In an attempt to identify my readership demographic, I took a detailed look at the reviews received for The Black Orchestra. Here’s what I discovered:
| US | Female | Male | Both | All | Unknown |
| Total | 79 | 248 | 327 | 439 | 112 |
| No | 20 | 62 | 82 | 111 | 29 |
| Average | 3.95 | 4.00 | 3.99 | 3.95 | 3.86 |
| UK | Female | Male | Both | All | Unknown |
| Total | 23 | 82 | 105 | 120 | 15 |
| No | 5 | 20 | 25 | 29 | 4 |
| Average | 4.60 | 4.10 | 4.20 | 4.14 | 3.75 |
| US + UK | Female | Male | Both | All | Unknown |
| Total | 102 | 330 | 432 | 559 | 127 |
| No | 25 | 82 | 107 | 140 | 33 |
| Average | 4.08 | 4.02 | 4.04 | 3.99 | 3.85 |
Firstly, my overall readership is predominately male:
Male 59%, Female 18%, Unknown 23%
Splitting the unknowns evenly between the sexes gives:
Male 70%, Female 30%
Having said that, the group that gave the highest average rating (4.60) for the book was female readers in the UK. Admittedly this was a small group (23 reviews). It’s interesting that the group that gave the lowest average rating (3.85) is the “unknown” group, many of whom wrote their reviews under an anonymous name like “Amazon reader”.
Comparing the readership figures for the US / UK:
US: Male 56%, Female 18%, Unknown 26%
UK: Male 69%, Female 17%, Unknown 14%
Splitting the unknowns evenly again gives:
US: Male 69%, Female 31%
UK: Male 76%, Female 24%
The male bias is exaggerated in the UK (where the sample size is small).
It’s hardly a definitive study of the readers of the book, but it does give me some idea who I’m writing for.
Embarassed to say I didn’t know what ‘No’ was last night – and I just figured it out! Duh!
Very nice average, and a good number of reviews/ratings – I like your analysis. I don’t have enough at 28 US and 4 UK to do any analysis with them – need more.
Also need to publish more.
You have definitely found one of your niches. WWII was so black and white, especially from the distance we have now, that it makes a solid background for stories with high stakes, and the reader doesn’t have the problem of being too close to the conflict.
If I take any longer to finish mine, I’m going to have the same feature!
Thanks for sharing your analysis. I’d be curious to see if, as you get more reviews for your books, anything shifts in your demographics. I read an awful lot of WWII spy novels way back when because my dad tended to buy them when he went on trips. I don’t get around to as many as I’d like to read any more.