(Because it apparently wasn't obvious, OP is not actually a 15 year old purveyor of young adult romance fiction. His post is mimicking the writing style of the article ("I'm 20 and a creative writing major...").)
BTW, there's a GoodReads list entitled "Nerdy Guys Are Hot" containing 114 books. And that list is obviously incomplete. For example, Harry Potter -- the most popular youth fiction series ever -- has a nerdy main character and plenty of romance subplots.
Are you saying Harry Potter himself was nerdy? Because he definitely never did homework or studied and lucked into every solution he ran into by dumb luck.
Hermione was nerdy, but was usually made fun of for being nerdy, and was a love interest despite her nerdy ways.
Yes, in a certain sense, although a slightly more accurate characterization might be that Harry Potter is a nerd's idea of a hero. Although I have to admit my knowledge of the series is rather superficial, so perhaps I'm wrong.
> he definitely never did homework or studied and lucked into every solution he ran into by dumb luck.
Nerdy doesn't necessarily imply industrious or studious. I wouldn't say the average MtG or DnD player was a particularly good student at my high school.
Harry didn't play DnD or MtG though. He lived in a magical world, and while some of those magical things occasionally caught his attention, he wasn't really deeply interested in any of it. His main concerns were social: casting unsubstantiated aspersions on Snape and Malfoy and occasionally being correct. He didn't care about any of his classes. His only real love was Quidditch, which he was naturally talented at, making him, if anything, a jock.
Rethinking through the series, which I have re-read within the past year, the only truly nerdy moments he has all involve girls; and then only really at the beginning of his involvement with girls. Very quickly, he begins to have quite mature thoughts regarding his relationships, even if he doesn't always make the right choices.
Harry Potter addressed this when Harry learned that his dad was Snape's childhood bully and cuckold.
Tina Fey also did a good exploration of this idea in 30 Rock S3E5 "Reunion" when Liz Lemon has to face the reality that she wasn't the nerdy victim but the bully. It's a recurring theme in media because no one ever thinks they're the bad guy. It's especially hard to tell when you're young and haven't learned how to be a human yet.
All that said, I don't think Harry was a bully. Malfoy was pretty unambiguously antagonistic. Snape was more antihero, but did make a point to antagonize Harry when he could. Harry mistook the antagonization as evidence that Snape was up to bad dealings because "I'm the good guy and my enemies are bad", but even this gets flipped on its head throughout the series. Malfoy doesn't become humanized until they show his family life in detail and even then he only redeems himself in the home stretch.
"Nerds idea of a hero" is a perfect way to represent it. Heroes thought up for nerds are non-threatening and approachable, unlike ancient heroes, who are threatening, great leaders of men, and often openly flaunt their "noble" lineage (Beowulf, Odysseus,etc.) Ancient heroes also often book real challenges to their hero status from their close allies.
On a side note, Japanese light pop fiction actually primarily does cater to the nerdy people/kids, to the point of excess. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_novel
Much of it is "sappy guy gets the girl(s)" type stories or other power fantasies/wish fulfillment of various kinds. (Or bookish girl gets found by prince charming or multiple prince charmings.) It's very popular over there. It's been a persistent thought in my mind why this type of stuff isn't written in the US (or if it is, I can't find it).
I watched two episodes of Komi Can't Communicate on Netflix and felt that. I thought it was good though, maybe it would have helped my socially anxious younger self.
BTW, there's a GoodReads list entitled "Nerdy Guys Are Hot" containing 114 books. And that list is obviously incomplete. For example, Harry Potter -- the most popular youth fiction series ever -- has a nerdy main character and plenty of romance subplots.