Thousands already following to stay up to date with the latest releases

Sep 15, 2011 08:30 GMT  ·  By

A Twitter account has been created for the iBookstore so that Apple customers can discover, access and download new titles immediately as they become available.

Those who had already been following Apple on Twitter were notified yesterday that the digital distribution service for iOS eBooks now has its own, official Twitter account.

“Welcome to the Apple #iBookstore on Twitter. Follow us to discover new releases, exclusive book offers, and more,” said Apple.

At the time of this writing, the iBookstore had no less than 11,562 followers. Not surprisingly, whoever is behind the account is following over 130 authors, journalists, and all sorts of creative people with ties to the media industry, including freelancers.

According to the technology giant headquartered at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California, “The iBookstore, included in Apple’s free iBooks app, is the best way to browse, buy and read books on your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.”

In March, this year, Apple said, “[the] iBookstore offers ebooks from more than 2,500 publishers in more than 20 categories, including Mysteries & Thrillers, Biographies & Memoirs, Cookbooks, Children’s & Teen, Humor, Romance, Business and Travel.” Since then, those figures are likely to have increased a bit.

To access the iBookstore, iOS device owners need the free iBooks application from Apple. Users start with the bookshelf to buy and read their titles.

“With a tap, it flips around to reveal the iBookstore, where you’ll find over 200,000 books and counting — many of them free,” Apple explains on the iBooks marketing page.

Customers can download full-page illustrated children’s books, cookbooks, art books etc., as well as Enhanced Books which may contain audio, and video, or entire libraries of photos.

The iBooks app and the iBookstore are mostly targeted at the iPad with its 9.7-inch display.

“Read one page at a time in portrait. Or turn iPad on its side and view two pages at once,” says Apple. “Either way you look at it, the bright LED-backlit display brings crisp and colorful detail to every page, without using illumination.”