Bookshelf - Let readers chat with your archive in their ChatGPT app

Hey Product Hunt!

We built Bookshelf because something felt broken in how AI was interacting with great writing.

We all have newsletters we trust; smart, independent voices we subscribe to because they help us think more clearly. But as AI becomes the first place people go to ask questions, those voices are getting left behind.

They’re not cited. They’re not surfaced. And their best thinking gets buried in inboxes or lost in generic summaries.

Bookshelf flips that. It lets newsletter writers turn their archive into a custom GPT; one their readers can add to ChatGPT and talk to directly. It’s like giving every subscriber a personal research assistant, trained on your voice.

What makes Bookshelf unique is that it’s not trying to “replace” the writer. It enhances the connection between reader and author. Readers can explore themes, ask follow-ups, and go deeper. Writers stay in control, get credit, and open a new distribution channel.

We’re most proud of how natural this feels once you use it. It’s a simple shift, but it gives a newsletter a second life. One that listens, remembers, and responds.

Want to see it in action? Try this demo GPT based on Paul Graham’s essays: 👉 https://tinyurl.com/paul-graham-gpt

We’re launching with a few early partners, and if you’re a writer or reader who wants to be part of this new reading experience, we’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for checking it out; and feel free to ask us anything below!

— The Bookshelf Team

This is a brilliant tool. With many custom GPTs for PDFs, Bookshelf will help people understand the newsletters they have subscribed to in their own way.

Love this concept, turning content into interactive chat experiences is brilliant. Super clean setup, truly thoughtful for readers. Tons of potential here. Curious to see how it fits with weekly or monthly newsletters.

Interesting!

Love the focus on enhancing the connection between reader and author, rather than replacing the writer. That philosophical underpinning is really important. The demo looks promising – it's exciting to think about diving deeper into an author's work in such an interactive way.