Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Would you vote for or against yourself?

I'm curious... imagine that you are an author with a story on the ballot. In that particular category, how would you vote? Kerth rules don't offer any guidelines on this, so I know there's a variety of opinions.

PJ

that's funny. i was thinking of posting a poll almost exactly like this. just didn't get around to it.

yeah, i would (and have) vote(d) for or against one of my own stories. if i think it's the best one in the category, i'll vote for it. wouldn't nominate it, mind you, but if it made it onto the ballot, i'll vote for it. hey, if i won't vote for it, who will?

otoh, if i think another story is better, i'll go ahead and vote for that, even over my own story. did that in at least one category last year.

i just try to be fair and impartial as i can be.

of course, i am more inclined to like one of my own stories. most of them are talior-made to my tastes, after all.

Paul

I probably wouldn't vote at all in the category.

I don't want to give myself a vote because then (if I win) I'll never know if it was that one vote that made the difference, and otherwise I would have lost. After all, I want to know what others think of my story, not what I think of it.

OTOH, I wouldn't want to vote against myself either, because when and if I lose I'll be banging my head against the wall thinking maybe I would have won and my vote was what made all the difference.

Julie

I chose "other" because I haven't made up my mind yet. I'm really leaning toward abstaining from the categories in which I have a story nominated. Like Paul said, since I wrote it with a bend toward my own personal preferences, I'm afraid I would be too biased to be fair and impartial. I just don't know.

This is also the reason I haven't voted yet. That and the fact that I still have a dozen stories or so to finish reading.

Lynn

So far I've always voted for the best story in the category, not including mine. Every year I wonder if I'm not just shooting myself in the foot. Every year I wonder if I shouldn't just abstain. And every year I decide that I prefer to vote for my favourite contender instead. But the thing is, I deal with those categories in the same way I would deal with any category: I want my favourite story to win. And if it does win, then I'm happy.

Kaethel

Julie sums up what's always been my philosophy on this one. I used to vote for another story in the category, but in the last couple of years I came to the conclusion that I couldn't really be objective about it to that degree. So now I just abstain from any category I've been nominated in.

LabRat

Yeah, I voted that I'd select the best story in the category but not my own, but I've been wondering for a while now if it's better to simply abstain altogether. The trouble with that strategy is that I like to support the awards as enthusiastically and fully as I can, and that means voting in as many categories as possible. If I abstain from a few where I could have voted (ie, where I know enough about the other stories to feel I've given them all due consideration) then I sort of feel guilty. Is that daft?

Anyway, I'm in conflict with myself and that, like Lynn, is probably one of the many reasons why I haven't yet voted.

Oh, and I've never really thought of my strategy as voting against myself, Pam. I guess it's true enough, but I've always just thought of it as voting for the best story - ie, a positive spin rather than a negative spin.

Yvonne

Actually, I think I left out one important option: "All of the Above" I've been around this fandom since forever, and I've brainwashed enough people into liking my stories that I've faced this question quite a few times. And I think my answer has been different every time... At first, I voted for myself but since then I seem to have stopped... Technically, I think my preference is to vote for the best story, even if it's mine, but somehow I never think mine is best (look at Best Long Revelation -- every one of those other stories leaves mine in the dust!) so the point doesn't often come up. Sometimes, though, I'll just skip the category altogether. If I'd have lost by one vote, I'd have been kicking myself for a little while. But then, I like it when other people win, too.

Speaking of tight races, btw -- this year's Best Overall category is insanely close. We had to put seven stories on the ballot because there was a four-way tie for fourth place! And the story coming in first had only 3 more noms than the 4th place finishers, so it was practically a seven-way tie for the whole category. In case you've ever wondered, yes, your one vote can make a difference.

err, um, how did this turn into a public service announcement? I'm, ah, gonna blame my allergies, yeah, that's it, allergies...

PJ

I don't think the gentle reader/writers are giving themselves enough credit.

The purpose of the Kerth balloting is to vote for the story that you think is best in that category. The key there being, the one YOU think is best. If the happens to be one which you wrote, so be it. I have to believe that most folks, no matter how much they might like one of their stories can and do recognise a story that they feel is better (using whatever criteria you use to judge stories).

