What is Online Book Club?
Online Book Club is an online community for readers and authors. Started in 2011, the website claims to have over 3 million members and has provided opportunities for authors to get their work reviewed by others.
The site also helps readers discover new books to read, with reviews from other users to help inform their decision.
How Does Online Book Club Work
I would describe Online Book Club as a hybrid of both a review site and a book club. From the surface, the process seems simple enough: you create an account, write your review, and then get paid.
However, that’s not quite the case, according to Online Book Club reviews online.
To start getting paid reviews, you first need to have your first review approved and published. Once that’s done—assuming your review hits all their requirements—you can start taking on paid review projects.
Keep in mind that the site doesn’t pay you for your first review, regardless of the messaging used in the emails that they send you pressuring you to write the first review.
Online Book Club Pros
- You can read whatever you want. There are no requirements for what types of books you have to read or review, so you’re free to choose whichever books appeal to you.
- It’s a great way to read books for free. If you’re like me and don’t have a lot of money for purchasing new books, OBC is a fantastic option for finding new material to read without having to pay anything at all. And even get paid to leave your thoughts on the book you just read.
Online Book Club Cons
If you’re looking for a quick way to earn money, this isn’t it.
- Reviewing books can be fun, but it takes time and effort to read the book, and then write a good review. You are not going to earn much on this site, given that even if you commit to reading 4 books a month, that’s just $40 if you are lucky to get $10 per review, every time.
- The availability of books is also limited, so you might need to browse through the categories for weeks before finding one that interests you.
- The pay is ridiculously low compared to the work involved
- Editors undermine your work as most of them haven’t read the book in question. Some reviewers have claimed that editors do this on purpose to save the company from paying the full amounts per your level.
- The site is ripe with dishonest policies when it comes to compensating reviewers: Simple grammar errors like missing commas a whopping 10 points out of the possible hundred. Have four of them, and you are 40% off the full pay.
Online Book Club Payouts
Once the first review is approved and published, you can take on paid jobs. The pay is just $5 and you might not even get the full piece. They pay via PayPal only.
While they claim that the maximum payout is $60, it isn’t necessarily true. You will be starting at level 0 and can only earn a maximum of $5 per review.
Choosing a Book for Review
- When you first sign up, you will be given access to a list of books available for review. To get started, browse the list and find a book that looks interesting to you.
- Once you’ve chosen a book, click on it to learn more about it before requesting it.
- Set your preferences for the types of books you want (pdf, kindle book, epub, doc, Audible). Then click the “Request Book” button at the bottom of the screen.
- Once you make a selection in Step 2 above, you’ll receive an email with instructions on how to download your free copy of the book to your device or computer.
- You’ll need to confirm that have received the book by clicking on a link from within this email or logging into your account and updating your status for that particular book accordingly.
- If any issues arise during this process (e.g., maybe one of these free copies has expired), don’t hesitate to contact Online Book Club Support via their Contact Us page or email them at support@onlinebookclub org.
- Once verified, you’ll have 14 days to update the status. You’ll update the status by marking either that you’ve finished reading the book, you no longer wish to read the book, request an extension, or report an error.
Qualifying for Paid Reviews
To get paid, you need to qualify for a paid review. To qualify, you will need to have one unpaid review published before you become eligible for the “low-level” paid reviews, which are for $5.
If you make the mistake of reviewing other books before you get your first review approved and published, the rest of the reviews will be unpaid as well. So, simply submit your first review and wait until it is published or requested to modify.
Once it is approved by an Editorial Assistant (EA), go ahead and see what other books they have available that might interest you. If there’s something great available in your interest area then pick it and start working on it.
Online Book Club Reviews
What to Look for When Reading a Book for Review Purposes
As a reviewer for Online Book Club, you may encounter a number of books with different subject matters, genres, and audiences. Before you begin reading a book for review purposes, it’s important to be aware of some guidelines so that your review will be accurate and comprehensive.
Here are the things to look for in each book:
- Instances of profanity
- Erotic content
- Any errors in grammar/formatting/proofreading
- Religious affiliations that would influence readership
Things to Note
- Only choose books from the select button on the review score page. If it is not listed there you won’t get any credit for reading it.
- Reviews should be original and not published elsewhere.
- Reviews should be written in the first person
Online Book Club FAQs
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How much money can you make with Online Book Club?
How much money can you make with Online BooYou earn $5 for every book review you write as an entry-level reviewer. The pay increases as you move up the levels and access review jobs with better rates.
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Is Online Book Club a Scam?
No, Online Book Club is not a scam. People have been paid by them over the last few years. That said, people have claimed that the editors intentionally demean your work so as to pay you even lower rates.
Online Book Club Review: Is Onlinebookclub.org Worth It?
To answer the question, “Is Online Book Club.org worth it”, we gave this site a score of 2.7 out of 5 stars. As you can see from our review above, it is not worth your time as the work involved is a lot for measly payments.
If you still want to review books and get paid for it, then starting your own website is better. Sure, it will take you longer to start earning but with a reputable brand, you can start getting authors coming to you with sponsored opportunities.