Favorite EU Author

The reminders were posted after voting started, and therefore aren't valid- in election laws, it's standard to decide the winner based on laws in place at the time that voting began- if that were not the case, people would be able to invent rules that would make sure their candidate won.

 

My "Favorite EU Author" is Timothy Zahn.

 

In case any one missed it on the first page, my vote is for Zahn.

 

Tim Zahn, your only man.

Yours

~Ross

 

Zahn, definately.

 

Zahn, father of the EU Universe!

 

I know there is only 10 choices in polls, but you shoulda put in Zahn Genghis.

For future pollsters who are going to be doing the same thing let me just put down here my 5 fave EU authors

1.)Stackpole

2.)Allston

3.)Zahn

4.)Keyes

5.)Daley

and woe to any fave author poll that doesn't have any of these esteemed writers on it.

 

Where's Zahn on your list?

 

Lordban...
"Genghis12, you're treading on a dangerous path (17 people on this thread flamed by your last post)."

The last post wasn't a flame by me - it was actually an observation made by you. That is, 17 people posted something "incorrectly" even after multiple clarifications.

I agree with Dev, one has to use the rules in place. I should note that the automated poll is just that - a poll based on the choices given. Write-ins do not figure into the poll at all (if you don't believe me, you can double-check to see if the poll results include write-ins - they don't) Therefore, they do not count in this poll, according to the results of the poll.

That people, almost exclusively Zahn fans as you pointed out, perhaps aren't able to understand that goes a long way to explaining a few things about his fan base.

 

The numerous write-in votes for Zahn, despite the attempts to silence them, proves something about Zahn's popularity.

It's an open forum, all are free to post their opinions.
My opinion is that Zahn is my favorite EU author.
All the Zahnless polls in the world will not change this..

 

I view any poll that seems to Skew the results in favor of the creators preferences to be invalid. My favorite is Zahn and for me, no other reply is possible.

 

Mariah Jade--

How do you know that the ten authors listed reflect Genghis12's personal preferences?

Moreover, how could any poll with only 10 choices that doesn't include Jude Watson, David Wolverton, Ryder Wyndham, James Luceno, Michael Reaves, Todd Strasser, Terry Brooks, Greg Bear, Anne Crispin, L. Neil Smith, Brian Daley, William Dietz, Troy Denning, John Whitman, Alan Dean Foster, Donald Glut, Steve Perry, James Kahn, K. W. Jeter, Kathy Tyers, Paul & Hollace Davis, Mike Stackpole, Aaron Allston, Timothy Zahn, Kevin Anderson, Barbara Hambly, Vonda McIntyre, Michael Kube-McDowell, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Roger MacBride Allen, Nancy Richardson, Rebecca Moesta, R. A. Salvatore, Greg Keyes, Dan Wallace, Ann Margaret Lewis, Andy Mangles, or Bill Smith not have skewed results?

How could any poll that includes only about one-quarter of the possible options not have skewed, invalid results?

And that's only counting authors of adult and juvenile novels and Essential Guides, like this poll does (Jude Watson has written only juvenile novels, and Dan Wallace has written Essential Guides, along with some short stories). Include authors of comic books and short stories, and this list will expand by a few dozen more.

But that's OK. You're right. None of these favorite author polls in this forum have any validity, regardless of who they include. All of them are skewed simply based on whom they include, regardless of the motivation for including or excluding certain authors. None of these polls offer the complete list of possibilities. They can't even come close! With only ten choices, they must exclude 75% of book authors, and around 85-90% of all writers.

Moreover, none of these polls are remotely scientific. They don't even represent a random sampling of TFN Literature Forum members (no participant was randomly selected), let alone a random sample of all Star Wars literature fans (TFN Lit Forum participants are ALSO a self-selected group, so poll participants are a self-selected subset of a self-selected group).

So none of these polls (on ANY subject) are representative. None of them are valid. None of them are reliable. All of the results are skewed by the ten-item limit.
These polls are curiosities only, and accurate measures only of the participants' preferences among the authors listed. That's the only valid information you can take away from ANY of these polls.

 

Blah, blah, blah and yada, yada, yada.

I know the reading comprehension around here has sunk to even greater depths, but the poll question was "Favorite EU Author". Three words. Really simple. Ten choices were offered in the poll. If your favorite wasn't one of the 10, the rules do not preclude you from writing in your own candidate.

Zahn wins even when he's purposely excluded. Muhahahaha!!!!!!!

You crybabies want some cheese with that whine?

 

Dewlanna--

The numerous write-in votes for Zahn...

Unfortunately, nothing prevents "write-in" voters from choosing among the ten options anyway.

I've noticed that my question about Greg Bear has been listed as a write-in vote by a couple counters. Since I also participated in the poll, they counted my vote twice. If that can happen with my vote, it can happen with the votes of other people.

That problem of double-voting (which can also happen with people who have multiple screen names) is another reason why these polls are not reliable.

...despite the attempts to silence them...

