If you are an ardent reader, then I am sure you will get amazed to know that you can get paid to read books.
Reading books is a great way to learn new things and expand your awareness of any subject. When I was young, I used to read a lot, but little did I know that I can even get paid to read books online.
Well, today! That is a legit and popular side gig, especially if you are a book lover. However, the secret is, you review the books you read and make money as a book reviewer.
Books are published regularly, the market for them is enormous and growing, so book reviewers are always in high demand.
Whether you love fiction, nonfiction, love & romance, science & technology books, publishers are willing to compensate if you publish your honest reviews for them.
So, you can become a book reviewer and earn cash for your opinion on the books you read. Some publishers prefer giving free books instead of money. Most of the time, they send free books to read; you get to keep them to yourself, and in return, put your reviews in public.
Now, without further ado, let’s dive into the list of the best sites that will help you get paid to read books. I will also share the list of websites that offer free books in exchange for your opinion.
Get Paid To Read Books – 15 Websites That Pay The Reviewers
Here is the list of websites that pay you to review books with cash sent via PayPal, bank deposit, or check.
1- The US Review of Books
The US Review of Books offers a wide range of opportunities for reviewers. The site posts book titles periodically. Members can then choose which titles they like to review.
They expect reviewers to put 250 to 300 words long, follow the Chicago Manual of Style, including facts, and review directed at the book and not the author.
As a reviewer, you can include a book summary, insights, and quotes from the book. The company doesn’t allow casual tones when writing the review.
Reviewers must submit their work within 2-3 weeks after accepting the job.
To apply as a freelance reviewer, you must email your resume, sample book review, and at least two professional references.
The website doesn’t have any information on the amount of payment. However, the site claims that reviewers get paid monthly.
2- Online Book Club
The website offers the opportunity for authors to promote their books and receive quick and honest feedback on their work.
New members initially review books without pay. However, if the reviews often prove to pass the standards, they will start sending paid opportunities.
Reviewers receive free books and $5 to $60, depending on the experience and the genre of the book.
3- Wellesley Centers For Women
Wellesley Centers For Women is a program aimed to collect and publish reviews. It is one of the oldest book review systems in place and has been around for over 35 years.
WRB doesn’t publish a list of book titles. However, to be a reviewer, you can email your sample review along with your resume, cover letter, and samples of previously published work. The company accepts the applications regularly.
WRB pays the writers once they publish the review. Besides, the reviewers also receive a PDF of the issue in which their feedback appears. As a reward, the reviewers win a one-year free subscription to the magazine.
For more information, refer to these writers’ guidelines.
4- Kirkus Media
Kirkus Media regularly hires copywriters and editors for its publications. They also look for book reviewers’ expert in English or Spanish languages.
The company looks for 350-word reviews which they publish on Kirkus Indie, a section of the magazine that features self-published or indie authors.
To join the panel of Kirkus reviewers, you must submit your resume, writing samples, topic preferences, and books you like to review.
The website doesn’t disclose any information about the payment. However, some past and current reviewers claim that they earn around $50 per review.
5- Booklist Online
Booklist Online is the American Library Association’s book review magazine that publishes over 8,000 book reviews every year. These are helpful for librarians from all over the US in selecting books for their shelves.
As a reviewer, you get paid to read books. You must write and submit 175 words reviews. You can extend this up to 225 words, but you need the editor’s approval to do so.
To apply, send your resume and writing samples to the editor.
They pay reviewers $15 for accepted reviews and $5 for rejected ones.
6- Reedsy Discovery
Reedsy is a marketplace of publishing professionals that helps new authors self-publish their works.
Being a reviewer at Reedsy is an excellent way to get paid to read books by aspiring authors.
If you are interested, fill out this form on the website.
Reedsy Discovery doesn’t pay a fixed amount for the reviews, but readers of your opinion can voluntarily donate.
7- Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly is a go-to place for all the authors who want their books to get public.
They don’t list book reviews often at the career page but do list look for copyeditors and editors continuously. If you are interested in reviewing books, PW is the best training ground.
They have a mix of non-fiction and fiction books, both from traditionally published authors and indies.
To apply as a book reviewer, send your resume and a sample of any previously published book review.
The website doesn’t show any payment details, but they do pay reviewers some monetary rewards.
8- Writerful Books
Writerful Books accept book reviews for novels from American, Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, and New Zealand authors.
New reviewers begin as non-paid, but those who have proven skills in providing in-depth, fair, and non-libelous reviews can level up to paid status.
As a reviewer, you get paid to read books. They pay reviewers $10 to $50 depending on the length of the book and how in-depth reviews are.
They also reward top reviewers with a $100 Amazon gift voucher.
9- Any Subject Books
The company pays for honest reviews from freelance book reviewers. If they accept your application, they’ll contact you with a summary of the book.
If you accept the assignment, you must read the book and then complete the review form with your thoughts and analysis.
Pay varies depending on several factors, including the word count of the book.
10- New Pages
The company is looking to hire reviewers that can write a spirited, engaging review in easy-to-read yet intelligent language.
New Pages is an internet portal to small presses, independent publishers and bookstores, and literary magazines. They look for short book reviews between 100 and 200 words on any recent literary magazine or book that you have read.
If you are interested in a reviewer position with them, you can sign up to send them suggestions of books you’d like to read or write a review on, and they will send you a copy of the book.
11- Instaread
Instaread is more about writing book summaries that should be around 1000 to 1500 words.
As a reviewer, you get paid to read books. The company compensates your efforts and pays $100 for each summary.
12- getAbstract
Similar to Instaread, getAbstract pays you to write book summaries.
They pay on a project basis. To apply, go through the website to get further details.
13- AgentQuery
This site offers authors a place to find literary agents; however, non-author members can also reach out to agents and find out if they would collaborate with a book reviewer.
The site also occasionally posts book review opportunities.
14- PublishersMarketplace
With PM, you can peruse the site’s extensive job board and usually find at least a handful of ways to get paid to read books each week.
You can also contact literary agents about working with them directly.
15- BookBrowse
BookBrowse is an online magazine with some of the best fiction and nonfiction titles.
As a reviewer, you get paid to read books. The company claims to pay $50 for reviews of about 600 words.
To write book reviews for BookBrowse, you must fill out a short form with some elementary information about you. You also must provide two sample book reviews of at least 300 words each.
Get Free Books For Your Reviews
If you are keen to review the books, many websites will give you copies of books free for your honest reviews.
Sometimes, you can even receive books that are not released yet.
There are several ways of doing it, and the most popular way is to get accepted into Amazon Vine.
Amazon Vine is an invitation-only program where only the most thoughtful reviewers on Amazon get accepted.
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Here are a few other websites where you can get free books for your reviews:
16- Springer
Springer allows access to online copies of books through its book product pages. You can find the books that interest you and read them online and post your reviews.
You can even reserve the books for the future if the books are not available for immediate review.
The company sends you an email notification once it has verified your submitted review. If you reviewed a newly published book, the company sends you an email with a link to order a free print copy.
They will send this free copy of the book at your registered address within two to three weeks.
17- Net Galley
Net Galley seeks the librarians, booksellers, educators, reviewers, and bloggers to read the books on the Net Galley site and write reviews for those books.
They give away digital copies of books for your reviews.
18- Moody Press
Moody Press sends free books to reviewers who own a blog and share their book reviews on that or a retailer site such as Amazon.
You can browse books available for review and choose them as per your interest.
Once you’ve made your selection, Moody sends the books to you within 7 to 10 days via U.S. Postal Service Media. You must submit your review within 60 of the receipt of the book.
19- Book Hub
Book Hub looks for reviewers to write a quick brief review on Amazon. The opinions only need to be a sentence or two about what you think of the book.
As a reward, the company sends you free copies of the books you review.
