The Business Book You Never Finished: Get the Useful Part in 20 Minutes
Most business books get bought, started and left on the nightstand. These 4 prompts have Claude Code read the book for you, pull out what matters for YOUR business, and quiz you so it sticks. Only from the book, with the page for every point.
You bought the book. You read the first 3 chapters. It's been on your nightstand ever since.
The good part is usually in there. You just never got to it, and now you can't remember what the first 3 chapters said either.
Claude Code can read the whole thing in a few minutes. These 4 prompts pull out what matters for your business, with the page for every point, so you can check it.
Step 1. Get the book into a folder
Make a new folder on your computer called Books. Put the book in it as a file you own: a PDF, an ebook you can save as a file, or a text file.
No file? Your own notes and highlights work too. So does a plain text file you type the key parts into.
Open the Claude desktop app, switch from Chat to Code at the top, and pick that folder.
Step 2. Paste the 4 prompts, one at a time
Run these in order, in the same chat. Fill in the book's file name in the first one.
Prompt 1. The whole book on one page.
Read [book file name] in this folder, the whole thing. Then give me the book on one page, in plain words: - The one big idea, in 2 lines. - The 5 to 7 main points, in order, one short paragraph each. - After every point, the page or chapter it comes from. Rules: only use what's in the book. If the book doesn't say something, don't add it. If a part of the file is hard to read, tell me which part.
Prompt 2. 3 ideas I can use this week.
Now pick the 3 ideas from this book I could actually use this week. Small, real actions, not big theory. For each one: what the book says, the page, and what I'd do this week to try it.
Prompt 3. Apply it to my business.
Now apply this book to my business. First ask me 3 short questions about my business, ONE at a time, and wait for each answer. Then tell me the one idea from this book that would help my business most right now, why, and the first 3 steps to start. Use only the book and my answers. Never make up facts about my business.
Prompt 4. Quiz me.
Quiz me on this book so it sticks. 5 short questions, ONE at a time. Wait for my answer each time, then tell me plainly what I got right, what I missed, and the page to reread.
Step 3. Save it so you never lose it
Save what we did in a file called [book name] NOTES.md in this folder: the one page summary, the 3 ideas for this week, the plan for my business, and the pages to reread.
Next time you buy a book, drop it in the same folder and run the same prompts. Your Books folder turns into a library of everything you've learned.
The limitations you should know
- Use books you own. Don't upload files you got from a pirate site.
- Some ebooks are locked and can't be saved as a file. Use your highlights or notes instead.
- Always check the page numbers on anything you plan to use. Claude can get a detail wrong.
- A summary isn't the book. If an idea really matters to you, go read that chapter.
- Very long books may need to go in parts. If Claude says it can't read it all, give it one part at a time.
Want the next guide? Follow @zachcrawford.ai