Prompt the Prompt: Working with AI Assistants (Paperback)

The paperback edition of our handbook about one skill: asking an AI chat assistant for help in a way that gets you careful, checkable work, whatever the task. It teaches a method rather than a list of magic phrases: let the assistant interview you, have it write the prompt for you ("prompt the prompt"), plan the work in steps, carry each step into a fresh, focused chat, and review the result from several angles before you rely on it.

The text is the same as the ebook, laid out for print, with a title page and a copyright page in place of the ebook cover.

What is inside (54 pages)

• Part One, Foundations: what an AI assistant actually is (and why it makes things up), the six parts of a good prompt, how features like web search, file upload and saved instructions change things, and letting the assistant interview you.
• Part Two, Prompt the prompt: having the assistant write and improve prompts, asking for the steps before the work, fresh chats and handoff notes, separating the maker from the checker, and reducing made-up answers.
• Part Three, Review and audit: a review loop with severity levels, audit lenses that apply in any industry, stress tests, and when a qualified person must take over.
• Part Four, Putting it to work: the basics of applying the method to building software, drafting legal documents, writing standard operating procedures, research and decisions, everyday writing, data and spreadsheets, and learning something new.
• Part Five, Good habits: privacy and confidentiality, pasted material that carries hidden instructions, and keeping your own prompt library.
• Appendices: 15 prompt templates, the whole method on one page, and a short glossary.

The book

• Paperback, perfect bound, US Letter trim (8.5 × 11 in, 21.6 × 27.9 cm), 54 pages.
• Interior printed in black and white on 60 lb white uncoated paper, so you can write in the margins. The shaded boxes and headings of the ebook print in shades of grey.
• Full-colour soft cover with a matte finish.

How it reaches you

• Each copy is made for you after you order. Printing usually takes 3 to 5 business days, then it ships by standard mail, which can take up to about two weeks more.
• Shipping is worked out for your address and shown at checkout before you pay. You get a tracking link by email when it is on its way.
• US addresses only for now.

Good to know

• Prefer to read on screen? Prompt the Prompt is also an ebook: PDF in US Letter and A4, with the templates as a plain-text file, ready to copy.
• The paperback does not include the ebook files or the plain-text templates file, and access to an AI service is not included.
• It works with any general-purpose AI chat assistant and is not tied to one product. It is a guide to a way of working, not professional advice, and it does not promise results: checking the output is always your job, and the book shows you how.
• The pictures are illustrations made from the actual print files, not photographs.
• If your copy arrives damaged, misprinted or not as described, write to us with your order number and a photo; the shop's owner reviews every case and arranges a replacement or refund.

Written and designed by Mothleaf.