Reading books can be the best productive thing you can do for yourself. Not only do you get knowledge out of it, and it also gives you fresh perspectives to look at the world.
But, wouldn't it also be awesome if you could also get paid to read your favourite books? While it may sound like a dream for many, but if you happen to be a Bibliophile, you are in luck.
That's right!
There are many websites that will pay you even $1000 just to read books. So if you are a true bookworm and this sounds interesting to you, keep reading as I explain how you can get paid to read books in the comfort of your home.
How to Get Paid to Read Books?
Getting paid for reading is easier than you may have thought, but you need to know how to get started. There are many websites that offer cash compensations, while some offer Amazon gift cards as well. Though it may not become an active full-time income, you can certainly consider it a passive income source to help you with your daily expenses.
Most people also agree that your reading habits also reflect your writing style, which can be an added advantage because many websites also need you to write a small review once you finish reading a book. Apart from this, a couple of websites ask you to share your own experience compared to traditional book reviews for better compensation.
Overall, it's a win-win situation for any bookworm where you are learning something new and making money in the process. However, keep in mind that this will never be your full-time income source, so don't get too involved in the monetary aspect and keep your focus on learning new things and self-growth.
Let's get started with the list:
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Get Paid to Read Books
Let's start with the websites that are offering money or other coupon-based incentives to read and review books.
#1. Kirkus Media
Kirkus Media is a renowned website to make a decent income by sharing your book reviews. Their reviews are so popular and well trusted even websites like Amazon rely on their services.
As these reviews carry the most trust values, Kirkus has a firm review policy on what is being posted on their website. To get selected, you need to complete the application on their website and upload your recent updated CV and a few writing samples.
Once selected, you can submit genuine reviews for 350 words and above. Kirkus media pays quite a decent payment for each review. However, the amount can vary based on the nature and volume of the book.
Kirkus accepts English and Spanish language reviews for genres like fiction, thrillers, history and more.
#2. Reedsy Discovery
Reedsy Discovery is another excellent website that helps reviewers access hundreds of books for free even before publication. So if you are a genuine reviewer, you can grab this opportunity to earn money while you read a book.
Reedsy offers a solid platform where authors can directly contact the reviewers and ask them to review their publications. Once you get accepted, you can instantly start publishing your reviews. Apart from this, you can also earn from the tips $1- $ from authors as tokens of appreciation.
#3. Online Book Club
Online Book Club is a ten-year young website with over one million active members. As a member, this website will let you access free books in exchange for doing book reviews.
To get started, you need to apply as a book reviewer. Once you get approved, you will be eligible to get paid for your book reviews. There are no hidden charges or terms and conditions to participate in book reviewing. Your earning potential will depend on the effort you will put.
As a reviewer, you are expected to share your honest review. This means you are free to share your genuine review and not restricted to share only positive thoughts. The pay rate for each review can be from $5 to $60.
#4. Book Browse
Book Browse is a great website for a bibliophile. The website has a membership program called ‘First Impressions’ that will let you access free ARCs well before its original publication. However, since there are limited copies, you must be a renowned reviewer with a good record of legit comments.
To get started, you need to create your account now and go through the approval process.
#5. Women’s Review of Books
Women’s Review of Books is a renowned feminist print publication that shares reviews of various genres like graphic novels, fiction, poetry, and many more.
To get started, you need to fill your application and get qualified. Keep in mind, WRB writers are highly qualified, top scholars, authors and journalists. So you need to be well educated and qualified to get accepted as a reviewer. The platform pays up to $100 for each review.
#6. Publishers Weekly
Publishers weekly or PW and is a weekly news magazine that focuses on the international book publishing business.
This magazine has a larger audience of booksellers, librarians, publishers, authors, the media, and many others. So if you are a reviewer, this platform will give you a perfect opportunity to connect with a larger audience and share your opinions.
Get Paid to Read Books Out Loud
If writing review is not something you are interested in, you can work as a voiceover artist and read books aloud. However, you must have a decent voice quality, knowledge of narrating a story with clarity to create podcasts with your voice.
Some leading companies even pay $15-$35+ per hour for reading books aloud. Let's take a look at them.
#7. ACX
ACX is a renowned marketplace where publishers and authors can connect with different recording studios and narrators. The platform gives you an excellent opportunity to create audiobooks and sell them online for attractive pay rates. Apart from this, you can also earn royalties from every sale your narrated audiobooks make on the platform.
To get started, you need to record your audiobook and get it approved by the book author. Post this approval, you can distribute the audio file on leading platforms like Audible. Itunes and Amazon.
#8. Voice Bunny
Voice Bunny is another trusted website where you can show your talent and make money at attractive hourly rates. The platform has multiple job options to choose from, such as audio ads, voice-over, podcasts, and translations.
You need to create an account and go through a voice test, which is part of the review process to get started. Once selected, you can apply for the various jobs or assignments mentioned on the website.
The website pays a fixed hourly rate for your work, but the good thing is you can set the rate yourself. Once you successfully finish a couple of projects and earn good reviews, you will be eligible for higher hourly rates for your work.
#9. Brilliance Audio
Brilliance Audio is under the parent company Amazon and one of the leading companies in audiobooks. The platform gives you access to different genres of books. You have the flexibility to select your preferred genre and work with that.
The approval process is almost similar to other platforms. Once your sample audio file is approved, you can directly interact with authors on the website and fix a pay rate. Once you get a couple of positive reviews, you will get regular assignments from this platform.
#10. The Voices
The Voice lets you create voiceovers for multiple industries like advertising, audiobooks, broadcasting, animation, radio, podcasts, and many more. However, you need to have a premium account on their platform to work on the assignments.
To start, you need to apply with your sample voice or audio file. Once selected, you can connect further with different clients.
The Voice pay by hourly rates, which you can negotiate with your client and fix as per the timeline and type of the assignment. All the payments are made through a secure channel called SurePay.
Apps to Get Paid to Read Books
Most of us now have access to mobile phones, which makes it even easier to explore different income opportunities and make money online using just your smartphone. One such income opportunity is reading books.
Here is a list of few mobile apps that will let you make money by reading different books:
#11. BookYap
BookYap is an excellent place for finding self-help books. As a reviewer, you can write in-depth reviews to help buyers decide if the book is worth buying.
BookYap has a team of expert reviewers who reviews these books and provide their expert opinions. Periodically, they hire new people for their team. To get started, you have to upload your latest updated resume and apply.
Once selected, you need to structure your reviews based on three critical criteria: 1. If the book you are reviewing is up-to-date with all the facts 2. If the book is providing an educational value to its readers, and 3. The takeaway from the book i.e how the book will help the reader in achieving his goal.
#12. Scribd
Scribd is another popular app and website where readers can access multiple eBooks and audiobooks. Scribd hires proofreaders and book reviewers to review all the popular books for reasonable compensation.
As a reviewer, you are expected to read a book and provide genuine reviews for books after reading.
#13. Wattpad
Wattpad is a global multi-platform entertainment company 90 million+ active monthly visitors. This is one of the best platforms available online where you can exhibit your writing skills.
They have their mobile application to download and review different kinds of books. As a member, you can download and review different types of books to get recognized by platform members. Wattpad invites most popular reviewers for brand collaborations and to work directly with Wattpad Studios and Wattpad Books.
#14. Goodreads
Goodreads is another well-known website for book readers to find and share popular books. In addition, you can also get free ARCs for doing book reviews. To start as a book reviewer, you need to send your updated CV with your writing sample.
To get accepted in the platform, your profile must be well qualified and match their selection criteria.
Get Paid To Read Audiobooks
With the increased Global Audiobook market, the demand for voice-over artists has grown significantly over the last few years. So if you happen to be a good orator, you can make decent earnings by being a voice-over artist and reading audiobooks.
Let's see a couple of websites that are offering voice-over artists job opportunities:
#15. Voice123.com
Voice123 is one of the best platforms to find voice actors and clients. Since 2003, more than 250,000 projects have been submitted and delivered by the professionals of this fantastic platform. The website allows you to browse and filter professional voice-over artists based on their profiles and work samples before they are actually hired.
To get started, you need to complete the application process by filling in the invitation link’s details. Once selected, you can participate in different auditions to negotiate for price and work.
Voice123 will charge a 20% share from your approved orders as commission. The overall project pay can vary based on the requirements and clients.
