This question is about **genre** and **reader expectations**. I'm not trying to change my story to fit a mainstream genre. I have already taken steps to broaden it's appeal, but it's too late to create an entirely different type of story. 

I'm writing and illustrating a graphic novel. My difficulty is that I have issues communicating what it's about, the "1-minute elevator pitch". 

Describe the story in 2 words...
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I was fine with calling it **Science Fiction**, but I noticed *non-writers had certain genre expectations* which they get from mainstream works that I wouldn't even consider to strictly be sci-fi. My story is character-driven. It lacks *melodramatic villains*. There are no *fantasy races* or *magic aliens* or *telepaths*. Explaining this, I'd watch people's eyes glaze over. I can't get people excited by saying how it's *not* all these other things they expect.

In niche communities like *Writers* and *Worldbuilding*, genres have a narrower definition. To get around gatekeeping debates with other community members about scientific plausibility, I switched my genre label to **Space Opera**. It got them to accept my "alternative science" (it's consistent, but based on a specific pseudo-science) as not requiring a deep explanation (not integral to the plot). However, I'm still not providing genre expectations like *dogfights in space*, *laser shootouts*, *space empires* and *half-dressed space princesses*. I'm not fulfilling the promise-to-the-reader of what I think a Space Opera ought to be. None of the action even takes place in outer space.

Subverting expectations, or genre salad…?
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At each phase, I took steps to try to make my story more *commercial* (in a George R. R. Martin sense) suggesting the implied genre promises but subverting expectations to get back to *my* story: a "melodrama villain" is taken out early leaving unanswered questions, the "action hero" isn't able to solve problems with a laserpistol, and the "half-dressed space princess" is a social-climbing thot trying to get to another planet. Feminist and social justice themes were subverted in favor of more complicated, frustrating characters who act in their own self-interest. No one's a "hero", no one's a "villain". Characters are imperfect and no one gets exactly what they want.

While this made the *drama* better, it moved further away from mainstream sci-fi. Looking critically at my full script, it's like I hang a lampshade on some mainstream tropes and then wander away to do something else. To try to be clear, it's not just that I have grey-morality and adult themes, it's more like "is this story even in this genre?"

Wait, it's actually some obscure genre no one has heard of that has zero marketing appeal…
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Earlier this year I found the term **Planetary Romance**, and it fits. My story isn't really a "clash of worlds" so much as it's a clash of individuals from different worlds. The story takes place (mostly) on one planet where the socio-political situation is more important than technology, and the conflicts are small and inter-personal, at first anyway. 

[For anyone who knows the origins of Planetary Romance](http://sf-encyclopedia.uk/fe.php?nm=planetary_romance), I feel they would accept the story in the spirit it's intended. It's a modern twist on the **White Savior goes to a Primitive Planet, rescues a native princess, and sparks a revolution**, except the planet is a libertarian slum and all the hero and damsel tropes are subverted.

I know "romance" here is not indicating an actual relationship, as in **Romance** genre – but to anyone who doesn't know the term (non-writers) it at least gives them the right sense of scale to the conflict. Of course there is more than boy-meets-girl-on-Planet-Z, but if someone came with that expectation I feel they would be happily surprised by a complex character-driven story with some exotic stage dressing. There is a "which guy will she choose" aspect they can read into that carries through.

I'm at the stage where I need to solidify how I discuss this project. The script is finished and the artwork is in production. I can't keep fishing for genre labels. I need to communicate the basic scope of the story quickly so I can turn attention to the individual characters the story is really about.

Can I call my graphic novel a planetary romance?
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Does it help me communicate the idea, or is it just too obscure to be useful?