I haven't observed any person trying to silence any other person. Indeed, early on, Genghis12 said:

In any case, keep posting your favorite authors, it's interesting nonetheless.

You continue with...

...proves something about Zahn's popularity.

Write-in votes don't increase the validity or reliability of the poll. So they don't really prove anything.

For all that, I suspect that you are right when you say that Tim Zahn is still the most popular Star Wars author. I remain dubious that he'd be listed as the first choice as often as he would have been a few years ago, but I still suspect that he'd be first.

I simply find these polls to be unreliable, invalid, and skewed indicators of Tim Zahn's popularity, or the popularity of any other author.

 

This poll is a valid response to the question of Zahn popularity among Lit forum posters. Since this poll was revived by G12's link in the latest topic to suggest that Zahn is losing favor among Lit fans, the overwhelming Zahn support seen here has validity for this forum.

As for polls leaving off 75% of the authors, there is nothing to prevent K. K. Rusch fans or L. Neil Smith fans from casting a write-in vote for their favorite. Ani's post of 5/8 1:14pm "What about Greg Bear? " could be considered a write-in vote.


What would give someone the impression that this poll has G12's favorites?
Perhaps this statement from Genghis:". . .. Simply, there was not enough room to include all possible choices - so only the best choices were given. I should note that opinions of "best" will probably differ from person to person. "
One should be able to assume from this account that the author's listed here are G12's idea of the "best" authors. With most people the "best" authors probably include that person's favorite authors, but that may be assuming a bit too much in Genghis's case.

 

Actually voting for one of the listed choices and then adding a write-in makes Zahn's lead over other authors even more impressive.
Had Zahn been on this list, in place of say, Dan Wallace, Greg Keyes, or Jude Watson (2 vote apiece), then Stackpole, Tyers or Allston (just to name 3) would have gotten fewer votes.
I voted for KT, but if Zahn had been on the list, he would have gotten my vote, not Kathy.

Ani, sorry about thinking your question about Bear was a write-in vote.

Of course as polls go, all these polls are totally unscientific. But they DO represent the opinions of the frequent posters of this forum, which is what I think they are intended to do.

 

Question asked about Genghis's personal preferences, question answered. Thanks, Dewlanna.

Actually voting for one of the listed choices and then adding a write-in makes Zahn's lead over other authors even more impressive.

Maybe, maybe not. I'm not disputing Tim Zahn's popularity--and again, I must emphasize, I LIKE his books and his writing just fine.

But you guys sound like you're campaigning to win an election. Witness Jades Fire's informative last post. No other author, whether included in the poll or not, has the benefit of such an organized effort. By itself, that one-sided campaign will skew the write-in results.

I also want to note that the competitiveness among fans of different authors displayed in this thread does not appear to extend to the authors themselves. In the JediNet chat Friday night, I asked R. A. Salvatore:

What is your opinion of Tim Zahn's contribution to Star Wars?

This was Bob's response:

Wow, where to even begin?

Tim stands like a giant....he set the pace for one of the most successful novel runs in history. I've met him only a couple of times - quite a gracious man. When I think of people like Tim and Kevin Anderson and Mike Stackpole (and so many others), I'm truly grateful that I was given the chance to join in their playground.

And heck, I know first-hand how much Mara Jade means to some people (ducking). To write a character that has so touched so many people - well, that's worth a big salute.

 

No other author, whether included in the poll or not, has the benefit of such an organized effort. By itself, that one-sided campaign will skew the write-in results.

You think this is an organized effort?
Nope, just a response by individual Zahn fans to G12's taunting in the "Is Timothy Zahns stature in the Star Wars community fading?" topic

 

Dewlanna--

You think this is an organized effort?

Nope, just a response by individual Zahn fans to G12's taunting in the "Is Timothy Zahns stature in the Star Wars community fading?" topic.

No, I don't think that this is an "organized" (not a good word choice) effort. I think, as you evidently do, that Zahn fans share a common motivation to "write in" votes and cheer their man on that fans of other authors probably lack. That common motivation may skew the "write-in" results, which was my main point.

 

Everyone has some motive or another. In a large enough poll, these would cancel each other out. In this Internet poll, that's unlikely. However, when we look at more than one of the Internet polls, Zahn constantly comes out near the top- the exact number of fans is unclear, but it's obvious that people do like his books.

 

How can you forget Zahn. He created the jedi twins, introduced Mara Jade and Karrde, brought Mara and Luke together, etc. He is by far my favorite.

 

Oh my, I do miss a lot when I spend the day at the pool with the kids. Thanks Dewlanna for answering the personal preference question. Point well made. If the Tenth position on this poll had used the option of "other", I would have been less inclined to feel that it had other motives than the stated one. The other option would have made all EU authors part of the equation.

The only "motive" I had for picking Zahn was his ability to give me a quality story. If others feel the same, so be it.

 

Can't decide between Stackpole or Allston.

 

Out of the authors given, allston, but Zahn is one of my faves

 

Gee Ghengis, your anti-Zahn bias is a bit glaring isn't it. Too bad you are in the minority in your own poll.