Get Paid to Read Books • How To Be a Paid Book Reviewer

Get Paid to Read Books or Even Review Books

Reading books is a relaxing hobby for some people. But did you know that it will also let you make an income too? Are you passionate about reading books? Then it could be an ideal way to earn money. If you have a passion for reading books then there are a few ways you can get paid to read books. Here are some ideas to get paid to read books.

How to Become a Paid Book Reader?

You can get paid to read books while working as a book reviewer, copyeditor, proofreader, editor, layout designer, and librarian, depending on your skills and expertise, for companies or agencies.

There are jobs that will pay you to read books, but most jobs that involve reading books also require writing reviews and assignments or proofreading or editing the content of the books.

You could work as an employee for companies or agencies to read books as part of your daily responsibility. You can also work as a freelancer and make an income too by reading books and doing related tasks for clients who outsource various different responsibilities to freelance agents.

Review Books…Perfect for Book Lovers

If you enjoy reading books then writing book reviews is the easiest way to pocket some extra cash. You can make some money writing reviews on books. You can write book reviews for many magazines and newspapers and also for a book review publication. Some companies and agencies pay cash and copies of the book.

You can join companies or agencies as an employee book reviewer or a freelance book reviewer. You might be asked to read fiction or non-fiction books and write reviews on the books. Here is a list of companies and sites that pay cash in exchange for writing book reviews.

1. OnlineBookClub

Readers will delight at the prospect of making up to $60 for reviewing books. They'll also like that not only are they getting paid for their time reviewing the book, they get to keep the book too! These reviews won't turn you into a millionaire, but it's nice to make a little extra cash and garner a freebie to add to your personal library!

Potential Earnings: Anywhere from $5 to $60
OnlineBookClub Book Reviewer Sign Up: Click Here

2. Kirkus Media

You might think you've ever heard of Kirkus Media, but you probably have. They are responsible for many-a-book-review. And those reviews come from people just like you and me. Kirkus gives their book reviewers two weeks to review their book and submit and original, well written review of about 350 words.

Potential Earnings: Varies/Freelance
Kirkus Media Book Reviewer Sign Up: Click Here

3. Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly is known as “the bible of the book business”. It's a weekly news magazine focused on the international book publishing business. It's been around since 1872! They often need reviewers, but this can be sporadic. The best thing to do is check their jobs page at least once or twice a week for any reviewer openings.

Potential Earnings: Varies/Freelance
Publisher Weekly Information: Click Here

4. The US Review of Books

There is a huge variety of books to review for this organization. And they publish these reviews in their monthly newsletter. It's mostly first come, first serve on assignments. You'll need to put in your request and hope you get chosen. You'll need to provide a well-written review (they have a style guide) when done reading the book or publication.

Potential Earnings: Varies/Freelance
The US Review of Books Information: Click Here

5. Upwork

Upwork is filled wit freelance work of all kinds. And as unusual as some might think, there are opportunities to review books and get paid for it. Obviously, it's going to be hit or miss finding this type of work on Upwork. The requirements, pay and book genre will vary greatly.

Potential Earnings: Varies/Freelance
Create and Upwork Account: Click Here

6. Reedsy Discovery

Reedsy is well-known and becoming more and more popular. They mainly deal with self-published books. And as a reviewer, you'll get to discover these before the general public does. As a matter of fact, if you become very good at reviews — this can work into a nice side hustle. As they state on their site: “Streamline your workflow, access hundreds of books for free before they are published, and earn money while doing what you love.”

There is a simple online sign up form to apply as a reviewer. And fun fact from their site, “When readers enjoy your work, they can send $1, $3 or $5 your way. These small thankyou’s can help you earn money from your reading addiction / passion.”

Potential Earnings: Varies/Freelance
Reedsy Discovery: Click Here

7. Book Browse

This will be a tougher one to review for — you'll need to submit sample reviews. Most of the reviews you'll do will be in an ebook format. So, having an iPad or Tablet would be nice.

Their main genres fall into adult fiction and non-fiction, as well as books for young adults.

Potential Earnings: Free Copy of Book
Book Browse: Click Here

8. Women's Review of Books

If you can snag a few reviews for Women's Review of Books, it's worth it. They pay $100 per book review that you submit and is published. There are several different genres for review, including poetry and memoirs.

Potential Earnings: $100 per review
Women's Review of Books: Click Here

9. Moody Press

Though you don't get paid for your book reviews for Moody — you do get a copy of the book you're reviewing for free. Most titles are Christian based.

Potential Earnings: Free Copy of Book
Moody Press: Click Here

10. New Pages

The amount you're paid can vary greatly — but, on a good note, you're book reviews can be short and sweet. New Pages is fine with book reviews that are only 100 words! You can also review more than just books — they pay for reviews for magazines.

Potential Earnings: Varies/Freelance
New Pages: Click Here

11. Tyndale Blog Network

We're all familiar with reward sites. Earning points and cashing them in for something you want, is how most reward programs and sites work. Tyndale works in this vein. You become a member (which is free) and earn points for reviews, referring other and sharing on social media. YOu can cash these point in for books you'd like.

Potential Earnings: Varies/Freelance
Tyndale Blog Network: Click Here

12. Booklist Publications

You'll need to read up on their guidelines, but Booklist offers the opportunity to write shorter reviews. Most reviews fall around 175-200 words. Not a bad way to earn $12 to $15 dollars. Especially if you're getting to review a book or publication you've enjoyed.

Potential Earnings: Between $12 and $15 for each review
Booklist Publications: Click Here

13. Instaread

Seems like there are a lot of “instas” out there since Instagram took off. Off the top of my head there is Instafeet to sell feet pics and Instacart to earn by grocery shopping for others. Instaread, of course — focuses on reading. But you are paid well for your book your book summaries. These summaries will need to fall around 1000-1500 words. You'll need to read up on their style guide before starting.

Potential Earnings: $100 for each summary
Instaread: Click Here

14. NetGalley

If your goal is mainly getting to read new books at no cost, this is one to look into. You'll be able to pick and choose from a vast majority of books. All different genres. In return, you're asked for your honest review. Making a hot cup of tea on a rainy day and having so many titles to choose from at not cost– just for your review sounds perfect for the true book lover.

Potential Earnings: Free copy of book
NetGalley: Click Here

15. getAbstract

They mainly deal with non-fiction, which not everyone loves — but they have over 20,000 text and audio summaries and they are looking to add more every day. If you feel up to book summarizations, they do pay their freelancers.

Potential Earnings: Varies/Freelance
getAbstract: Click Here

16. Writeful Books

This is one of the few book reviewer opps that could turn into a more reliable income. If they love your take and angle on your book reviews, you could be requested to do more.

Potential Earnings: Between $10 and $50
Writeful Books: Click Here

Book Summaries

If you like to read books in depth, then writing book summaries could be a great way to make money. Many companies and sites will buy book summaries of business related books directly from freelance contractors online. Some companies and sites may hire freelancers to write book summaries for them. You can also send pitches to these companies and sites.

Busy executives often do not have time to read the latest business books, but they still want to talk about them. Many book summary sites sell book summaries to busy business executives and others who do not have time to read the latest business books but they still want to get the authors' ideas and insights. So they want the short version, i.e. a summary of the book.

Many summary sites pay freelance writers to read these business books and then write the summaries. You can also find book summary jobs online on sites like Upwork, Freelancer and Indeed.

Get Paid to Edit or Copyedit Books

One of the best ways to get paid to read books is to by finding editing or copyediting jobs online. There are many major and smaller publishing houses and websites and magazines online that hire online editors to work from home for the purpose of editing books. You will need professional certification to land these jobs. If you have excellent grammar and spelling skills then you can still land remote copyediting jobs without a copyediting certificate.

Copyediting books involve improving the style, clarity, grammar and accuracy of the text of a book. As an editor or copyeditor, you will edit books to make sure there are no grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, punctuation problems and poor sentence structure in the text. An editor will ensure that the style of the text flows and that there are no inconsistencies.

You can also sell your editing or copyediting service to authors or publications seeking editors to edit books via your own site or a site like Fiverr.

Sites that feature many different types of editing and copyediting jobs:

Upwork
Freelancer
Indeed
Contena
Research Square

Get Paid to Proofread Books

If you have excellent grammar and spelling skills then a great way to get paid to read books is by proofreading books. There are many companies that will pay you to read books simply to find and correct typos and errors in the books. Small publishing houses and self-publishers often hire an editor to edit and proofread books, but larger publishers often have proofreaders to catch typos or check for errors, and editors to make edits.

There are many sites where major and minor publishers post proofreading jobs online, including Upwork, Freelancer, FlexJobs.com and Indeed. You could get paid to read a book all day long while proofreading it.

Work as a Manuscript Editor

You can get paid to read manuscripts and edit them for grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, punctuation problems, poor sentence structure and other errors. Some publishers hire online editors to read their manuscripts for the purpose of editing them. You can seek out manuscript editing jobs on various publishers' websites, or freelance and jobs websites like Upwork, Freelancer, FlexJobs.com, and Fiverr.

Get Paid to do Book Layout and Design Jobs

If you have layout and design skills and you are also passionate about reading books, then you can get paid to design books for self-publishing authors and small publishing houses, in particular. You can use programs like Adobe InDesign, QuarkPress and Microsoft Publisher to do book layout and design.

You can offer your layout and design services via your own site, Fiverr and social media. There are many jobs for freelance book designers online. Small book publishing companies may hire freelance book designers. Self-publishing authors seek out book designers to design book covers and get their books ready for POD and eBook stores. You can also find book layout and design jobs on sites like Upwork, Freelancer, FlexJobs.com, Indeed and SimplyHired.

Translate Books

Many sites will pay you to read books, especially technical non-fiction books to translate them from English to another language or vice versa, depending on your language skills.

Final Thoughts on Getting Paid for Reading Books and More

There are so many opportunities that pay you to do what you love to do, i.e. read book. If you have a passion for reading books, why not turning your passion for reading into something that can earn extra cash for you?