The House Edge

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Chapter Spec Template ​

Every chapter draft must follow this structure. Section names below are required; section content is the agent's job.

[Chapter Number]. [Chapter Title] ​

[Subtitle that previews the argument] ​

Cold open ​

One paragraph. A scene, a question, or a specific moment that drops the reader into the chapter's problem. Not a summary of what the chapter will cover. Not "in this chapter we will explore..."

Good openings:

  • "In May 2022, an arbitrage bot on Ethereum executed a single transaction that earned $20 million in four minutes. The trader on the other side of that transaction never saw it coming."
  • "A market maker on Phoenix posts a bid for SOL. Three milliseconds later, before any human has reacted, the bid is filled, cancelled, and reposted at a worse price. The market maker did not move it."

What this chapter answers ​

A bulleted list of 3–5 specific questions the chapter resolves. The reader should be able to read this list and decide whether to read the chapter. Phrase as questions, not topics.

  • Not: "Mempools and transaction ordering"
  • Yes: "Why does the order in which transactions land in a block matter, and who controls that order?"

The setup ​

300–600 words establishing the mechanics the rest of the chapter depends on. If the chapter introduces a new actor, this is where the "Meet the actor" sidebar lives. If it introduces a new mechanism, this is where the diagram lives.

Every term used here that isn't already in the glossary gets defined inline and added to the glossary.

The worked example ​

The anchoring scenario. A specific trade, a specific dollar amount, a specific actor — followed through whatever process this chapter describes. The example should be vivid enough that the reader can describe it to a colleague two weeks later.

The example does not have to be real, but the numbers have to be plausible and the mechanics have to be accurate.

The mechanics, in detail ​

The body of the chapter. 2,000–3,500 words. Subsections allowed but use them sparingly — no more than 4 subheadings per chapter. The reader is reading a book, not a wiki.

This is where:

  • New characters appear (with their sidebars)
  • Diagrams thread through the explanation
  • The "Show the dollar" callout updates as new extraction layers are introduced
  • Footnotes carry the technical detail the curious reader wants

If the chapter is more than 60% subsections, the structure is wrong. Prose carries this book.

How this plays out on each chain ​

A three-paragraph comparison box. Solana, Hyperliquid, Ethereum (and major L2s where relevant). Same mechanic, three architectures, three outcomes.

This section is not optional. If the chapter genuinely doesn't have chain-specific implications, the agent must justify the omission in REVIEW_NOTES.md.

Who wins, who loses, why ​

Half a page. The verdict. Not a summary. This is the section the reader screenshots and sends to a colleague.

Structure:

  • Winners: who captured value, how much (or "undisclosed"), why the architecture lets them
  • Losers: who paid, how much, whether they know
  • The honest answer to "is this bad?": clinical, not moralistic. Sometimes the answer is "this is just market structure." Sometimes it's "this is a transfer from passive liquidity providers to informed traders." Say which.

What changes when... ​

A one-paragraph counterfactual that seeds the next chapter. ("What changes when the validator running this block has an exclusive arrangement with one specific searcher? That is chapter 8.")

Footnotes and sources ​

Numbered, with URLs and access dates. Every dollar figure, percentage, and named incident gets one. The reader should be able to verify any claim in the chapter in under five minutes.

Self-check before declaring the draft done ​

The agent answers each of these in REVIEW_NOTES.md. "Yes" to all eight or the draft isn't ready.

  1. Could a smart business reader with zero crypto background follow this chapter on first read?
  2. Is every actor named, and is it clear how each one makes money?
  3. Is there a worked example with specific dollar amounts threaded through the chapter?
  4. Does the chapter end with a clear "who wins, who loses" verdict?
  5. Are all numbers sourced in footnotes?
  6. Does the chain comparison box exist and contain real differences (not "Solana is faster")?
  7. Did I avoid every banned move from the Book Bible?
  8. Would the Goldman MD finish this chapter without checking her phone?