives and concerns of women today. You might be on the forefront of a big wave of science fiction romances for women.
Or you could face an uphill battle trying to sell the story. (Actually, it's an uphill battle for any new writer trying to sell any story, unless they are very lucky as well as talented.)
Unfortunately, it's very hard to predict when a wave of popularity will begin. The only thing you can do as a writer is write the book that interests you and hope that, by the time you are finished writing it, others will be interested as well.