Looking for ways through which you can Earn money by reading books? This is detailed guide where you will get to know how to get paid for reading books.
Reading is one such thing that freshens the mind and soul and provides immense pleasure to the one doing so. It is truly said, ‘’A book is a gift you can open again and again’’ and no one can actually say this.
A true bibliophile knows the true worth and importance a book holds and how reading can actually make a major difference in a person’s life forever.
In this era, traditional book reading habits have started to diminish, with only a meager portion of the population still into book reading.
Thus, to provide an incentive to the masses, different book reading apps have evolved over time that provides rewards in terms of money to the people reading books through them, which actually is a great initiative to rekindle the spirit of book reading amongst everyone, especially the youth of today.
How to earn money through reading books
There exist a few ways through which one can earn money while reading books, such as:
1. Proofreading: It is an easy way of earning money through reading, which includes pointing out the mistakes in terms of grammatical, punctuation, spelling, syntax, structural errors, etc., and rectifying them.
2. Read books aloud: There are a few sites that pay you for reading books aloud, with voice modification and proper narration of the content.
For example, VoiceBunny is a voiceover platform for producers, narrators, podcasters, playwrights, etc. who can earn easy money by reading books aloud. They get rewarded with points, for each minute of audio completion.
3. Book Review: It is yet another way of earning while reading. It comprises reading a book and describing or summarizing it on the basis of style, content, and appeal.
It is quite similar to a literary review, where the latter comprises going through numerous pieces of work and compiling the crux in a single review.
4. Apps paying for reading books: There are numerous apps that actually pay you for reading books, that’s amazing, isn’t it? These apps pay you for reading books through them which influences you to read more and more with the intent to earn more, thereby developing and inculcating a proper reading habit.
Let’s get to know about these apps in detail.
14 Best Ways to Earn money by reading books
Following are some of the top book-reading and money-earning apps:
Kirkus Media
Overall Rating: 4/5
Kirkus Media, founded by Virginia Kirkus (1933) is best known for its Kirkus Reviews, an American book review magazine. It includes reviewing books, writings, etc., and getting paid accordingly.
Reedsy Discovery
Overall Rating: 3/5
Reedsy, founded in 2014, is one of the emerging platforms for authors and book reviewers to publish their pieces of work, get books reviewed and earn money by doing so.
Book Browse
Overall Rating: 5/5
Book Browse is an online magazine as well as a website that offers services like author interviews, book previews and reviews, and a reading aid.
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1. Kirkus Media:
Kirkus Media, founded by Virginia Kirkus (1933) is best known for its Kirkus Reviews, an American book review magazine. It includes reviewing books, writings, etc., and getting paid accordingly.
Pay: As a freelancing book reviewer, you can expect to earn up to $60 per book or piece of writing.
However, the quality and expertise of book reviewing also play an important role in determining the pay.
How to apply: Currently, Kirkus Media is looking for skilled and experienced book reviewers of English and Spanish languages to review for Kirkus Indie.
Reviews are generally 350 words due after assigning the book to the individual. Kirkus basically reviews every single genre of books, of every length, and in every format.
In order to apply for Kirkus Media Book Reviewing, send your CV, sample writing, and file of reviewing specifics to Kirkus Indie Editor, David Rapp at Drapp@kirkus.com.
2. Reedsy Discovery:
Reedsy, founded in 2014, is one of the emerging platforms for authors and book reviewers to publish their pieces of work, get books reviewed and earn money by doing so.
Pay: The pay system is a bit different in Reedsy. Herein, book enthusiasts can earn money by reading and reviewing books.
All you have to do is to enroll to read self-published books before any other person does so.
The payment method is not pay per review, rather you get tips in denominations of $1, $3, $5, and so on from those who go through your book review and appreciate it.
How to apply: In order to apply as a book reviewer at Reedsy, complete your basic profile or sign up using your social media account.
The next step would be a briefing about your work and experience in the field and performing some basic assignments and submitting it.
3. Book Browse:
Book Browse is an online magazine as well as a website that offers services like author interviews, book previews and reviews, and a reading aid.
It is independent of authors and publishers and does not promote and sell the books reviewed by it.
It provides free as well as premium content by virtue of a subscription.
Pay: The payment policy of Book Browse is not specifically mentioned. However, it does say that the book reviewer gets a modest and byline payment depending on the quality and content of the book review.
How to apply: In order to apply as a book reviewer at Book Browse, fill in the reviewer application form. The next step would be enumerating your work and experience in the field and performing some basic assignments and submitting it.
