Finding your Audience
As you can probably tell, I'm a sucker for the observer effect in non-fiction and fictional storytelling. Give me Netflix original documentaries such as Last Chance U and Fittest on Earth, and the gob-smacking, startling revelations banged-out in Icarus, and I'm a happy and obsessed lady. As well as the self-reflexive and inspiring qualities these shows give out in waves, they're also very interesting when considering the show's marketing. They seem to appeal to a wide and varied group of followers. Appealing to such a diverse market segment (well not a segment at all) would cause traditional book publishers a splitting head-ache.
One year ago, a guy posed this question on Reddit regarding his and his brother's appetite for Last Chance U; "We are trying to understand: who actually watches this show? Is it men or women, high school or college kids, middle ages or older, football players or not?"
There's currently over 81 responses, from people all over the world. Some are professionals, some students, some young, some older. From the responses I read, it appears the 'behind-the-scenes' 'warts-and-all' exposure seems to appeal to a huge range of people. Compared to the 'football content' which we'd suspect would be more appealing to a succinct sport-loving market segment. That is, the chosen sport doesn't seem to matter. What is also very obvious, from the Reddit responses, is that females enjoy Last Chance U style and content, as much as males.
If we relate similar stats to the watching of sport in Australia we find out that the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games and then Australian Football (AFL) are the three most watched sporting events in the country. And AFL attracts nearly as many female viewers as male, unlike rugby league and soccer where the bias is much more like twice as many male viewers to female viewers.
So, who am I appealing to when writing Australian Team Series. I am obviously appealing to lovers of sport, but I am more interested in people who want to go along for a ride, as though they are watching a documentary, without narration, allowing for the reader to make judgement, or not, on the characters plight. I don't want to ram an outcome down the readers' throats, and I don't want to glorify sport---because I know, first-hand, that sport is bloody hard work...mentally.
There's a great piece from Dhruv Sharma, on www.thecinemaholic.com, on the best sports documentary movies on Netflix, released this year (2019). He says: "Sport documentaries don’t inspire us by showing intense training sessions with cheesy heavy bass hip hop music but they inspire us by showing the everyday disciplined lives of these athletes. Some documentaries even show us the darker side of sports. They expose things that we wouldn’t know otherwise because all of that happens behind the screens."
Bingo, I say. To me, he's bang on the money. I have the same desires as Dhruv's. It is his description which I have used as my guiderails for writing. I've used the no-bullshit, no forced happy-ending code as well.
If I had to have a crack at defining the audience of Australian Team Series, although early days, I believe my audience is equally male and female, 35+, who are open-minded and non-formulaic, who want to experience the behind-the-scenes of sport, focused on the psychological impact (mental toughness), plus those wishing to gain some upbeat solace and privacy (erotically-charged), enjoy being shocked, all the while collecting some humour and sass that is life in Australia.
If you are a writer, I'd love to hear how you define your audience. And best wishes, from the land down under.
One year ago, a guy posed this question on Reddit regarding his and his brother's appetite for Last Chance U; "We are trying to understand: who actually watches this show? Is it men or women, high school or college kids, middle ages or older, football players or not?"
There's currently over 81 responses, from people all over the world. Some are professionals, some students, some young, some older. From the responses I read, it appears the 'behind-the-scenes' 'warts-and-all' exposure seems to appeal to a huge range of people. Compared to the 'football content' which we'd suspect would be more appealing to a succinct sport-loving market segment. That is, the chosen sport doesn't seem to matter. What is also very obvious, from the Reddit responses, is that females enjoy Last Chance U style and content, as much as males.
If we relate similar stats to the watching of sport in Australia we find out that the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games and then Australian Football (AFL) are the three most watched sporting events in the country. And AFL attracts nearly as many female viewers as male, unlike rugby league and soccer where the bias is much more like twice as many male viewers to female viewers.
So, who am I appealing to when writing Australian Team Series. I am obviously appealing to lovers of sport, but I am more interested in people who want to go along for a ride, as though they are watching a documentary, without narration, allowing for the reader to make judgement, or not, on the characters plight. I don't want to ram an outcome down the readers' throats, and I don't want to glorify sport---because I know, first-hand, that sport is bloody hard work...mentally.
There's a great piece from Dhruv Sharma, on www.thecinemaholic.com, on the best sports documentary movies on Netflix, released this year (2019). He says: "Sport documentaries don’t inspire us by showing intense training sessions with cheesy heavy bass hip hop music but they inspire us by showing the everyday disciplined lives of these athletes. Some documentaries even show us the darker side of sports. They expose things that we wouldn’t know otherwise because all of that happens behind the screens."
Bingo, I say. To me, he's bang on the money. I have the same desires as Dhruv's. It is his description which I have used as my guiderails for writing. I've used the no-bullshit, no forced happy-ending code as well.
If I had to have a crack at defining the audience of Australian Team Series, although early days, I believe my audience is equally male and female, 35+, who are open-minded and non-formulaic, who want to experience the behind-the-scenes of sport, focused on the psychological impact (mental toughness), plus those wishing to gain some upbeat solace and privacy (erotically-charged), enjoy being shocked, all the while collecting some humour and sass that is life in Australia.
If you are a writer, I'd love to hear how you define your audience. And best wishes, from the land down under.
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