A prime example of this happened in the 2002 balloting. I wrote 'TOGoM version 487' which to this day I feel is one of the best TOGoM stories in the archives. Yet that was the same time that Labby decided to do her own TOGoM variant. As good as I felt my story was, it was clear that Labby's story was better. It deservedly won.

This talk about possible bias toward your own stories is redundant. It's that same story bias you are using to pick any story. There really is no difference. The elements that you may put into a story that you write that makes it become the type of story you like to read are the same elements that would lead you to enjoy someone else's story. They might have presented them a little better and thus made their story stronger in your mind than your own was. It's still a personal choice.

The only wrong vote would be one you placed because 'you wanted to win'. That's not to say that a writer shouldn't want to win, that's natural. It just should never be a factor in your voting.

Tank (who thinks some people worry too much about this stuff, it is just supposed to be for fun)

This is a neat poll, Pam. It's been interesting for me to see how many people have similar thought processes to mine.

I voted for "I abstain", but like Pam, I have done "all of the above" over the years-- I've voted for my own story if I thought it was the best one, I've voted for other stories when I've thought they were the best one, and I've abstained. Until recently, I've decided this on a case by case basis (if I had strong feelings that one or another story was by far my favorite, I'd vote for it, no matter who wrote it, but if I couldn't decide easily, I'd abstain) but in the last few years, I've found myself abstaining more and more often. My thought process is along the lines of what others have said -- I would be kicking myself if I lost by one vote, but on the other hand, it's what other FoLCs think that matters. I know I love my own stories, LOL.

Of course, it doesn't help when you have stories going up against each other in the same category but this actually made the decision to just abstain in all my categories this year easier. How in the world do you chose amongst your own stories? It's like voting for one of your kids over the other.

Kathy

It's funny, but that 'abstain in the category where you're nominated' option never occurred to me until a year or so ago. And by then I was just so used to blanking out my own stories as if they weren't there and voting for whichever I thought was best in the category that I've simply carried on doing it.

I've never voted for myself. In the first year I was eligible, I was persuaded to nominate some of my own stories, but I felt at the time that it was vaguely wrong, so I've never done it again. I hasten to add that that's just my personal view; I've just never felt comfortable about putting myself forward for anything! I'm also not capable of being objective about my own stories: I always feel that the other stories in the category are better and deserve to win. So I never have any trouble finding something else to vote for!

To me, the Kerths are about what fanfic readers think are the most enjoyable/most well-written stories. It's not, for me, about winning. If I do win, I want it to be because other people enjoyed my story so much that they voted for it; if I voted for myself, that wouldn't be the case, and that's why I never do. And, yes, that means that in Best Overall, that very, very close category that Pam has referred to, I voted for a 'competitor' story. But then, regardless of the fact that I would never have voted for my own in any case, I looked at the competitors and I think I felt that all of them were so way, way more deserving than mine that there was no way I could not have voted for one of them instead of mine; and since at least two, if not three, of those Best Overall nominees have joined my personal Top Ten Favourite Fics of All Time there was no way that I was going to abstain in that category!

But I reiterate that this is my personal position on the matter and, as Pam has said, there are no rules from K-Com on the matter. Vote for yourself always, abstain in the category, vote for the best story even if it's your own, never vote for yourself - that's your business, as far as I'm concerned.


Wendy

Wow. The answers to this poll are fascinating!

I also voted for the 'wouldn't vote in that category' option. That is, after all, what I have done in the past -- when I have been organised, and have actually read enough, to vote at all, that is!

But, you know what? I've always felt guilty about taking that approach! You see, I have always seen that as being a rather selfish option.

I tell myself that the awards are just for fun -- and I believe that. I really do. I tell myself that it is enough of an honour to be nominated. I believe that, too. (That is doubly true this year, what with the nomination for best overall and everything! )

But... and here is the big but. I would never vote for myself. I'm still not sure about my logic here, though. I've always put it down to a natural modesty or diffidence or... something. However, if politicians can vote for themselves, why shouldn't I?

I don't know. It just seems wrong somehow.

It has never happened, but, in my truly self-indulgent moments, I have been known to daydream about winning that elusive Kerth.

