Knowing your readership.

[William King]

As an author I am very interested in the readers who visit the site. The more information provided the better I can gauge the potential audience. I would be very interested to know the breakdown - percentage pie chart - of site visitors by country. It's a one off request, because I would suspect visitors to be 80% American, Canadian, given it's a US site, but is this a correct assumption?

 

It helps language wise, because whilst I do not write in American English I find myself increasingly adopting American terms. For example I will use mom in place of mum, elevator in place of lift, apartment in place of flat, although in that latter example it is uniquely British to call an apartment a flat!

 

I wonder if that information could be provided?

 

[Dodger]

I kinda straddle both sides of the Atlantic and dabble in American and UK English. I try to keep it true to where the story is based but it can get a little confusing at times.

 

I don't have a problem when I'm reading though, and I think that the majority of members on this site would be similarly untroubled. Most North Americans nowadays are able to recognise uniquely British words like lorry, lift, or flat, and even some of the more colloquial phrases or swear words like w**ker and bo**ocks. I don't think you should worry too much about where your readers are situated, even if the site is 80% North American, stories that are written in UK English are very popular. It would be interesting to have a breakdown though.

[William King]

@Dodger  the only thing I really worry about is pants - because if you're British and you take them off you're naked, if you're American you've probably still got your boxers on!

[Dodger]

1 minute ago, William King said:

@Dodger  the only thing I really worry about is pants - because if you're British and you take them off you're naked, if you're American you've probably still got your boxers on!

When I moved to Canada as a teenager, the one that always got me into trouble at school was 'rubber' which of course is slang for condom over here. Asking people if you can borrow a rubber instead of an eraser is not a good idea in school.

[FormerMember4]

Maybe it’s my Canadian father with British ancestry, or Irish partner. I’d rather you use your original terms. Like bloody hell, mate, or flat.

[Dodger]

4 minutes ago, BlindAmbition said:

Maybe it’s my Canadian father with British ancestry, or Irish partner. I’d rather you use your original terms. Like bloody hell, mate, or flat.

Now the Irish have some great words!

[FormerMember4]

7 minutes ago, Dodger said:

Now the Irish have some great words!

Yes they do. Along with a very foul mouth. Which I love.

[Dodger]

1 minute ago, BlindAmbition said:

Yes they do. Along with a very foul mouth. Which I love.

Yeah, me too. I love the Irish.

[William King]

7 hours ago, BlindAmbition said:

I’d rather you use your original terms. Like bloody hell, mate, or flat.

 

Thing is I have been living in France for some sixteen years and speaking another language influences you. The word flat actually sounds wrong, I much prefer apartment. Sometimes I unintententially mix things, the other day I found myself writing "the sat phone was HS" then when I read it back I realised Hors Service is French and changed it to out of service. Another good one is the terminology around mobile phones which Americans call cell phones and French, mobile or portable, not to mention the chip that goes inside, which I guess Americans call a chip, but here it's a puce (literally a fly) - LOL

[Brayon]

11 hours ago, William King said:

not to mention the chip that goes inside, which I guess Americans call a chip, but here it's a puce (literally a fly) - LOL

We call them cards. S.I.M. Cards that make them work on a mobile telephone system, and SD Flash Cards for storage.

[Myr]

2017:

[MrM]

18 hours ago, Myr said:

2017:

 

Hehehehe.

I must be doing something right. I have managed to attract the attention of every Scandanavian on GA!

 

Colloquialisms and linguistic switches I think work best depending on your characters' points of reference. For granularity's sake, this can hold true depending on where your character is from in the United States. For instance, I have a character named Jimmy McVee. He's an Old Son out of Mississippi and I chose that state because my aunt lived there for many years so she picked up the 'dialect'. So, I'll throw into Jimmy's dialog and narratives colloquialisms and linguistic switches from my Auntie's lexicon. It gives Jimmy his 'voice'.

 

In Souvenir I have a much harder job. I am channeling an English Lord from the early 1900s. I'm leaning heavily on English literature, especially E.M. Forster, for that language. You can mix in some Jane Austin and Dickens into the bargan if you so fancy. By any road, such language is referenced as Received English and it is the 'Proper' English spoken by the Queen. It requires the use of British standard spelling and grammar. It also necessitates the use of a certain sophisticated vocabularly not normally utilised by more Common palaver.

 

What, What?

[William King]

5 minutes ago, MrM said:

It also necessitates the use of a certain sophisticated vocabularly not normally utilised by more Common palaver.

 

Damned good show old boy, that should teach the plebs a thing or two!

[FormerMember4]

18 hours ago, Myr said:

2017:

Not sure what you’re showing me. ☺️

[William King]

2 minutes ago, BlindAmbition said:

Not sure what you’re showing me.

 The most obvious thing shown here is that two thirds of all visitors to this site are American or Canadian, the vast majority being American (56%). Therefore, the largest audience, potential readership is American. If you are asking what you might do with this information, then there are lots of things you might want to consider as a writer. You might want to tailor your stories for an American audience, you might want to ensure the terminology you use is easily understood by that audience. You might not want to do anything at all, but it is still interesting to know.

[FormerMember4]

2 minutes ago, William King said:

 The most obvious thing shown here is that two thirds of all visitors to this site are American or Canadian, the vast majority being American (56%). Therefore, the largest audience, potential readership is American. If you are asking what you might do with this information, then there are lots of things you might want to consider as a writer. You might want to tailor your stories for an American audience, you might want to ensure the terminology you use is easily understood by that audience. You might not want to do anything at all, but it is still interesting to know.

Thanks William. Pic had no description. Just told me it was an image.

[Timothy M.]

52 minutes ago, MrM said:

Hehehehe.

I must be doing something right. I have managed to attract the attention of every Scandanavian on GA!

 

I don't know how you got that result from Myr's statistics, but I wonder how much of the 0.32 % activity from Denmark is me.

 

[FormerMember4]

10 minutes ago, Timothy M. said:

 

I don't know how you got that result from Myr's statistics, but I wonder how much of the 0.32 % activity from Denmark is me.

 

You’re the whole country! 😊

[Brayon]

2 hours ago, BlindAmbition said:

Not sure what you’re showing me. ☺️

Aside from Will's response, it's a screenshot of the top 23 countries that visit the site, internet traffic-wise.

 

The top 5 being:

1. America

2. United Kingdom

3. Canada

4. Austraila

5. Germany

 

#20 surprised me, being Kenya. If I recall correctly, Kenya is a country where Homosexuality is illegal. Granted my knowledge of African countries is limited.

[FormerMember4]

4 minutes ago, BHopper2 said:

Aside from Will's response, it's a screenshot of the top 23 countries that visit the site, internet traffic-wise.

 

The top 5 being:

1. America

2. United Kingdom

3. Canada

4. Austraila

5. Germany

 

#20 surprised me, being Kenya. If I recall correctly, Kenya is a country where Homosexuality is illegal. Granted my knowledge of African countries is limited.

Thanks A. William PM’d me with info. Is interesting. I don’t think illegal in Kenya, but extremely frowned on.

[Myr]

It is illegal in:

#38 - Egypt

#40 - Indonesia

#43 - Turkey - Really frowned on

#48 - Pakistan

#87 - Jordan

#100 - Syria

#108 - Saudi Arabia. (Most come from the capital in Riyadh... naughty princes?)

 

 

[MrM]

3 hours ago, Timothy M. said:

 

I don't know how you got that result from Myr's statistics, but I wonder how much of the 0.32 % activity from Denmark is me.

 

 

Statistically i think I see maybe 2 or 3 Vikings in those figures. Maybe 10 for Sweden.

[MrM]

4 hours ago, William King said:

 

Damned good show old boy, that should teach the plebs a thing or two!

 

Just so, Old Bean.

[Dodger]

3 minutes ago, MrM said:

 

Just so, Old Bean.

Your aving a laugh int yer!

[MrM]

2 minutes ago, Dodger said:

Your aving a laugh int yer!

 

I beg your pardon, dear sir, but in Hertford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen..