Short answer: no. Long answer: it depends on the type of content you are making - and being transparent about what you have and have not read is actually a strength, not a weakness.
The Myth of the All-Read Bookseller
There is a persistent idea that a "real" book creator must have personally consumed every title they promote. That standard is impossible even for full-time readers, and it is completely unrealistic for a Shopify store owner who is also managing inventory, orders, customer service, and marketing. BookTok has over 200 billion views because the community is vast and diverse - it includes reviewers, curators, aesthetic creators, and resellers, not just literary critics.
You do not need to read a book to serve your audience. You need to be honest about your relationship to it.
What You Can Create Without Reading the Book
Curation Content
"Books everyone is talking about right now" or "5 titles trending on BookTok this week" are legitimate formats. You are positioning yourself as a curator, not a critic. Your value is in surfacing books, not in delivering a dissertation on themes.
Community Reaction Roundups
Pull quotes from verified Goodreads reviews, Reddit threads, or BookTok comments (with credit). Narrate what readers are saying. "Readers are calling this the most emotionally devastating book of 2026 - and based on the reviews, I believe them." This is transparent, useful, and engaging.
Cover and Aesthetic Content
Flat lays, shelf styling, and aesthetic reveals work beautifully without any reading requirement. The BookTok community genuinely responds to beautiful book photography and production value.
Author Background or Premise Videos
You can talk about what a book is about - its premise, genre, comp titles, and why it is resonating - using the publisher's synopsis, interviews with the author, and press coverage. This is what traditional booksellers have always done.
Where Honesty Matters Most
If you are doing a "review" or a "reaction" format, be upfront if you have not read the book yourself. Say: "I haven't read this one yet - but everyone in the comments of my last video told me I need to. Here's what I know so far." That kind of vulnerability drives comments, saves, and shares because it invites your audience to become your advisors.
Never fabricate a personal reaction to a book you have not read. Readers in the BookTok community are perceptive, and they will call it out. Fake enthusiasm erodes trust fast.
The Reading Backlog Strategy
A practical approach: buy or borrow one or two high-interest titles per month and read them specifically for content purposes. Prioritize books that are trending and already in your BooksCloud store. A genuine "I just finished this at midnight and I have THOUGHTS" video will almost always outperform a polished curation post - so even one authentic read per month pays dividends.
You can also use the time you would spend scripting a curation video to actually read a book instead, and then let the authentic reaction be the content.
The Bottom Line for BooksCloud Sellers
Your job is to connect readers with books they will love and help them find those books in your store. You do not need to have read every title to do that job well. Be transparent, be curious, be enthusiastic about the community - and save your deepest opinions for the books you actually finish.