(Then again, I am getting increasingly amused by and proud of my string of nominations-without-wins. Why would I want to tarnish such a good record? There is a curious satisfaction to be had in playing to 'lose', something I discovered years and years ago, soon after my next door neighbour was given a Totopoly game. He was very competitive, so it annoyed him no end when I was quite happy not beating him! After he realised that I was happiest when I lost in the most spectacular way possible, he stopped playing with me. )

Anyway... Back to the topic...

Not voting at all, then, is for me some kind of a compromise, and one that I've always felt a uncomfortable about exercising. I won't vote for myself, but by not voting for someone else, I'm not shooting myself in the foot.

Chris <amazed at having bared her soul and revealed her dirty little secret to the world in this fashion.>

Chris wrote:
I meant to explain in my earlier post why I felt that this is different from voting for office. If someone is running for office, that person is declaring that they believe they are the best person to do that job. Therefore they have to vote for themselves; if they vote for their opponent(s), why bother running? Why should anyone else think that s/he is the best person for the job?

With the Kerths, I'm not 'running' for a Kerth. I haven't put myself forward, asserting that I am the best person for the award/my story is the most deserving recipient. It's not a decision about who is the best person/story for the position, but a judgement by fanfic readers of which story they feel was the best in the category. At least, that's how I see it!


Wendy

This will be my first Kerth vote, so I'm agonizing over what to do. I certainly will not be voting for myself or for my own stories, only because I have nagging doubts about whether my stories are any good, though I'm pleased others like them. But I haven't yet decided if I'll vote for others in the same category or simply abstain.

I'm leaning toward abstaining from voting in the categories I'm nominated for, just like Lynn is.

This is a fascinating thread. I'm just curious - would people like there to be a rule on this from K-Com (for example, that authors should abstain in categories they're nominated in)? Or is everyone happy for the status quo to continue?

I'm agnostic myself. But I would be interested in hearing what people think.


Wendy

Edit: having just seen Carol's post, I want to clarify that I meant in future, not for this year! Plus I'm not on K-Com and have no input whatsoever to their rules. I'm just curious as to how people feel about this, that's all.

What everyone else has said. Exactly! <g>
I've mostly abstained although I did vote for another story in one category in which I was nominated.

However, I was tempted to vote for the story in each category which had the best "Bill Henderson". <g>

Wendy asked:
Is it too late now, since many of us have voted?
Would it be an easy matter for Erin and KathyM to adjust the ballots of those nominees who have already voted?

I would really have liked that rule because it would have saved some agonizing. And I would be pleased were it implemented now.

c

Well, I'm not an author, but I would hate to see a rule like that imposed. I think it should remain up to each author to vote whatever way works best for him/her.

And maybe it's partially because this is the first year that I'm helping Erin tally the votes, and I hate seeing blank spaces in some of the categories...

I don't want to speak for Erin, but from my POV it would be easy enough if K-Comm passed this rule and wanted to implement it now. However, I would assume that if it were to take effect, it would be for the future.

Kathy

<<Let's see, math never being my strong suit, but if RL abstains...and then LynnM, yes..good, good...that just leaves Sara...wonder if she'll see this poll, could email her the link for insurance...and Elle...and I'm thinking the field is clear...must be a way to work this!>>

No! A joke!

I voted, and I did just take the easy out and abstain in any category I happened to be in.

Not sure that was the best way to go, to be honest, but I didn't want to wrestle with it. Sweet and simple low-angst voting. Waffy, even.

CC

Exactly!

Should remain so, too. Having a rule against voting for yourself is not a good idea at all. And having K-Com adjust votes would certainly lead to many, many problems. There are those who would speculate negatively about such adjusting. Haven't we had enough squabbling over the Kerths already?


I totally agree!

SQD

I'm not a writer, but here's my opinion:

Should there be a rule? NO.

Would I vote for my own story? I don't know.

If I really did think my story was best, I think I just might vote for it. I'm not sure. If I didn't vote for it, I'd abstain.

If I felt another story was better than mine and deserved to win (which is actually a more likely scenario), I'd definitely vote for it.

- Vicki