THE BRAKES ARE ON THE LEFT!

That's the left side of your brain, the one that does all the logical and analytic thinking? Please engage those brakes. Okay, now everyone off the Panic Bus. Single file please, so nobody gets hurt.

And you people over there, standing on that platform! That's the Troll Train you're about to climb onto. Nasty, dangerous thing, that. Step away from the edge of the platform, slowly, and come on over here with the rest of us. I'm just going to take a nice seat here on the tailgate of the Blogging Bandwagon, and tell you my thoughts on the 2013 Book Ban by the Great and Powerful Zon.

Okay, okay, pipe down! Everyone take a deeeeeeep breath and slowly, but steadily, engage the left side of your brain. Let's look at this with a little less mob-mentality panic, and a little more logic, alright?

Now maybe I'm seeing this from a different perspective, just because I was in internet purgatory when the whole thing started, but since I've been back I've seen more haphazard shouting in text than I'm used to on social networking. That's saying a lot, since Facebook is more often a minefield of drama and trolls than a cozy home away from home, lately.

However, it seems to me that a little logical thinking could go a long way here. Here are my thoughts, all neatly ordered in numbered points.

1. This article from back in April estimates that around 60% of the Amazon market is self-published books.
(http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/self-publishing-grabs-huge-market-share-from-traditional-publishers/)
That's a modest estimate, and doesn't even include small press and Indie groups, but it's still a huge part of their stock. Nook and Kobo? Not so much. So, really, it wouldn't do much damage to Nook and Kobo to pull all the Indie books out there, altogether, but Amazon? Amazon would be cutting their financial throats if they pulled all of the Indie books, because of a few dozen authors who flout the rules.

2. Because it really is a few authors behaving badly who started this whole snowballing disaster. If they'd simply tagged their books appropriately for content, (because honestly, who the hell wants to have an erotica pop up while searching children's books for their toddler?), and stayed within the rules and standards, none of this would be an issue. I'm not putting the blame totally on the authors, either. If the Great and Powerful Zon would just deign to make the limitations clear, it might be easier to spot those who are brazenly flouting the rules. However, their claims to publish nothing with "pornography or offensive depictions of graphic sexual acts" sound pretty lame, when 50 Shades is still raking in the money for them.

3. And that's another thing. Erotica is a huge seller right now, and Amazon knows it. You don't honestly think that in the grab for the almighty dollar, they're going to cut off lard-filled feeding tube that is the erotica market, do you? Well do you? That'd be a mighty stupid business move on their part! Aside from obviously illegal content, when it comes to sex, one reader's vanilla is another's OMFG! So, some clarification may be in the offing, but I highly doubt a complete sweeping ban is.

4. The books that are being pulled on Amazon, are being pulled for review. Nowhere have I seen anything saying that those books which pass the review won't go right back up on Amazon, afterward. HOWEVER, if everyone starts re-titling and re-uploading their books, it's an excellent way to force the company into a corner where it IS forced to pull all Indie books until a full review can be done. So how's about, (yes, I realize that isn't a phrase recognized by the dictionary), we keep the brakes on the Panic Bus, and try not to throw a knee-jerk wrench into an already complicated situation?

5. Boycotting Amazon, or returning books, in protest? Sure, the Great and Powerful Zon will feel a bite, but who's going to get hurt? The authors, that's who. Amazon is a multi-million, maybe even multi-billion, dollar company, that sells far more than just books. They can take the financial hit in the short-term. Those authors who count on the royalties to feed their families or keep their heads above water? Yeah, they're not going to do so well if everyone starts returning their books. Not to mention that it would just gum up the works even more, and slow down the review process.

My concerns? Yes, I do have them.

I worry that the Troll Train will take off in its usual overloaded, half-cocked, malicious way, and people will start "reporting" every book they lay eyes on.

I worry that the slippery slope of censorship will create an avalanche of widespread book banning.

I worry that books which contain instances of abuse, incest, rape and other very real issues will be banned offhand, without care or consideration of the context, (as in books meant to address the wrongness of the issues), and hundreds of authors will get unnecessarily slapped down.

At the moment, however, my greatest worry is that the mob mentality itself will cause such massive confusion and delay, that the existing issue will become a full-on disaster and implode the entire indie book industry.

Just think about that a minute, before you climb back on the Panic Bus. Please?