Reading isn't just a hobby — it's one of the most powerful habits a business author can build. Here's how to make it happen, no matter how busy or budget-conscious you are
If you want to write a book that genuinely helps your readers, you first need to be one of them. Yet many aspiring business authors admit they have barely picked up a book since college — not because they don't want to, but because time and money feel like immovable obstacles.
In this episode of Easy Peasy Books, business book coach Gillian Whitney makes the case that reading is not a luxury for authors — it's a professional necessity. She also dismantles the two most common excuses standing between authors and the books they need to be reading, and offers a three-part challenge to get you started this week.
Whether you're working on your first manuscript or already published, this guide will help you build a reading habit that sharpens your writing, deepens your expertise, and keeps you connected to the reader experience you're asking others to have with your own work.
Why Reading Makes You a Better Business Author
Reading regularly does several things for writers that no other habit can replicate. It builds an intuitive feel for grammar and sentence rhythm. It expands vocabulary in context. And perhaps most importantly for business authors, it teaches storytelling — how to wrap a lesson inside a moment that actually sticks with the reader.
Gillian picked up The Power of Moments by Dan and Chip Heath at a library book sale and immediately connected it to her work coaching authors: the book explores how specific moments shape us, which maps directly onto the challenge of weaving personal stories into a business book. The Heath brothers are also behind Made to Stick — a book Gillian references as a masterclass in why some ideas are remembered and others are forgotten. Both are essential reading for anyone writing a business book that aims to do more than just inform.
Beyond craft, reading keeps you in the reader's chair. If you want someone to read your book, buy it, take action on it, and recommend it to a friend, you need to understand what that journey feels like from the inside. Gillian offers a pointed analogy: a chef who never goes to a restaurant, or a musician who never attends a concert, is working in a vacuum. Authors who don't read are in the same position.
"If you don't ever go to a concert, you're in a vacuum. And that's the thing — if they say they don't read but they want to write, how do you know what to write if you don't read?"
The Time Barrier: Reading Fits Into the Cracks of Your Day
The most common objection Gillian hears is straightforward: there's no time. Her response is equally direct — you don't need long, uninterrupted stretches to read. Like writing itself, reading gets done in the margins of the day.
A few approaches that work in practice:
- Morning coffee, before the inbox. Claim that window before the rest of the world owns your attention. Even one chapter with a cup of coffee before the day starts makes a meaningful difference.
- Afternoon tea break. Gillian references the British habit of stopping everything for tea as a model — fifteen to twenty minutes with a good book and a biscuit (or cookie, for American readers) is both restorative and productive.
- Before bed, instead of one more episode. Gillian reads every night using her iPad in dark mode — black background, white text, easy on the eyes. She describes it as a reliable way to downshift a busy brain rather than lying awake ruminating about the day.
- Audio on the move. Audiobooks are a natural fit for commutes, dog walks, and gym sessions. The app remembers exactly where you left off, so even a fifteen-minute walk becomes a reading opportunity.
Gillian also mentions that she and her husband sometimes share a book over dinner — putting it on in the background to slow down the meal and unwind together. The point is simple: reading doesn't require a sabbatical. It requires deciding where in your existing day it can live.
The Cost Barrier: How to Read for Free
The second obstacle Gillian addresses is cost. Her position is straightforward: there is no reason to spend money on books if that's what's holding you back. The options for free reading are extensive — and most people aren't using even half of them.
Your Local Library
Gillian chose her current home in Texas partly because of the library. She describes it as an all-glass building on a creek — rooms she can book, views she loves, a place she goes for walks. The library, she argues, is one of the most underused resources available to most people.
One feature that surprises many library users: interlibrary loan. If your branch doesn't have the title you want, the librarian can locate it at another library — anywhere in the country, and sometimes internationally. Gillian once requested a book about Winnipeg at a Las Vegas library and had it shipped from Canada at no charge. The key detail: when asked whether you're willing to pay a fee, simply indicate you only want the book if it can be provided for free.
Pro tip: Suggest your author friends' books to your local library. Libraries do buy new titles based on patron requests — and it's one of the most effective (and underused) forms of author support.
Digital Library Apps
Three apps — Libby, Overdrive, and Hoopla — connect directly to your library card and let you check out eBooks and audiobooks without ever visiting a branch. All you need is a valid library card number.
Gillian mentioned recommending Libby to a friend in Estonia. The friend signed up and found she could access titles immediately. When a loan period expires, the book is simply removed from your device — no fines, no follow-up. For audiobooks in particular, these apps are seamless.
