In 2011 the publisher of one of my books, Enchantment, could not fill an order for 500 ebook copies. Because of this experience, I self-published my next book, What the Plus!, and learned first-hand that self-publishing is a complex, confusing, and idiosyncratic process. As Steve Jobs said, “There must be a better way.”

This is the text of a baccalaureate/graduation speech that I’ve given to several high schools and colleges. In this case, it’s the version from 6/11/95 for Palo Alto High School.

Speaking to you today marks a milestone in my life. I am 40 years old. 22 years ago, when I was in your seat, I never, ever thought I would be 40 years old.

My latest book, APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur–How to Publish a Book,  goes on sale today for one day. The regular price is $9.99. Today’s price through the Kindle Daily Deal is $1.99. 

If you’re interested in writing and publishing, please check it out here. 

Amazon start selling the paperback edition of my latest book, APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur. APE explains how to publish a book by breaking the process down into three stages:

Mari Smith and I are going to have a rocking time explaining the seven hottest social-media business trends in a FREE webinar. Sign up here:

http://bit.ly/7_smtrends

See you on March 28th!

Take this quick test:

• Does the pronunciation of Steve Jobs’s last name rhyme with robes or robs?

A long time ago I was a revolutionary at Apple. My job title was “software evangelist.” My responsibility was to evangelize Macintosh to software developers. Later my title was “chief evangelist,” and my responsibility was to evangelize Macintosh to anyone who wanted to increase productivity and creativity.