Billions of dollars flow into the reading world every year. Although many other forms of entertainment have emerged in recent years, reading remains among the top choices. In fact, technology has helped this field somewhat. Now you can read anywhere, no longer carrying the weight of books in your backpack but using ebooks instead. Or even better, listening to audio books by your favourite writers.
All these innovations have also led to the creation of new jobs. In the modern day, one is no longer obliged to write a book in order to earn money from its sale.
Here you will see how many possibilities are offered to us by the publishing world and how to exploit them.
There are many ways to earn money online by reading and today I will tell you about the most acclaimed ones.
- Leaving reviews
- Making audiobooks
It may sound too good to be true at times, but every day many people earn big bucks just by reading books. It is actually possible nowadays to turn your dream into reality.
In this article, I will show you 10 sites that pay you to read, I will explain what they are and how you can get started.
Here are the sites where you can get paid to do it:
Booklist
Booklist takes its reviews very seriously, so read their requirements thoroughly before signing up. Once your entry is accepted, congratulations!, you can start reading.
The site will send you offers and you can accept or decline. Just warn when the offers are too much or you can’t handle them or you’ll get a 5$ reject fee.
For each review you write you will receive 15$, you get paid when the review is published, so sometimes it will take a few days.
To know more: Here
ACX
This platform has a lot of job opportunities but is not exactly for beginners. If you are really good, however, you can receive a few offers and build your image from there. First, after creating your profile, you have to show sample registrations. The more you do, the easier it will be to get noticed and receive job offers.
You can be paid by agencies in two ways:
- On the finished product
- Through a percentage of the royalties
After negotiating the terms of the offer, all you have to do is start recording and earn money after delivery. Once your audiobooks are ready, they will also be available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes.
To know more: Here
The US Review of Books
Before you can review The US Review of Books and get paid, you must send an email to the publisher who will choose whether or not to approve your application. Once you are accepted, you can see all the offers and apply for the books that appeal to you most.
The publisher, as you read clearly on the site, prefers reviews of a certain depth. He wants excellent grammar, respect, knowledge and above all honesty, so stay away from any form of plagiarism. You must write professional reviews of about 250 words. The price per review can vary, approximately ranging from 25$ to 75$ for a review.
Each review must be delivered within 3 weeks after the start of work.
In addition to being good for earning money from home in an easy way, this site publishes small biographies of the writers who contribute to the site through reviews, so it is a great opportunity to get excellent publicity.
To know more: Here
Findaway Voices
This site is great for those who want to create and sell audio books. It allows you to create a profile on the platform and show samples to customers who are looking for someone just like you. The profile is easy to create and you do not have to wait to be accepted.
The Findaway Voices blog offers you help in creating a complete profile that will attract the best customers.
Every time you complete a job by delivering the audiobook, you will get a badge that will attest to your professionalism and skill in translating the written into audio.
Moreover, customers who rely on this platform pay very well. Here you can see how much you will be paid depending on the length of the book.
“An average audiobook created with Findaway Voices has about 50,000 words and costs between $1,000 and $2,000.”
For each audiobook created you will get 80% of the royalties, while the platform will take 20% as ‘credit’ for connecting you with the customer. The price per audiobook is your decision.
To know more: Here
Online Book Club
This site is very clear right from the start, on the main screen they warn all readers that they do not promise to make you rich or get huge amounts of money by leaving reviews on their site.
For each review you will receive an income ranging from 5$ to 60$ (which is not bad at all since I post them here for free).
Before you start reviewing you should read their guidelines. For the first book you review you will not receive an income precisely because they want to check that their rules are respected first.
Unless a deadline is set first, you can take as long as you want to read and review a book, the important thing is that you constantly update your status on the site (or risk being banned). If you do not like the book you are reading and do not want to finish it, you can mark it on the site and choose another book. (Never review without having read the manuscript).
Reviews must be at least 300 words and must NOT contain spoilers.
The site’s home page is very simple and with little information so I registered to let you know more. Of course I can’t tell you all their guidelines here so before you start reviewing read them well or you will miss out.
The books to choose from are many and interesting so you certainly won’t get bored reading. This site is great for those who always have a book in hand because you will effortlessly build up a quick and excellent side hustle.
To know more: Here
Upwork
Upwork offers many possibilities, whatever you want to try you will easily find someone who is already doing it. Some things naturally go more, so there is more competition, and some less.
You can use this site to advertise both your talent in creating audio books, and you can also use it to earn money through reviews. Here I show you the search results for both categories:
The results are all from the last few days and the competition is really low. (On Upwork there are mostly ghostwriters).
You can find the same opportunities, and sometimes more, on Fiverr.
To know more: Here
Kirkus
Before you can start reviewing with this site you have to write to the editor and if you are granted, you will enter the platform (much easier than it sounds).
Each review on this site must reach 350 words and be delivered within two weeks. Payments are on time and the publishers professional. Each review is paid about $50 and it is very easy to find new books to review given the millions that are self-published every year.
To know more: Here
How to make an audiobook
- Remember that your task is not to ‘read’ the book to the listeners, you have to bring it to life. Before you start this journey listen to as many audiobooks as you can, so that you understand how to narrate the content in an entertaining way.
- Create a studio in your home dedicated exclusively to recording. A quiet place with as little noise as possible. The smaller the place, the better it will perform (some people choose to record in their wardrobe for this very reason).
- You will need a computer capable of recording, a headset microphone and good audio editing apps
Before you start recording, read the manuscript many times and check that you can pronounce all the words well. Remember not to strain your vocal cords too much, each daily session, especially for beginners, should not be longer than 3 hours.
How to write a book review
- Read the book (obviously)
- Give a short summary of the book you have read
- Explain your favourite points and why
- Explain what you think is wrong and should have been done differently
- Talk about the characters and what you think of them
- Don’t forget to also talk about the narration
- In most cases, NO ONE wants spoilers, so watch your words
Always remember to judge the book and NEVER the writer. It’s OK to have an opinion, even a negative one sometimes, on the art but that doesn’t give you the right to offend the person who worked on it. Always be polite and above all, honest (lying would defeat the purpose of leaving reviews).
Apart from these few things to remember, you don’t need much and you can really start now.
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