Reading is a wonderful pastime activity that many people engage in daily when taking coffee in the evening or even on the bus when commuting to and from work.
If you love reading books and have a passion for writing, why not get paid to do something you love?
You get paid to read books by getting involved in the world of book reviewing, helping writers proofread their manuscripts, and pen literary critiques.
Ways to Get Paid to Read Books
Now let’s look at some of the ways you can earn money reading books. Here are 11 different methods that will help you get paid as a seasoned book reader.
1) Get paid to proofread manuscripts.
Readers make great editors, and if you have the gift for spotting grammatical mistakes, incoherencies, or incorrect facts in books, you can make extra cash as a proofreader.
Your task will entail going through the manuscripts page by page and marking any mistakes. Then you will inform the writer of what needs to be corrected.
Proofreaders are often paid per page, and since many books have more than one hundred pages, you can be sure that your pay will be amble.
Great proofreaders:
- Have an eye for details.
- Are fluent readers.
- Have a good command of the English language.
- Are often seasoned writers in the specified niche.
If you are interested in getting paid to proofread, then consider joining freelance marketplaces and building up your portfolio from there.
You can also check your local newspapers, online forums, Facebook groups, and writers’ associations for lucrative opportunities.
2) Get paid to review books online
Book reviewing is probably one of the best ways to get paid to read books. It gives you the opportunity to advance your writing skills and also build up a reputation.
Book reviewers are tasked with reading books, writing reviews about them, and posting these reviews online, usually on a reviews blog or their own personal blogs..
Some of the best websites that pay you to write reviews include:
If you love books, then consider this as your way to get paid to read books. To get paid as a book reviewer, you will need to have a clear focus on what genre you would like to review and build credibility as an expert in that field.
Book reviewers are often paid per review, usually between $20-100, depending on the periodical or website.
You can also approach publishers directly and offer a review of their current titles in exchange for a fee.
3) Help People Critique Their Writing
If you are a good writer, consider getting paid as a literary critic who helps other writers get rid of their grammar mistakes, style issues, and plot inconsistencies.
You can start by helping friends before moving on to more lucrative opportunities as a freelance literary critic. You can offer your services directly to writers via social media or online freelancing websites like Fiverr.
As a literary critique, you will be tasked with clearly pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of a piece of work. You may also need to offer suggestions on how to improve your writing.
Your pay will depend on how much your services are appreciated, and you can be paid per hour or for each literary critique written.
4) Write listicle blog posts about books and get paid
If you have the knack for writing catchy listicle articles, then consider getting paid to write a series of posts on different books.
These posts may include insights about what makes a bestseller or X books for…
Think of great titles such as
- 7 exciting reads for Christmas
- 10 books to read before you die
- 9 Books that will change how you spend your money
- 10 Novellas that mirror today’s society etc.
To get paid for this type of freelance work, you will need to find blogs in this niche and pitch your ideas. You get to set your rates, and some publishers might even allow you to add your byline, thus giving you a social proof advantage that you can then use to bag more clients.
Freelance marketplaces like Fiverr or freelancer sites like Upwork can also help you land new clients fast.
5) Get paid to translate books into other languages
With a good grasp of the English language and a secondary language, you can land book translation jobs and get paid to translate bestselling books into other languages.
There are so many companies out there that look for online translators; all you need is a polished English language and a good command of the second language.
If you are a multi-lingual person, translating books is a great way to get paid for reading books.
Some languages in high demand include French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Italian.
To land freelance translation jobs fast, make sure you have an updated profile on different freelancing sites and be ready to negotiate rates.
6) Offer book services on Fiverr
Fiverr is a great marketplace for book lovers to get paid as it brings readers and writers together.
Some of the book services you can sell on Fiverr include:
- Creating audiobooks from pdf files
- Writing compelling book descriptions and blurbs
- Reviewing books on your personal blog etc.
7) Get paid to write book summaries on book summary apps
Writing book summaries is a great way to get paid for reading books, especially if you are not good at writing full-blown reviews.
There are so many apps out there that give you the best and worst from different books in the hope of helping their users to decide whether a certain book is worth reading or not.
You get paid to write book summaries on specific themes.
To succeed as a book summary writer, you need to have a unique writing style and be familiar with the theme that you are assigned.
For example, if you are assigned to write a book summary on Debt, you need to know how to write compellingly about this subject without revealing the story or giving too many spoilers.
Before you are accepted, you will be given a sample book summary to make sure that you can write about a specific theme and style.
If you are interested in getting paid to write book summaries on various apps, here are just a few to consider:
8) Become a VoiceOver artist for audiobooks
If you have a great voice, make sure that you get paid to read books as an audiobook.
Audiobooks are more popular than ever before, and with the advent of smartphones, many readers prefer listening to audiobooks rather than reading printed books.
With a good voice, you can get paid to:
- Record audiobooks
- Voice characters in kids’ books etc.
As a voiceover artist, you get to be paid for recording books you love and sometimes even make your review of the book part of the narration.
With services like ACX and Voice123, it’s now easier for authors and narrators to connect and get their audiobook projects done.
Some of the things you will need to create audiobooks include:
- A laptop or computer
- Audio recording software such as Audacity
- High-quality headphones
- A microphone, a mic stand, and a pop filter
You can also sell your voice acting services on Fiverr
9) Become a Sensitivity Reader or Diversity Editor
Editors and authors hire sensitivity readers to help them make sure that their book projects are free from bias, cultural insensitivity, racism, sexism, etc.
To become a sensitivity reader or diversity editor, you need to have a keen knowledge of the diversity topics such as culture, disability, ethnicity, or gender.
You should also have the ability to detect whether a book contains stereotypes or if the author is trying to pass on a message of hate.
To get clients as a sensitivity reader, you need to position yourself as one by starting a dedicated portfolio website. You can also look for jobs on Upwork or pitch publishers directly, who can then connect you to interested authors.
10) Start a book review blog, and monetize it.
Today, there is a big demand for book reviews as readers and writers can’t decide which books are worth reading without a good review.
If you have a passion for reviewing books, start your own blog and publish captivating reviews that have readers coming back for more.
By launching a dedicated blog on your favorite reading topic, you will gain more reputation and become one of the best reviewers online.
Make sure that you provide in-depth reviews of new and classic books, including plot summarization, a discussion of the themes, characters summary, and even your own opinion.
What’s most important, though, is your voice. This is what sets you apart from the rest. To get people to come back to your blog time and again, you need to have a great writing style and be very knowledgeable about the books you are reviewing.
As your blog grows, you can start monetizing it through different models:
- Paid reviews where authors pay you to read and write honest reviews about their books
- Affiliate marketing where you add links to sites like Amazon kindle where readers can purchase a copy of the book that they just read the review of.
11) Get paid to read books to kids at schools or libraries
Another great way to make money reading books is by becoming a reading tutor for kids.
Parents are aware that their kids can’t read as well as they should be able to, and that’s why many schools offer after-school tutoring for struggling learners.
At these sessions, you will mostly be working with younger children from kindergarten to first grade. If you have a good imagination and can make a story come alive, this job is for you…
To get a job like this, you need to contact local school districts or your state’s department of education and find out where and how they recruit reading tutors. You can also approach individual schools in your area and seek tutoring jobs.