20- LibraryThing
The company has a program “LibraryThing Early Reviewers” that helps publishers distribute advance copies of books to interested readers for their reviews.
As a reviewer, you can sign up for the site and choose your books to review them. If selected, the publishers will send you free copies for your feedback.
21- Readers’ Favorite
Readers’ Favorite has over two thousand books in 150+ genres awaiting review at any given time.
Once you select a book, you can immediately download it to read and review. If the company approves your reviews, they will post them on Google Books, KOBO, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Apart from free books, every month, one lucky reviewer will win $100 in a raffle-style giveaway.
22- Lola’s Blog Tours
Lola’s Blog Tours is a blog website that promotes books from aspiring authors.
The bog organizes a wide variety of blog tours for both fiction and non-fiction books. Blog Tours are virtual book tours that take place on the book blog and social media pages and are a way for publishers to promote books.
If you are a member, you can request books of your interest, read it, and write reviews.
23- Bethany House
Bethany House chooses reviewers on a first-come, first-served basis. The company sends out both a fiction and a non-fiction list of books available for review each month.
Approved reviewers who respond first get a book copy for reviewing purposes.
As a reviewer for Bethany House, you must write reviews at least 75 words, and publish the review both on your blog and on a retailer website such as Amazon.
24- Chicago Book Review
The Chicago Book Review looks for dedicated and well-qualified reviewers.
If you love writing thoughtful and detailed book reviews, consider sending your resume and writing samples.
If you get selected, the company sends you free books to review.
25- My Reader Rewards Club
My Reader Rewards Club is a rewards program from Tyndale Publishers and NavPress.
You can earn points for shopping on the websites and use your points to get free products, including books.
Other Ways To Earn Money For Book Lovers
Start A Book Blog
As a book reviewer, you write reviews and publish them on other sites. So why not release them on your own blog?
Starting a book blog maximizes your earnings as a reviewer because publishers are more likely to send you free books to review if you have your own blog.
Aside from book reviews, you can also write about your favorite books and how they’ve impacted you, your favorite authors, book quotes that inspire you, and much more.
Become A Audiobook Narrator
Audiobook narration is an industry that has been picking up in recent years. With so many books now being consumed through Audible and similar services, even self-publishers use such platforms.
To become an audiobook narrator, you need an influential voice, the ability to perform in different voices (training as a voice actor helps), and editing skills (most narrators do their own post-production file editing).
Audiobook narration also requires the right equipment, such as a microphone, a pop screen filter, good-quality headphones, a tablet or e-reader, and recording and editing software.
Work In The Book Publishing Industry
If you plan to move beyond passive income and turn your hobby into a full-time career, you can apply for jobs in the book publishing industry.
Here are some examples of positions you can apply for:
- Literary agent
- Literary scout
- Book editor
- Copy editor
- Art director
- Production editor
- Book marketer
- Publicist
- Book sales agent
- Translator
There are plenty of other jobs in the publishing industry. I recommend starting your job search in FlexJobs, and Bookjobs.com where you can find legitimate, hand-screened, flexible jobs in the book industry.
In Conclusion
There are several companies out there that pay people to read books. If you are a book lover, you can monetize this hobby of yours using any of the above resources mentioned.
Some websites don’t require you to be professional writers, but a few of them do.
My take is, to be a skilled reviewer, you need to have above-average writing skills since most publishers will ask you to send writing samples.
Reviewing books can’t earn you a substantial income unless you have a plan to work full time or part-time at a publishing house.
However, getting paid an extra $50 to $100 for your opinion about a book is a great way to earn side cash.
Besides, most of the book review sites will let you read and draft your review during your spare time and at your own pace.
So, all the book lovers out there, what are you waiting for?
Go ahead and grab your opportunities to explore, enjoy, read new books, and also make some side income.
That’s it from me. Now, it’s your turn to try websites and tips and share your feedback comments.
If you have questions, please feel free to reach out, I am glad to answer your queries!
Best of luck!
