I write my share of articles here on things I happen to be interested in. A number of times the topics I've chosen to write about have zero English language Google hits and no coverage on the Web in any language.
Yet an article of mine has never ever been submitted to AfD. No-one has even made the mere suggestion that an article I've written should be deleted. I think there might be three reasons for this:
1. People trust that an experienced editor is submitting articles on reasonably worthy topics. 2. I cite my sources. 3. I write about old stuff.
I think the third reason may actually be the most important one. People are worried about non-notable companies using Wikipedia to advertise their stuff. No-one is worried about abuse of Wikipedia to promote obscure 11th century runic inscriptions.
So, I think the idea runs like this: "If it happened 1000 years ago and someone still cares enough about it to write an article then it's probably notable enough to keep."
Thus I am spared AfD battles even though my hobbies can be just as obscure and specialized as anyone else's. I feel for people interested in stuff like webcomics which happens to be popular today and is thus subject to much more scrutiny.
Regards, Haukur