“What Color is Your Parachute?”–now in its 40th anniversary edition–was self published by Richard Bolles on December 1, 1970, using the services of a local San Francisco copy shop.

“What Color is Your Parachute?” is the best-selling job-hunting and career-changing book in the world.  Even when we’re not in a recession, it is estimated that twenty thousand people buy the book each month and there are more than 8 million copies in print.

Its first commercial edition was published in November 1972, by Ten Speed Press in Berkeley, Calif. It began appearing on best-seller lists in 1974, has been revised and updated annually since 1975.