4. Online Book Club:
It is a great site for book lovers that has been around for about a decade and allows you to review books, and create, store and share books you’ve read and want to read.
It also organizes book forums wherein you can easily talk and discuss books, writings, etc. with other book enthusiasts.
Pay: The company is quite honest in terms of revealing its pay structure, stating that a book reviewer can expect to earn about $5-$60 per review, depending upon your expertise and the review is done, and can end up earning about $200 per month.
How to apply: To apply to Online Book Club, all you need to do is to enter your valid email address and prove that you’re human by following what is directed.
5. Any Subject Books:
Any Subject Books is a self-publishing service provided to authors, writers and book enthusiasts in general.
In addition, it hires book reviewers on a ‘Book to Book’ basis to help them review works of various genres, artists, etc.
Pay: The pay through Any Subject Books is not specified or fixed as such.
The pay scheme depends on the word count, quality, content, and merit of the book review done.
How to apply: In order to apply at Any Subject Books, all you need to do is to fill in your personal details and answer a few subjective questions, and submit your response.
6. Upwork:
Upwork is an American freelancing platform that allows clients to interview, hire and work along with freelancers and related agencies through it.
The client describes what they want and how much they are willing to pay for the work to be done.
Pay: There’s no specific answer as to how much you can earn through Upwork, as this depends on numerous factors like what you excel in, what rates are offered by the clients,
how appealing and worthy your proposals are, the level of competition in your area of expertise, how much you end up paying in commission fees, etc.
A few people build entire careers out of freelancing and earn an amazing package a year, whereas a few may never get a proposal accepted and give up before starting to earning
How to apply
First of all, identify and get to know your area of expertise and what services you can offer to the clients.
The next step is to develop your account and enhance your profile. Your profile should be attractive and catchy enough to convince the client about your skills and that you can pull anything off.
The last step would be to start sending proposals, describing what you can offer, how a specific outlook or characteristic makes you differ from other competitors, etc.
7. Booklist Publications:
Booklist is a publication of the ALA, i.e., the American Library Association.
It further comprises Booklist Magazines, Booklist Online, and Book Links Magazine.
It provides reviews of books, audiobooks, references, videos, and DVDs.
Pay: A book reviewer can earn up to $15 per book review through Booklist Publications.
The word count ranges from 150-175 words, but you should visit the website and go through the requisites to ensure clarity.
How to apply: You can apply to Booklist by filling in the questionnaire/document provided by them: Booklist Reviewer Application (Google.com)
8. ACX :
ACX is a platform where you can record a book and earn money. The books can be related to any genre which is sold on platform giants such as audible, amazon, and iTunes.
It is a great way of earning a good amount of money for book enthusiasts, who love and enjoy reading books, writings, etc.
Pay: There are two ways to earn money through ACX:
1. You can earn around $150-250 per hour by reading books on the platform, which in itself is an amazing deal. But the pay varies from person to person, depending on voice modulation, experience, quality of narration, etc.
2. You can also opt for royalty share, i.e., whenever a book is purchased, you automatically get 50% of the selling price, which again is a splendid offer.
How to apply: All you have to do is to develop your profile, attach a few writing samples depicting your original work and give a proper audition for the book you have opted to narrate.
For this, you have to record the given script in a few minutes. If your voice gets accepted, you will receive an offer, which means, you can start recording the book and earn money.
How to apply: All you have to do is to develop your profile, attach a few writing samples depicting your original work and give a proper audition for the book you have opted to narrate.
For this, you have to record the given script in a few minutes. If your voice gets accepted, you will receive an offer, which means, you can start recording the book and earn money.
9. Findaway:
Findaway Voices is quite similar to ACX, in the sense, it too pays you for narrating a book given you have the necessary skills and attributes.
It works the same way as ACX, wherein the author selects the specific narrator to narrate his piece of work.
Pay: A book narrator can earn a hefty amount, ranging from $150-300 per hour of narration. However, factors such as experience, quality of narration, voice modulation, and understanding of the notion of the writing play an important role in deciding the pay-out..
How to apply: Applying for Findaway Voices is pretty easy. All you have to do is to sign up, create your account, and complete and polish your portfolio.
Attach some of your best works as samples to attract and convince the authors/publishers to select you for the job.
10. Voices:
Voices is a job search platform meant for voice actors, dubbing artists, singers, narrators, etc. who aim to develop a career out of it.
It is spread over 160 countries, working with more than 220 languages. Renowned companies like Microsoft, Discovery, Cisco, Shopify, etc are its clients.
Pay: The pay structure at Voices differs through job roles. It basically depends upon the skills and performance of the individuals and thus, there is no set pay-out structure for job roles at Voices.