#16. Fiverr.com
Fiverr is a popular freelancing platform where you bag multiple voice-over jobs; once you sign up on this platform, you can search for the open projects where clients are looking for voice-over artists. Apart from that, you can also list your voice over gigs and let them know about your services. To make your profile reach the clients, you can also submit a few sample works. This will increase your profile visibility and increase your chance of getting good projects from your clients.
As a freelancer, you have the option to provide competitive rates to your clients and customize your gig offering. However, Fiverr will charge a 20% commission from your each order income.
#17. Freelancer
Freelancer is another renowned platform where you can earn as a voice-over artist for books. However, Freelancer will charge 10 per cent commission on your every transaction.
#18. PeoplePerHour
People Per Hour is another popular website with 3 million rated freelancers in over 8,766 skills. You can find genuine clients on this platform who are actively looking for different voice-over artists for their audiobooks.
Once you register on this website, you can post your gigs with sample files for review. Once potential clients find a match with your profile, you can work with them on an hourly or task basis.
#19. Podcasts
Podcasts are another excellent income opportunity for Bibliophiles. There are many clients across multiple platforms looking for freelancers with this skill. If you are a subject matter expert for topics with high demand in the market, you can make a decent earning from it. However, your payment might vary based on the project and client budget.
#20. Findaway Voices
Findaway Voices is one of the easiest ways to make money with audiobooks. To get started, you have to register as a voice-over artist. After that, the platform gives you a huge opportunity to connect with potential clients all across the globe and bag the right jobs which match your skill.
Other Full-Time Careers For Book Readers
#26. Author
You can also leverage your reading knowledge in writing short stories or novels. If you are unsure if this will work, you can probably start with short stories on a topic you are most comfortable with. Then, once you build some trust and popularity, you can easily reach out to different publishers and collaborate with them.
Being an author makes you money and allows you to reach out to a more significant number of readers in the long run, provided you are working with the right publishers.
#27. Editor
An editor is the best judge of content and its overall structure. They know exactly which section needs modification or complete rewriting to make it look relevant. Reading books regularly can also build these skills that you can put to use to make money online.
But keep in mind, you need to have a solid understanding of content, plot background, writing, and most importantly, communication skills. A professional degree in communication, journalism, English, or creative writing can give you an advantage in this area.
#28. Proofreader
The scope of proofreaders is somewhat limited compared to editors. However, when it comes to finding grammar, punctuation, spelling, and format errors in a document, they are the best for this job.
If you easily spot these types of mistakes while reading books, you can make a great career out of it. In fact, the more you read books, you can develop this skill further.
As a proofreader, you can work for different authors, leading magazines and publishers, and the best part is that the market has always demands for good proofreaders.
Also Read:
#29. Blogger
Not only knowledge, but reading books also help you enhance your writing skill as well. You can further leverage that writing skill in setting up a blog and make money from it.
Blogging is one of the most profitable ways to make money online. Once your blog is up and running, you can monetize it further using sponsored posts, ads and joining different affiliate programs.
If you are interested in starting your own blog read our detailed guide on Starting a Blog.
#30. Librarian
For many of you, it might sound boring, but being a librarian will be like a dream come for you if you are a bookworm. As a librarian, you will access thousands of journals, books, articles, research papers. What could be better if you could earn money by doing something you actually like.
However, you need to have a professional degree in BLISc or BLIB to qualify as a librarian.
Can You Really Make Money Reading Books?
Yes, it's possible! Many book readers worldwide have made this possible by making book reading a full-time income source.
Reading books has a few other advantages as well. Reading books regularly, especially self-help and management books, can change your lifestyle and leave create positive energy.
You can also think of creating your YouTube Channel to share your knowledge or review books. Having YouTube Channel can also help you earn additional income through ad revenue and paid sponsorships.
Wrapping Up
That's all for this post! Getting paid to read books is undoubtedly one of the unique ways to make some additional income online. Even if you have a full-time job, you can still consider this as a side hustle and earn extra income out of it.
Throughout this post, we have shared a few websites and Applications where you can get started. However, apart from these, many offline publications out there who frequently need book reviewers and proofreaders. Keep an eye on the online job portals and local directories for such job listings.
Happy reading!
If you are looking for more make money online options, I suggest you read our detailed guide-35+ Best Ways to Make Money Online .