By Hannah Johnson

Over the last few years as self publishing has gained more traction among readers, booksellers and the publishing industry in general, self publishing has been seen as competition to traditional publishing.

Our feature story today about Droemer Knaur’s online writing platform Neobooks is one example of how self publishing and traditional publishing can actually be complementary to one another. Neobooks is, essentially, a self publishing platform that offers authors both the chance to sell their work online as well as the possibility to get their work published by a traditional publisher. Authors have a chance at more exposure, and publishers have another source of new talent.

Could this type of cooperation be a first step towards a more inclusive publishing industry, one in which traditional publishers and self-published authors look for ways to work together?

We wrote earlier this week about new business models in the publishing industry, a topic which is gaining in importance as the market transitions to digital.

Do you think that self publishers and traditional publishers will begin to work together in the future, or are their goals too different?

Tell us what you think in the comments!