However, the job description gives an idea as to what amount of minimum salary can be expected.
How to apply: For becoming a narrator for an audiobook, you have to sign-up and complete setting up your profile. Do attach your best audio samples to impress and attract the recruiters/employers. After this, you can start auditioning for the available job positions.
11. Scribd:
Scribd is an American-based ebook and audiobook service platform which runs through a subscription-based mechanism.
It offers millions of reading content to its users and has emerged to be one of the top ebook and audiobook reading platforms.
Pay: Scribd allows authors to publish their books on its platform by charging a fee.
Whenever you read any ebook or audiobook, Scrib pays the full amount of the article to the author by virtue of the premium subscription amount that it charges from you.
Thus, revenue earned by Scribd through subscription is spread over to the authors whose work is read by the users.
How to apply: Applying at Scribd is quite easy. All you have to do is to sign-up and fill in your details. If you wish to become a premium user, pay the subscription fee and become one. However, it’s up to you whether you want to buy the premium membership or not.
12. Instaread:
Instaread is one of the top book emerging summary apps. Founded in 2014, it has grown manifold despite the increase in the number of similar summary apps.
Apart from summarizing non-fiction work, it also includes summaries of fiction work too.
It also offers Instaread Originals which is a special summary of a specific topic or personality. The USP of the app is its facility called ‘Cards’. Cards are quotes from a book that you can be bookmarked to read later.
Pay: You can earn up to $100 per summary of a given book through Instaread. In addition, you get extra 6 months of free premium membership by completing a book report/summary.
How to apply: Applying to Instaread isn’t free. You get a 7-day free trial which gives you full access to the app. As the tenure ends, you would be asked to pay $8.99 or $7.99 monthly (annual plan).
13. Netgalley:
Netgalley is a website that looks to provide digital galley book proofs, even of those which may not have been released yet.
It permits the users to search book and audiobook reviews on the basis of writers, authors, publishers, date of upload, genres, etc.
Pay: Unfortunately, Netgalley doesn’t pay you for reviewing books and other articles, but the galleys are free and you can also reach out to the publishers, and create a relationship with them which is a great thing being a book reviewer.
How to apply: It is quite easy to sign-up at Netgalley. Use your Google account and sign in and start reviewing books and articles of your choice.
14. Women’s review of the book:
Women’s review of the book is a highly reputed publication. It is one of the oldest and longest-running publications and is a part of Wellesley Centres of Women.
It deals in different genres including fiction, poetry, biographies, visual books, etc.
The writers who are a part of it are eminent and great academics, journalists, and vastly experienced reviewers.
Pay: You can expect to earn up to $100 per book review at Women’s review of books. However, it must be noted that the review must be quality rich, appropriate and honest in its essence.
How to apply: In order to apply as a book reviewer, send an email containing your personal details and a sample of your original writing work to the company’s mail address: info@oldcitypublishing.com
Conclusion
Reading books indeed is a great habit to develop, but when it gets combined with earning money, it definitely becomes a deadly combination, which a wise mind can’t help, but grab and utilize to the optimal level.
Thus, if you have a desire to get immersed in book reading and simultaneously earn some extra money for doing what you love, do check on the platforms, apps, and sites mentioned in the article and make a difference to yourself.
Frequently Asked Question
Q1. Which is the best way to earn money by reading books?
A1. There exist a few ways through which one can earn money while reading books, such as:
-Proofreading
-Reading book aloud
-Apps that pay for reading
-Book reviewing
-Amongst these options, Book reviewing is the most prominent and effective way to earn money by reading books through different platforms, apps, etc.
Q2. Can I get paid for reading books?
A2. Of course, you can definitely get paid for reading books. Following are a few sources through which you can earn money by reading books:
• Kirkus Media
• Reedsy Discovery
• Book Browse
• Online Book Club
• Any Subject Books
• Upwork
• Booklist Publications
• ACX
• Findaway
• Voices
• Scribd, etc.
Q3. Is money through reading books true?
A3. Yes indeed. Money through reading books is true. Many platforms (mentioned in answer 2.) pay book reviewers, publishers, and various artists to publish their work, review books, etc.
Q4. How can I make money while reading books?
A3. There are many platforms available that can help you to make money by reading books. Some of the foremost platforms have been highlighted above in the article. Be sure to check them out to learn more about this concept.
Q5. Does Amazon pay you to read books?
A5. No, Amazon does not pay you to read books. However, Amazon’s subsidiary, i.e. ACX by Audible, does pay you for reading books through its platform.
Here's the 15 ways to Earn money by reading books: