16 Best Ways to Get Paid to Read Books in 2024
Want to learn how to get paid to read books? Did you know you can get paid to read books? Yes, you can actually get paid for something you probably do every day and love to do. If you find yourself staying up late finishing the last few chapters of a book and taking…
Want to learn how to get paid to read books?
Did you know you can get paid to read books? Yes, you can actually get paid for something you probably do every day and love to do.
If you find yourself staying up late finishing the last few chapters of a book, taking every opportunity to curl up on the couch with a new book, or listening to audiobooks non-stop, then this could be a great way to make money.
Most people don't realize that there are legitimate websites that pay to read books aloud. There are also companies that pay you for book reviews.
We are talking about real jobs in this industry.
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| 16 Best Ways to Get Paid to Read Books in 2024 |
Most of these companies allow you to work from home, so it's a flexible way to earn extra money.
Can I make a career out of reading books? Yes! There are even those who get paid to read books as a full-time job, but it's also an option if you're just looking for a way to make extra money at your day job.
This article will explain how you can get paid to read books, legitimate websites that pay you to read books, and also answer some questions you may have on the subject.
16 Legit Ways to Get Paid to Read Books
Is there a job that pays you to read books? Yes! Below are 16 ways to get paid to read books.
Best sites that will pay you for online book reviews
Yes, there are websites that will pay you to review books. Each site is different, but they usually pay you cash via PayPal or bank transfer, and/or you can receive a free book in exchange for a review.
Yes, that means you can get paid to review books!
Now these websites are looking for more than positive reviews. They want to hear what you really think.
Publishers and new authors often send out free copies of their book so they can have a real review of their book. This is because readers like you and I want to read reviews before spending too much time diving into a book.
Some of the ideas below may be very easy to apply, and others may want a resume, a sample book review or sample work, and possibly professional references. You can click on the links below to learn more about the company, how it works and what they are looking for when it comes to this side gig.
You won't get rich signing up to these sites to get paid to read books, but it can be a way to earn some side income while enjoying the hobby.
There are many other websites that will provide you with paid and/or free book review sites, but the list below is the most popular platforms I have found.
Below are websites to check out if you are interested in book review options:
1. Online book club
Online Book Club – With OnlineBookClub.org, you get paid in book first (no cash). For all books after that, you'll be eligible to get paid for book review opportunities, and the books will always be free.
With this website, you can get paid around $5 to $60 for each book you review. Over 10,000 authors have submitted their book to Online Book Club for review.
This website claims that you can earn up to several hundred dollars a month reviewing books.
2. Kirkus Review
Kirkus Reviews - Kirkus Media is looking for book reviewers in English and Spanish for its Kirkus India section. They look for a roughly 350 word outline and are due two weeks after you are assigned to read the book.
Kirkus reviews almost every genre of book, so there's plenty to choose from.
They review around 10,000 books every year and are very popular among book reviewers.
3. UpWork
UpWork – With UpWork, you would have to create your own profile and list as a book reviewer. This way, clients and authors can find you and hire you directly to read and review their book.
Plus, as a freelance book reviewer on UpWork, you can set your own prices and decide which clients you want to work with.
Some of the book reviewer profiles I found charged anywhere from $15 an hour to $75 an hour.
4. US Review of Books
The US Review of Books - This website employs freelance writers to review books and write reviews ranging from 250 to 300 words.
They look for reviews, which are summaries that reveal insights about the book.
To be accepted as a book reviewer for the U.S. Review of Books, you must contact the editor with a CV, sample work and at least two professional references.
5. Reeds
Reedsy - With Reedsy Discovery you can review hundreds of different books before they are published and earn money at the same time. Authors submit their books to Reedsy specifically for review by book reviewers.
You then get paid for the review tip from the readers (those who buy the book). These tips can be $1, $3, or $5.
6. Booklist
Booklist - Booklist Publications is looking for freelance book reviews that are approximately 150 to 175 words long and describe the plot, suggest an ideal audience, and more.
Booklist pays $15 for each book review and you get paid once the review is published.
This is part of the American Library Association and Booklist Reviews sole purpose is to guide school and public librarians in purchasing books for their library.
7. BookBrowse
BookBrowse - You can sign up as a book reviewer on BookBrowse. You can get paid to read books in several genres, such as children's literature, nonfiction, adult fiction, graphic novels, and fiction.
BookBrowse book reviewers typically write about one book review per month for the site.
8. Women's Review of Books
Women's Review of Books - The Women's Review of Books (Wellesley Centers for Women) is a print publication that pays people to review books, poetry and more.
9. Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly - You can submit book reviews to this website, which is a weekly news magazine.
10. New pages
New Pages - This site features book reviews and literary magazine reviews. They're looking for short reviews that are 200 words or less, but also packed with content.
Other ways to get paid to read books
There are many other ways to read and get paid. Here are some jobs you can check out:
11. Become a book proofreader
As a proofreader, you get paid to read books that haven't been published yet.
Proofreading is an important step in the publishing process, as proofreaders correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. No matter how great an author is, there will always be a need for proofreaders.
So you can find proofreaders for self-published authors to major book publishers.
Online proofreading is in demand and is a flexible, detail-oriented work-from-home job. To work as a proofreader, you only need a laptop or tablet, an Internet connection and the ability to detect errors.
If you want to make a career out of reading books, a proofreader is a great option if you're good at spotting mistakes.
I interviewed a professional proofreader about what it means to become a proofreader and she answered questions like:
• What does a proofreader do?
• How much money do proofreaders make every month?
• How do I find starting proofreading jobs?
12. Read aloud with audiobooks
Yes, you can get paid to read books as a dubber.
So if you love reading books, you can actually get paid to read books out loud!
Audiobooks are extremely popular right now, and becoming a narrator can be a fun job.
A voice actor is someone you hear but rarely see in audiobooks, iTunes, Audible, YouTube videos, radio commercials, explainer videos, corporate narratives, documentaries, TV commercials, video games, movies, and cartoons.
In 2014, my friend Carrie replaced her paying day job to become a full-time voice actor. People keep asking her how she got started and how they can too.
So she created a six-week online course and it sold out. Several of her students booked voice acting jobs before the class was even over!
I was excited to learn more about this work-from-home job, so I interviewed Carrie to find out:
• How she got into this interesting career field
• Who are her most frequent clients
• How much money can an aspiring actor expect to make
• The upside of becoming a voice actor
• How to find your first voice job
• Costs, what kind of equipment you need (Your voice talent, microphone and headphones!) and more
You can learn more about becoming a narrator for audiobooks (and other voice-over work)
13. Start a book review blog and earn affiliate income
With a book review blog, you would review books that interest you or are related to the topic of your blog. This can be a great way to learn how to make money reading books online.
Readers will want to hear your honest review in your blog posts.
Then you could make money in a number of ways, including placing affiliate links on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other online stores for the books you read. Some bloggers may share their opinions on books they've read, host online discussions, or use books to help readers with various topics.
If you are not familiar with affiliate marketing, it is my favorite way to make money blogging.
How affiliate marketing works:
• Affiliates are people or businesses that are paid to promote a product or service.
• When you become an affiliate, you get special links that you can use when you promote something for the company. Links allow companies to track where sales are coming from.
• You then place these links on your website, social media accounts, etc. in hopes that someone will buy something through your link.
• When someone makes a purchase through your unique affiliate link, the company knows where the customer came from and pays you a commission.
An example is Amazon's affiliate program, which is perfect if you want to start a blog about books. Amazon gives you special links and you can share a link to a specific book on your website or blog and encourage people to buy the book through your affiliate link.
Amazon and other companies want quality affiliates because they want all the help they can get to promote the products and services they sell. If you get someone to buy the book through your link, the company will pay you for sharing the link.
A book review blog can be a great way to get paid to read books if you want something flexible that pays off very well over time.
Plus, you'll be your own boss when you can decide which books you want to read and start your own blog!
I've also personally reviewed books on my blog and made money from those book review blog posts - so I know it's possible! Starting a book review website is something you can do as well.
Another career field closely related to starting a book blog would be to start a YouTube channel that also reviews books.
14. Get paid to translate books as a freelancer or as an employee
Do you know another language? If so, you can find a job from home where you get paid to read books and translate them into another language.
Another option if you speak another language is to get paid to proofread or edit translated books to make sure they read well.
There are many places where you can find book translation jobs, including:
• UpWork – With UpWork you simply create a free profile, apply for a job and then get paid. UpWork charges service fees when you invoice your clients, but it's free to join.
• Babelcube – Babelcube is a website that sends you freelance translation projects. You choose which books to translate, translate them into one of over 15 different languages, and work with published authors.
• Guru – Guru is a website that offers freelance writing and translation jobs. This platform mainly focuses on highly skilled freelancers.
• Indeed – Indeed has been around since 2004 and is one of the longest running job listing websites. Indeed lists jobs they find on job boards, staffing firms, company websites and more.
• FlexJobs – FlexJobs is one of the most popular websites used to find remote work and work from home opportunities. There is a cost to join FlexJobs, but there are many features to sort and search for jobs, so it could be worth it.
• Today Translations – This is a website looking for freelance translators for them.
• Fiverr – Fiverr is an online marketplace where you can find freelance work all over the world. You can list your translation services and prices directly on this platform.
• Ulatus – Ulatus is a website that provides translation services, which means they need translators! They have more than 200,000 clients worldwide with more than 3,000 language experts.
• Creating your own website. I'm always a fan of having your own website so clients can find you.
As you can see, if you want to know how to make money reading books, there are plenty of options if you want to use your translation skills.
15. Get paid to write books
I wanted to include a section on getting paid to write books. If you like reading books, you might also be interested in writing a book.
Technically, you would read your own book many times, so I guess that counts!
Writing your own book is a great way to make money at home.
For example. In fact, Alyssa self-published her first book and has sold over 13,000 copies to date. She was able to earn a great passive income of over $200 a day from her book ($6,500 in just one month
Yuwanda Black has found one of the most interesting jobs at home. She writes romance novels and managed to earn over $3000 in one month!
16. Find a full-time career in the book reading publishing industry
If you want to learn how to make money reading books, there are many other jobs in the publishing industry.
With these careers in book publishing, you will most likely need to read a book to do your job. Many require at least a bachelor's degree.
This is mostly a full-time job, e.g.
• Book marketing assistant
• Book columnist
• Book Public Relations Agent
• Book layout designer
• Book graphic designer
• Book editor
• Copy editor
• Illustrator
• Literary agent
• Sales Representative
• Production Manager
• Marketing Manager
• Book Contract Manager
If you are looking for jobs in the publishing industry, I recommend Publisher’s Weekly.
Frequently asked questions about how to get paid to read books
Below are common questions about how to get paid to read books online.
Can you get paid to read books out loud? Are there jobs that pay you to read books?
Yes, you can get paid to read books aloud. Amazon/Audible's ACX, which I'll explain below, will pay you to narrate books so they can be turned into audiobooks.
Findaway Voices is another audiobook voiceover site.
How much do book readers get paid?
Readers of books can be paid different amounts. It really depends on what type of book reading job you're looking for and how many hours you put into each job.
Being a proofreader, a dubber who reads audio books, starting a book review blog, translating books, writing books, and finding a career in the field can all become full-time jobs with full-time income.
You can get paid $5 for a book review or you can get paid hundreds or even thousands of dollars. It simply depends on what you do and who you work for.
How can I get paid $200 for reading books? What company will pay you $200 to read a book?
If you want to earn $200 a month reading books, there are several options you can do from the list above.
This can include reviewing books online, proofreading books, learning how to get paid to read books aloud, or even learning how to get paid to read books in English, starting your own book blog, becoming a freelance book translator, writing your own books. books, finding a full-time job in the book industry, and more.
Can you read books for a living? Can I get paid to read books?
Yes, you can read books for a living. But not all book reading jobs are full-time jobs.
Some may ask you to simply read a book and write a book review, and others may ask for an application, resume, and writing samples.
Because of this, some may just be a side hustle.
Does Amazon pay you to read books? Will Audible pay me to read books?
With ACX, you can find a job reading audiobooks. ACX stands for Audiobook Creation Exchange, an Audible.com marketplace where authors and publishers connect with narrators and producers to create audiobooks.
ACX currently has over 1,200 books open for audiobook auditions.
With ACX, you can get paid for your audiobook narration work in two different ways:
• An hourly rate that you set and get paid once the audiobook is successfully completed
• You may choose to share royalties from sales with the book rights holder
To get started with ACX, simply:
1. Create a profile
2. Record your voice samples
3. Choose how you want to receive payments (as described above)
4. Audition for a book you're interested in narrating (this usually involves uploading a few minutes of the manuscript)
5. Accept the offer. Here you determine the delivery dates and payment terms
6. Start and finish recording the audiobook.
7. Get paid
How much do you get paid to read audiobooks?
The amount you can get paid for reading audiobooks will vary. It can be anywhere from around $1,000 to over $5,000 per book.
Can I read books on YouTube and get paid?
Yes! You can make money on YouTube just like you make money blogging. So you can share affiliate links to the books you read on YouTube.
Interested in learning how to get paid to read books?
Once your channel and videos reach a certain number of views, you can also start monetizing them with ads. You can learn more in this interview:
