In case you haven’t noticed, Apple has released yet another revolutionary device called the iPad — and of it’s many uses, it’s primarily a device for consuming content.

You might think, “what’s so revolutionary about that?”

Not only does it go beyond what the Amazon provided with ebooks, it enables people to consume web content, listen to music, and access the apps. For writers, perhaps the most exciting news is the iBookstore — and the ability to stock the shelves with your book.

Forget self-publishing; that’s old news.

A while back I wrote about Writing Your Book on the iPad, but today I’d like to explore a more likely use for the iPad.

Sell Your Novel at the iBookstore

With the help of Apple’s iTunes Connect program, writers can now publish their work, thereby making it available for sale to the public on one of the largest, most popular platforms available.

Also, as MacLife first reported, “In addition to these requirements you will need to have a US Tax ID, a valid iTunes Store account with a credit card on file, and an Intel-based Mac running OS X 10.5 or later.”

Get started here.

Where Do You Stand on Self-publishing at the iBookstore?

Self-publishing has always been a bit of a controversial subject — it simply doesn’t require any sort of approval, as does the work published with the major houses, so many feel (similar to blogging) the quality isn’t as up to par with the quality from major publishers.

That said, Apple just invited every writer to bypass the never-ending rejection letters, constant hunt for an agent, and other supplemental involved with writing. Wouldn’t it be something to be able to focus on writing instead of marketing yourself?

Personally, I feel there’s room for both — work published by Random House and work published by Aunt Lisa. And while some might think this deludes the accomplishment of “getting published,” there’s still a difference between having a book published and set on the shelf of Barnes and Noble and having a book published and placed on the digital shelf at the iBookstore.

With so many major publishers on board with the iBookstore, who knows, maybe publishers will look to offer successful authors at the iBookstore print deals.

So, how do you feel about this?