Put ten business owners in a room, mention subscriptions, and you'll get ten different questions.
"I run a dog grooming business. Could I sell a subscription?" "We're adding AI to our software. Do we charge per seat or per credit?" "My churn is 6% a month. Is that bad?"
I can't stand next to every reader with a coffee. But between The Subscription Playbook and Feed a Starving Crowd, there's an answer, or at least a framework, for most of those questions. Ask the Book puts both books, updated for 2026, behind a chat box.
How do you use Ask the Book?
- Ask a specific question. "How should a cafe price a coffee subscription?" gets a better answer than "tell me about pricing."
- Give it context. Your industry, your price, your customers, your country. The more it knows, the more useful the answer.
- Follow up. It remembers the last few messages, so you can say "what about for annual plans?" without repeating yourself.
- Click through. Answers link to the pages and tools on this site that go deeper. That's where the worked examples and full frameworks live.
Your conversation is saved in your browser so you can come back to it. Clear it any time.
How does it work?
Each time you ask, the assistant receives your question plus the recent conversation, and answers using material from both books.
What the assistant sees = Your question + Your last 8 messages + Relevant ideas from both books
It's grounded in the books' frameworks: the eight subscription models, the five pricing models, usage-based pricing, MOATS, the six network effects, land and expand, shoestring growth, churn, product/market fit, and the starving crowd principle. Where the world has moved on since the books were published, such as AI credit pricing or Australia's new subscription rules, it points you to this site's 2026 pages.
Your questions are sent to an AI model to answer and aren't stored by this site.
A worked example
Say you ask: "Which subscription model suits a physio clinic?"
A good answer starts with the framework, not a guess. Clinics deliver services with their own people, patients come back regularly, and every session costs staff time. That points to Bundled Services (sessions, classes and an exercise program in one monthly fee), with a borrowed element of the Insurance model (priority booking when something flares up). It should warn you away from "unlimited sessions," because staff time makes unlimited dangerous. And it should send you to the Subscription Model Selector and the physio and allied health guide to check the fit for yourself.
Then follow up: "What should I charge?" That's where the answer should hand you to a calculator, not invent a number.
How should you read the answers?
Treat them like advice from a well-read friend, not a professional opinion. An AI model can misremember a detail or overstate a point. So:
- Check numbers against the linked page before you rely on them.
- Use the tools for anything involving your own figures. A chat answer can't see your costs.
- Get professional advice on tax, legal or accounting questions. For Australian businesses, a BPAG adviser can talk through whether a subscription suits you in a free Subscription Profit Review.
If the AI assistant isn't available, you'll still get a list of pages on this site that match your question.
What to do next
- Read the full frameworks chapter by chapter, or browse all the guides.
- Get a personalized plan for your whole business from the AI Subscription Playbook Generator.
- Download The Subscription Playbook and Feed a Starving Crowd free, or get both in the free book bundle.
Frequently asked questions
Is this really answering from the books?
It's an AI model guided by the material in The Subscription Playbook and Feed a Starving Crowd, plus this site's updated 2026 guides. It uses the books' frameworks and stories, and links you to the pages that cover them in full. It can still make mistakes or blend ideas imperfectly, so check anything important against the linked page before acting on it.
Can it give me financial, tax or legal advice?
No. Answers are general information. It can explain how subscription pricing affects cash flow, what Australia's new subscription rules cover, or how GST applies in principle, but it can't advise on your situation. For that, talk to a qualified adviser. Australian business owners can book a free Subscription Profit Review with a BPAG adviser.
Is my conversation private?
Your questions are sent to an AI model to answer and aren't stored by this site. The conversation is saved only in your own browser, so you can pick up where you left off, and you can delete it with the Clear conversation button. Avoid typing personal details, account numbers or anything confidential about customers.
What kinds of questions work best?
Specific, practical ones with context. 'I run a two-chair barbershop in Perth; should I offer a monthly membership and what should be in it?' works far better than 'how do subscriptions work?' Questions about choosing a model, pricing structure, churn, moats, growth on a small budget, finding a niche and product/market fit are where the books are strongest.
Built on The Subscription Playbook
This tool turns frameworks from Robert Coorey's book into something you can use in minutes. Robert is the author of The Subscription Playbook and a Director at BPAG Accountants. More about Robert.