I'm writing a adult contemporary romance set in both Toronto and Jamaica. I'm choosing to set it in Toronto because it's a fantastic, underrated city not seen much in fiction, and personally I'm getting a little tired of books set in California, New York ect. But I've been warned that books not set in an American setting don't sell well with American readers. So my question is, if the plot intrigued you, would you pick up a book set in Toronto? Thanks!
I've read stories set in France, Germany, England, India, China, Japan, Egypt, Chile, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Israel, Jordan, and the Dominican Republic (just to name a few countries). So yes, I would read a book set in Toronto or Jamaica.
I'm English so I'm not sure if my vote is valid, but I'd rather it be set in Toronto than California or New York. Personally, I think anyone who rates a story based on it's location is slightly weird. However, saying that, I think it's important that your setting compliments your story; for example, if it was about business and finance then New York and London would be ideal locations, or if you wanted to portray a character living rough then you'd choose a city where violence and corruption is commonplace. As far as I can tell, though, it's a perfectly fine idea.
I read books set in different countries all the time. I'd read a book set in Toronto. What an odd concept to discount a book because it's not set in America. As long as it's universally relatable, I don't see a problem with it.
Why would we not? Don't take this the wrong way, but there are times when I have to hold back a small amount of umbrage at what seems to be a pervasive perception that we yanks are a different species or something of that ilk. The fact that Americans tend to set their stories in America falls under the "write what you know" paradigm, not the "write what is acceptable to readers" paradigm. Books and shows written by Brits tend, by and large, to take place in the UK. I don't see anyone worrying that Brits won't want to read things taking place outside the UK. </rant>
I'm Canadian and write for a mostly American audience. I set quite a few of my stories in Canada, and it was never an issue while I was selling books to smaller e-first publishers. But when I started shopping a novel to the Big 5, one of the first requests was to move the story from Muskoka to somewhere in the US. Anywhere, really, as long as it was in the US. Now, that was for a Small-Town Romance, which is a sub-genre where readers have a pretty specific set of expectations. I'm not sure if the same request would have been made if I'd been writing in a different genre. So, if we assume that publishers have a good idea of what readers want (which may or may not be a safe assumption), it seems as if setting a story in Canada may sometimes be a disadvantage. How's that for a vague answer?
Louise Penny does fine with her books set in Canada. I was just reading a snippet from the Crime Writer's Assoc - 'Penny, 57, is a former Canadian radio journalist who draws on her country's culture and history to add heft and interest to books that are more whydunits than whodunits.'
I think if you were writing about Kathmandu, a reader, especially American, might expect lots of local flavors and descriptors to help them visualize (As Kathmandu is very different from, let's say, New York) but Canada and United States are basically the same country when it comes to the sort of cities and lifestyles people lead. Yes, there are differences, but similar to a fault. I personally read a lot of fantasy set in Maine. God knows why, every author seems to think Maine is the holy land of fantasy settings (I think it's the trees) but most people wouldn't even think twice of where a story is occuring when you're thinking US vs. Canada. I sure wouldn't and I doubt most readers would bat an eye unless every Canadian character is going "Ron ron, la poutine et champignon bleu!" and think you're racist up the wazoo.
But, and just to play Devil's Vague Advocate, all of Robert J. Sawyer's very good science fiction novels take place in Canada*. And not only do they take place in Canada, Sawyer goes out of his way to ensure in the mind of the reader that this is absotively, posolutely CANADA, and not the US, not unlike an overly sensitive Canadian traveler spending an irrational amount of time ensuring that everyone around knows he's not American. And his books are great, the somewhat heavy-handed inclusion of exclusively Canadian things notwithstanding. *The ones that take place on Earth.
Ssssh! Don't give up our secret, Wrey! We're really Minbaris sent here to spy on the puny Earthlings so that one day the glorious Minbari Empire can invade and declare Earth a Minbari colony!! Um... You saw nothing, puny Earthlings. ¬ ¬' ANYWAY, yeah, I've read historical fiction/mysteries that aren't set in America and I'll continue to read them. That person's got some issues, clearly. So long as the story is good, who cares where it's set. :> Now gimmie a historical mystery set in Feudal Japan, I've a hankering for some of that now.
Yes, as an American the setting doesn't matter nearly as much as the story itself. Sell me on the characters and you can take me anywhere you want.
I think this could be a good discussion for the Setting section. Personally, the setting has to serve the story. Don't put it in America for the sake of a few of my fellow Yankees who won't read books unless the setting is America. Please, I'd rather read your story set elsewhere.
*Checks a globe made in America* But ... but ... but America is the center of the world and universe.
*checks map of universe* Funny. I don't see a giant planet in the center of the universe called 'America'. We're just one country out of 200+ countries on a small blue dot hurdling on an endless loop around one out of trillions and trillions of stars in the vast emptiness of space. @No-Name Slob : I know, right? I like to call them Johnnies, though. Y'know, Johnny Rebs=Confederates=The Side That Lost The Civil War?
*GASP* Are you one of those Communists I have been taught to fear and loathe without actually trying to understand?
You could say I'm a liberal. Fear me. FEAR ME, DAMMIT!! @ The Original Poster- Sorry we sorta took over the thread like this. :] Here, let me steer 'er back on course.
Because it worked out so well the first time, eh? And yes, let's return this thread to its original station. Sorry 'bout that everyone else.
LOL Because, of course, according to the Big Book of Urban Mythology (2014 edition), secession is still totes on the table. Just needs a signature.
