Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Walter S. Zapotoczny Jr.


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete - fails WP:GNG because no sources can be found about the subject; fails WP:AUTHOR as works are not widely cited, and fails WP:SCHOLAR for the same reason.  K rakatoa    K atie   04:55, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

Walter S. Zapotoczny Jr.

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Self-published author: his 2009 noel is in two libraries only according to worldcat; the other two books are not in worldcat at all. Nothing else there seems remotely notable. Kirkus is no longer a reliable source for notability of self-published books--at present, one pays for a review.  DGG ( talk ) 01:31, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:48, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of History-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:48, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Authors-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:48, 26 June 2013 (UTC)


 * I reject the proposed deletion of this page for the following reasons: 1. Just because someone self-publishes a book does not make his non-credible. 2. While Kirkus is a paid reviewer, they have written many bad reviews of books. They did not have to give his book a positive review. 3. The MWSA review is not a paid review. 4. Do a scholar search and you will find many of the author's articles used by students from many academic institutions. 5. Since the magazine articles written by this author are for print, a reference link could not be made. Aaylan58 (talk) 02:45, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Comment One good review for pay from Kirkus does not make for notability. Nor does the MWSA review, as Zapotoczny is a member of this relatively small association, who would be expected to review any work produced by any of their members.  I did a Google Scholar search on Zapotoczny and what I find is a list of articles that he has written and published on his own website, with evidence that one of his articles has been cited in a significant fashion one time.  I do not find evidence of Zapotoczny as a significant scholar, nor as a significant novelist.  WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 12:53, 26 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Delete - fails WP:GNG and WP:AUTHOR. Not much else to say about it. Listing more works by the author won't help to confer notability. What we need is coverage of the author. Stalwart 111  06:19, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Delete Fails WP:GNG, WP:AUTHOR and WP:SCHOLAR. Books are self-published and not reviewed in any meaningful venue.  Articles appear to be self-published (all exist as PDFs on the author's own website, but none appear to have been published anywhere).  Evidence of contributions to World Book Encyclopedia has not been provided or found.  Other article credits (which have subsequently been removed by the article's original author) do not provide evidence of notability as these are all small, limited circulation publications, or eHow, which accepts article submissions from just about anyone.  WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 13:16, 26 June 2013 (UTC)


 * It appears that you have only conducted a superficial examination. The author's 16 World Book Encyclopedia articles can only be viewed by World Book members. Suggest joining World Book and looking at his articles. The author has provided links to the magazine articles on his website. Recommend going to his website -- www.wzaponline.com (portfolio/magazine articles) -- to look at the articles copied from the magazines. World War II History Magazine and Army Aviation Magazine both have large circulations. I found more than one occurrence of his essays being using by college students, e.g., U.S. Naval Post Graduate School, University of Guelph, Florida State University, American University, etc. Comments about the author's essays have been made by several organizations, e.g., History Teachers Association of Australia, Michigan War Studies Group (University of Michigan), UK History Teacher's Forum, etc.  Suggest you expand your search. Once again, just because someone self publishes does not mean they are not notable. Look at Hugh C. Howley and E. L. James, for example. Aaylan58 (talk) 12:53, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Yeah, again, listing the articles he has written (or linking to his website where he has listed them) is of no value in terms of notability. There are many, many freelance writers who have had articles published in many notable magazines. Many editors here would likely fall into that category. But that doesn't make them notable. Being referenced by colleges and high schools (in curriculum) might help, but we would still need an independent reliable source to verify that claim. If comments have been made about his work then, again, we need to be able to verify that with reliable sources. Simply being mentioned by someone one time is probably not going to be enough to substantiate notability. Have a read of WP:GNG and then come back an put a case on that basis. Stalwart 111  13:16, 27 June 2013 (UTC)


 * References by colleges and high schools. I found these easily:


 * 1.	American University: U.S. Military Thought in the Information Age. Zapotoczny's essay "America's Paradoxical Trinity: WWII and Vietnam" is listed as required reading. Link: http://www.american.edu/sis/usfp/upload/Fall-2011-SIS-419-049_Gerstein.pdf


 * 2.	University of Guelph. Economics 3620. Assignment to read Zapotoczny's essay " Political Consequences of the Black Death." Link: http://www.coursehero.com/file/6749965/Assignment-1Econ3620Winter2012/


 * 3.	Thesis for the Naval Post Graduate School references Zapotoczny's article on Piracy. Link: http://edocs.nps.edu/npspubs/scholarly/theses/2010/Sep/10Sep_Arky.pdf


 * 4.	Immaculate Heart High School Advanced Placement European History us Zapotoczny's essay on "Political Consequences of the Black Death." As a reading reference. Link: http://www.immaculateheart.org/1710108522443457/lib/1710108522443457/AP_Euro_History_Syllabus_KAnderson.pdf


 * 5.	Saylor.org. Asian and Pacific Politics lists Zapotoczny's essay "The Rape of Nanking: Reasons and Recriminations" in their reading list. Link: http://www.saylor.org/courses/polsc322/
 * Aaylan58 (talk) 16:26, 27 June 2013 (UTC)


 * 6.     Dickenson College. Essay from Clio Journal/wikispaces. Link: http://cliojournal.wikispaces.com/The+Rape+of+Nanking


 * 7. Listing of some of Wikipedia pages referencing his work:
 * a. Nazi-Soviet Population Transfers
 * b. 102 Motorized Division: Trento
 * c. Expulsion of Poles by Germany
 * d. Volksgemeninschaft
 * e. Young Turk Revolution
 * f. Nazi Crimes Against Ethnic Poles
 * g. League of German Girls


 * This is just a partial list of the references I found. Aaylan58 (talk) 17:13, 27 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Yeah, again, none of that is significant coverage. You really do need to read WP:GNG. The study of books by educational institutions can help in some cases relating to the texts themselves (see WP:NBOOK) but it doesn't do mich for the author himself unless such a list substantiates that he/she has made a significant contribution to their field. Just being included in bibliographies or "further reading" lists isn't enough because it tells us nothing about the person himself, which is what we need for a biographical article. Basically, unless you can demonstrate significant coverage in multiple reliable sources, a keep case here is going to be a struggle. Stalwart 111  00:39, 28 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Delete per WP:GNG, WP:AUTHOR and WP:SCHOLAR. We need sources about an individual to have an article about an individual.  Bibliographic references are insufficient.  Gamaliel  ( talk ) 18:25, 27 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Keep per WP:GNG, WP:AUTHOR. Meets Creative Professional, #1 criteria in WP:AUTHOR. Also meets General notability guideline in WP:GNG. Aaylan58 (talk) 17:24, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately not, as explained in detail above. You've made no real attempt to substatiate that the subject meets any of those inclusion guidelines and simply stating as much does not make it so. Stalwart 111  23:42, 30 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Weak delete. I trust DGG, as a retired librarian, friend, and fellow long-time user here.  However, to be fair to the newbie, I also looked at some of the possible sources online.  There is nothing at JSTOR. Oddly, there are tens of thousdands possible online sources, but many of them, such as what appears to be his father's obituary, just have passing mention of the fils, or are primary sources.  On the other hand, in his favor, one of the few ways to evaluate scholars is by how often and how they are cited in papers and course syllabii, such as been cited above (in the comments by Aaylan58).  I think a well-referenced article could be created in the future as he gains more notability, but this is not it.  As in the past, it is very difficult to evaluate independent scholars, so those articles either hide in plain sight or get deleted. Bearian (talk) 18:33, 3 July 2013 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.