This one is for book lovers! Guess what!? You can get paid to review books and earn extra money for you and your family! How cool is that, huh?
Yes, you read it right, people can get paid to review books. In fact, there are a lot of sites out there that pay people who read and review books, which, by the way, what I am going to share with you in a bit.
I love reading. I actually started my passion for reading since I was a kid. My mom is the one who influenced me with reading books. I remember when I was still little, she would read to me goodnight stories. As early as six years old, I already had the habit of reading.
I read almost everything, but specifically, I love fiction books, as well as business and self-help books. Oh, don’t get me wrong, there is totally nothing wrong with me, I just love gaining more knowledge on how to be a better version of myself.
Anyway, you know what they say, reading makes you smarter and builds your confidence up? Well, I do agree. I mean, you get a lot of benefits from reading. Apart from gaining knowledge, you also get to broaden your vocabulary, thus, making you a better speaker and writer.
By the way, I do have my share of a list of favorite authors. Oh, and when someone’s a personal favorite, expect me to collect all of his or her books. Talk about Max Lucado, Paolo Coelho, Mitch Albom, and the list goes on and on and on.
So, imagine how I got thrilled when I learned about these sites that pay people to review books! I mean, hello!? You get to earn money while doing exactly what you love to do! How cool that is, right!? I know, do you feel the excitement? Well, you should! Because I tell you it is so worth it! I mean, why wouldn’t it be worth it, right?
You probably are wondering why in the world would anyone want to read and review books!? Well, the answer is very simple, you get paid from doing what you love, at the same time you get lots of benefits from reading (which some I already mentioned a while ago). Actually, only fellow book lovers will understand why the idea is very exciting.
So, without further ado, let me share with you some of the sites wherein you can get paid to review books. Let me just say though that below are particularly paying people on cash basis (I know! That is extra thrilling!).
Here we go…
Book Review Sites that Pay
- The U.S. review of Books
The U.S. review of Books is actually a company that publishes book reviews. The company caters to different types of books – as in like books of different styles and genres. The U.S. review of Books has such a huge demand for book reviewers. In fact, they regularly seek for book reviewers to write a 250 to 300-word reviews of books for publication available on its own company site.
This is how it goes, once the company post the available books for review on their website, hired reviewers will then have to request to be accepted as a certain book’s reviewer. Once accepted, and the review is returned, the person gets to be paid on a monthly basis for everything that he or she has completed during the previous month.
What I like about it is that you can indicate the specific book you would like to review on. The company assigns titles based on the order of request. They also take into consideration if the reviewer fits for the skill set.
Now, every reviewer is given two to three weeks to complete the book review.
Regarding the pay, it is actually not listed on their site. However, it is indicated that reviewers get their payment every fifth of the month. Oh, and you will love this perk – you get the books for free! I actually thought I can build my own library or a secondhand book shop out of doing this job. What do you think? Just kidding.
- Women’s Review of Books
Feminists will sure love this site. Well, as the name suggests, the Women’s Review of Books is a publication that specifically offers to review books that are authored by women and do talk about women.
This is not quite surprising thought because, in fact, this site is based out of the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College, in collaboration with Old City Publishing, which is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
To be a book reviewer for Women’s Review of Books, you got to submit a cover letter, your resume, as well as samples of published reviews.
The site specifically looks for reviewers who meet deadlines and with a high value of professionalism. In addition, to qualify as a reviewer for Women’s Review of Books, you got to be an experienced reviewer, a journalist, or someone who works or belongs to the academics.
With regard to their pay rate, Women’s Review of Books pays $100 for published reviews. Now that is really exciting, right?
- Online Book Club
If you love reading and discovering new writers/authors, then Online Book Club is a good pick.
What I like about this site is the fact that they offer not just payments but they also send free books (shipping cost is free also) too to their book reviewers. Just so you know, the website is designed to help both pro and up and coming authors promote their work. With the Online Book Club, they encourage truthful and honest book reviews.
Online Book Club pay their reviewer $5 to $60 depending on the length of the book, as well as the experience of the book reviewer. So, yeah, the more experienced you are as a book reviewer, the higher you pay is.
Please do take note though that new members of Online Book Club won’t get paid for their first few reviews, but will enjoy receiving books for free. It’s the site’s one way of checking if the reviewer is perfectly fit for the company. Don’t worry though because eventually, after the site checks your previous work, you will get paid accordingly.
- Publishers Weekly
If you are not particular about the kind of book that you read, then, you might want to consider working for Publisher’s Weekly, which is actually a news magazine that is dedicated to the publishing business, featuring articles from bestsellers lists down to industry statistics kind of books.
Publisher’s Weekly’s book reviews cover a wide variety of book genres, which include Science Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Comics & Graphic Novels, Horror, American History, Christian Living, Occult, Indigenous Spirituality, Sports, Entertainment, Psychology, Ecology, and Memoir.
If you are interested to work as a book reviewer for Publisher’s Weekly, you will have to send in your resume along with your previous work and a 200-word review of a book that is published recently.
Unlike other sites though, the site’s hired reviewers are paid a weekly honorarium. It is not specified though how much the honorarium costs.
- Any Subject Books
Any Subject Books looks for serious reviewers with an analytical mind. If you think you have what it takes, then do apply now and get paid to review books!
For those who run their own book-review blog, or may have had an experience publishing reviews on sites such as Goodreads and Amazon, I highly recommend getting affiliated with Any Subject Books.
