User talk:Fractal Figment

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Hello, Fractal Figment, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions.

I noticed that one of the first articles you edited appears to be dealing with a topic with which you may have a conflict of interest. In other words, you may find it difficult to write about that topic in a neutral and objective way, because you are, work for, or represent, the subject of that article. Your recent contributions may have already been undone for this very reason.

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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, visit the Teahouse, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{Help me}} before the question. Again, welcome! Jimfbleak - talk to me? 09:21, 14 June 2024 (UTC)

Hi Jimfbleak--could you please identify which article I edited that you believe I have a conflict of interest on? I read the conflict of interest rules and thought I had successfully avoided creating any conflicts. Nobody is paying me to edit and I've avoided editing the page that describes my employer.

Thanks,

Fractal_Figment Fractal Figment (talk) 12:06, 14 June 2024 (UTC)

Ah, I see it was my draft article for World on the Brink, a book that I read. I have no conflict of interest with this book. However, I am completely open to feedback and edits on how the draft page for the book could be improved. Thank you, --FF Fractal Figment (talk) 22:14, 14 June 2024 (UTC)

Reply

Thank you for responding to my COI query above.

When you write about a book, you must provide independent verifiable sources to enable us to verify the facts and show that they meet the notability guidelines for books. Sources that are not acceptable include those linked to the author or an associated organisation, press releases, YouTube, IMDB, social media and other sites that can be self-edited, blogs, websites of unknown or non-reliable provenance, and sites that are just reporting what the person claims or interviewing them. Note that references should be in-line so we can tell what fact each is supporting, and should not be bare urls.

• You had just two references, one of which is the publisher's sales page for the book, hardly an independent third-party source
• I can't see any facts that suggest that this book meets the notability criteria linked above, and you give no facts to confirm that it's national (US?) bestselling.

• You must write in a non-promotional tone. Articles must be neutral and encyclopaedic, with verifiable facts, not opinions or reviews.

• I appreciate that you have to describe the book, but you conduct your own lengthy and detailed review of the book. In my view, your second and third paragraphs would have been more than adequate. Having included only one independent review of the book in your article looks a bit selective

• There shouldn't be any url links in the article, only in the "References" or "External links" sections.
• You must not copy text from elsewhere. Copyrighted text is not allowed in Wikipedia, as outlined in this policy. That applies even to pages created by you or your organisation, unless they state clearly and explicitly that the text is public domain. We require that text posted here can be used, modified and distributed for any purpose, including commercial; text is considered to be copyright unless explicitly stated otherwise. There are ways to donate copyrighted text to Wikipedia, as described here; please note that simply asserting on the talk page that you are the owner of the copyright, or you have permission to use the text, isn't sufficient.

• I didn't check.

I've written a few articles on (mainly old) books, and I feel that you have concentrated on the content without showing us why the book is notable, which is necessary for it to have an article on Wikipedia, and you need real facts with better sources than a sales page. Before attempting to write an article again, please make sure that the topic meets the notability criteria linked above, and check that you can find independent third party sources.

If you can explain how this book meets the notability guidelines, I'm happy to help it move forward, but that's the first hurdle Jimfbleak - talk to me? 08:10, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

Thanks, that's all helpful feedback, especially about the notability guidelines and not citing the publisher's page. The book is certainly well-known within foreign policy circles and Dmitri Alperovitch is well-connected within the U.S. foreign policy community. But I will research whether the book meets the specific criteria you outlined.

Once I've done that, should I reply again here or just resubmit the article with the notability criteria included in the Talk page?

Fractal Figment (talk) 03:09, 20 August 2024 (UTC)