Amazon Prime Reading
For Amazon Prime members, there's a feature many overlook entirely: Prime Reading. It's distinct from Kindle Unlimited (which requires a separate monthly subscription) and is included with a standard Prime membership.
Prime Reading offers access to over a thousand titles — fiction, non-fiction, business books — with up to ten checked out at a time. There's no loan period; the books stay on your device until you remove them. Gillian currently has six titles checked out through Prime Reading, including several novels she keeps loaded as backup reading for airports, waiting rooms, or any unexpected gap in her schedule.
"Always have a book with you. As long as I've got power on my iPhone, I can read a book."
Gillian's Framework: How to Solve the 'What Should I Read?' Problem
Once the time and cost barriers are addressed, the remaining question is often: where do I even start? Gillian offers a practical three-source approach for building a reading list without feeling overwhelmed.
Step 1: Check Business Book Bites
Gillian's friend Rebecca Wilson, based in Scotland, runs a YouTube channel called Business Book Bites. Over the course of several years, Rebecca has published close to 175 video reviews of business books — independent titles as well as well-known names like Simon Sinek. Each review follows a consistent format and can help you decide in a few minutes whether a title is worth your time.
Step 2: Browse Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime
Curated by Amazon's editors, this list covers a wide range of fiction and non-fiction. It includes books that are considered cultural touchstones — Gillian mentions George Orwell's 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 as examples — as well as books that simply resonated with readers over time. It's not a dry classics list; it's a genuinely varied starting point.
Step 3: Cross-reference and ask your network
Gillian's pro strategy: find the overlap between what Rebecca recommends and what appears on the Amazon list. Any book that shows up in both places is worth prioritizing. For fiction especially, LinkedIn is a surprisingly effective recommendation engine — Gillian suggests posting a simple question ('I'm heading on a long flight — what's your favorite thriller?') and watching the replies roll in. People love recommending books, and those posts tend to drive real engagement.
Real Examples from the Episode
A Book Sale That Felt Like a Day Out
Gillian and her husband recently went on what she describes as a 'day date' — a trip to a library book sale. For Gillian, this counts as a genuine treat. She came home with an armful of books, including The Power of Moments, which she had just started at the time of recording and was already recommending to anyone writing a business book that uses personal storytelling.
The Friend Who Wants to Write But Doesn't Read
The episode is framed around a real conversation Gillian had with a colleague who admitted to barely reading since graduating college — citing time and money as the reasons. That same friend, it turns out, has been planning to write a business book 'someday.' Gillian's gentle challenge: if you want readers to invest time in your book, it helps to be a reader yourself. The credibility and craft that come from reading are hard to replicate any other way.
Reading Across Formats and Time Zones
Gillian describes her own reading life as genuinely varied: a thriller on her Kindle, a short Amazon original by Cheryl Strayed (Two Women Walk into a Bar) on Prime Reading, audiobooks while cooking or driving. She mentions that she and her husband listen to books together over dinner. The consistent thread is that she never goes anywhere without something to read — a habit she actively builds into her daily routine rather than waiting for the right conditions.
In Gillian's Words
"Reading just helps us become better writers. Through reading, we learn grammar, we expand our vocabulary, we begin to know storytelling techniques."
"We're often writing the book for our younger self — and if we read books knowing what we're looking for, did that book promise something? Did it meet that promise? That helps you become a better author."
"I'd rather have a few reviews that I know my book actually mattered to some people than to have the vanity metrics of all these fake reviews."
The Reading Challenge
Gillian closes the episode with a three-part challenge for authors at any stage:
- Set up one free reading resource this week. Get a library card, download Libby or Hoopla, or activate Amazon Prime Reading if you're already a Prime member. Don't overthink it — just set up the one that fits your life.
- Choose your first book. It doesn't have to be a business book. Pick something that genuinely interests you — fiction or non-fiction, short or long. Gillian suggests starting short if it's been a while.
- Read at least ten pages. Find the time slot that works for you — morning coffee, afternoon break, before bed — and read ten pages. See if it pulls you in.
The goal isn't a reading quota. It's the habit of staying close to the reader experience — which is, in the end, the experience you're asking your own audience to have.
Listen to the Full Episode
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About Gillian Whitney
Gillian Whitney is a business book coach and the host of Easy Peasy Books: From Author to Authority. She helps professionals write and publish books that build credibility, attract the right clients, and establish lasting expertise. Learn more at easypeasybooks.com