To become a book reviewer for Any Subject Books, all you have to do is send in your application through their site. Once your application is accepted, you will get to receive offers of books to review from Any Subject Books. The offers come in a case to case basis.
What I find nice about Any Subject Books is that you get to decide whether or not you will work on the book. Yes, you can always pass if you find a book as not in line with your personal interest or you just do not have time to work on it.
With regards to the payment, it varies on a book-by-book basis, which basically means if the book is shorter, then that means you get to receive a lower pay rate. But if the book is longer, then that means bigger pay.
- Kirkus Media
If you are some who wants to get paid to review books, at the same time, hoping to get your work featured in a magazine, then Kirkus Media is definitely the best option for you.
Kirkus Media specializes in book reviews. In fact, they continuously hire reviewers to read and write book reviews. In particular, they require a 300-word count book review among their reviewers.
As part of their hiring process, to be a book reviewer for the site, you have to submit your updated resume, your writing samples (pick the best reviews you have ever written), and also include a list of reviewing specialties, experience, or talents to the email address provided on their website.
Kirkus Media is open for book reviewers who can write book reviews of both English and Spanish language titles.
Now, as I mentioned, the reviews are published. You will get to see them via Kirkus Indie, a section of the book review magazine that particularly focuses on self-published authors.
Kirkus Media requires at least around 350-word count and should be submitted two weeks after receiving the assigned titles.
Like other sites, how much they pay their book reviewers are not disclosed online. So, if you are curious about how much you may get from working for this company, you may want to apply first.
- OnceWritten
Get paid to review books with OnceWritten. If you write well and you get to compose a unique book review, then this might be a good fit for you. OnceWritten requires at least a 350-word count book review.
Just so you know, the reviews submitted to OnceWritten are published on their website’s Book Reviews Page, as well as in its Off the Press Newsletter. I guess it is every book reviewer’s dream to see their work not just in one platform but two, right?
Unlike other sites that require honest and truthful reviews, OnceWritten only accepts book recommendations, which basically means you are not allowed to write negative comments about the book. So, if you think this will limit you as a writer or if you are not fond of writing book recommendations, then maybe you are a better fit for other book review sites.
As with the pay rate, the site pays $5 per book review. Yes, quite low compared to other sites we previously mentioned. Nonetheless, it still is money, right?
- Booklist Online
Booklist Online is tagged as a book review magazine that is published by the American Library Association. Yes, it is a super legit site. It is actually used primarily to help librarians with selecting books and advising readers.
On a yearly basis, Booklist Online publishes a total of around 8,000 book reviews. Imagine how huge their requirements are! No doubt why they need a lot of book reviewers. According to Booklist itself, they refer to themselves as “the haiku of book reviewing”. When it comes to their word count requirements, all of its reviews are only max out at a 175-word count. But in cases when the books are really good, and the reviewer wants to make several points about it, he or she is allowed to write a review of up to 225 words. However, this needs the editor’s approval first.
If you think Booklist is for you, you may want to check their guidelines posted on their site and then send them an email along with your writing samples.
Booklist Online pay $15 per book review, and guess what? Even if your review gets rejected, you still get paid for $5. Not bad at all, right?
- Upwork
I know what you are thinking. You are probably wondering why Upwork is on my list. Well, as you may know, Upwork is a popular online freelancing network that connects freelancers and clients from all over the world.
Upwork publishes thousands of job listings including book reviewers’ jobs. So yeah, if you are looking for one, apart from checking the above-mentioned websites, you may also consider checking out Upwork for possible work review jobs.
There you have it! Those are just nine of the many sites wherein you can get paid to review books.
Furthermore, I just find it necessary to share with you as well some tips on how to be a book reviewer and get paid well. With that said, please see below some tips for you:
– Read and review a lot.
The very first thing of course that you have to do is to read. I believe an effective book reviewer is someone who reads – well, not just read but is passionate about reading. When you are passionate about it, reviewing becomes a lot easier. It’s like the ideas come naturally.
Now, before getting into a real book reviewing the job, you may want to do a practice or trial through Goodreads or Amazon. By doing so, you get to practice your writing and eventually master the art of book reviewing.
– Develop your own book review platform.
Once you feel confident already about writing reviews, you may want to start developing a site of your own where you can publish your book reviews. You may put up a blog or you may use platforms like BookSneeze wherein the site gets to publish your work, and in return, give you free books! Personally, I prefer websites like BookSneeze, because who does not like receiving free books, right?
– Keep your documents in one file.
Generally, sites that offer paid book reviews require submission of a cover letter, your resume, and sample works. So, before even starting, make sure you gather everything and place them in one file or folder. I highly recommend choosing your best book reviews – particularly the ones in which your ideas just flow and your passion is clearly seen. Save everything in a PDF file. Keep it handy, which means apart from saving the file on your laptop or computer, you may also keep a copy of your email or your smartphone.
Now, if you own a blog review site, make sure you send the link as well along with the documents required.
– Pursue getting into paid book reviewing jobs.
For any book reviewer, the ultimate goal is to have their work published in a magazine or for a specific leader in the industry. But as you gear towards that goal, start off by becoming a paid book reviewer online. This way, you get to build your credentials, you get to practice writing book reviews and hone your skills more, and of course, you get paid to review books!
Final Words
Come to think about it, you get to do something that you are passionate about, you get to have some perks (free books!), and ultimately, you get paid to review books. Personally, it is like heaven to me. I mean, you get the best of both worlds, right?
To end, I highly recommend this to those who love reading and writing reviews. I swear, it is super worth it.
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