Are you stunned every time you enter a bookstore or library by the sheer number of volumes covering the shelves? Just think of all the people it took to bring those works to print. Now, consider the number of online publications, stories, and articles.
It takes thousands of passionate and capable individuals to create all the content we love to read. So why not turn your love of the written word into a profitable side hustle or full-time career? This isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme or even a promise of riches, but it is a viable path to earning a livable wage while doing something you already enjoy.
Here are 23 ways you can get started.
Contribute to the Women’s Review of Books
The Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College publishes the Women’s Review of Books, which provides in-depth reviews of books by and about women. The types of books WRB reviews include scholarly works, fiction, poetry, and memoirs by women. Academics, journalists, and experienced reviewers contribute most of the reviews to this feminist magazine. The compensation is $100 per review.
Write Book Reviews for Writerful Books
Writerful Books is an author services company that publishes book reviews on its website. It is looking for passionate readers to write insightful reviews of books in their favorite genre. Depending on its comprehensiveness, writerful Books pays $10 to $50 per review. The reviewer who publishes the most quality reviews also gets a $100 Amazon gift card.
Submit Reviews to Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly is a weekly news magazine that bills itself as “the bible of the book business.” It publishes industry news, interviews, and book reviews across various genres. The magazine has a database of reviews available to subscribers from 1987, so your reviews could receive a lot of exposure. Writing book reviews for Publishers Weekly requires a resume, examples of your past work, and a sample review of a recently published book.
Proofread
Publishing houses, self-published authors, and anyone who writes anything for public consumption need skilled proofreaders. Proofreading requires meticulous attention to detail and thorough grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization knowledge. You can find freelance work on job boards like Upwork and make between $30 and $40 an hour.
Edit Copy
Copyediting is a bit more specialized than proofreading. In addition to fixing typos and correcting spelling, copyeditors make more substantial edits. A good copyeditor will address style, formatting, clarity, and flow in addition to grammar. You might also do some fact-checking or suggest changes that make the writing more readable.
Boost Your Credentials and Get Certified
If you’re interested in a career as a copyeditor or want to start copyediting freelance, you might want to pursue a copyediting certificate. A certificate adds credibility while strengthening your existing skills and likely learn new ones. Several colleges, universities, and professional organizations offer online and in-person copywriting certificate programs. Including:
Translate Books and Documents
Communicating in multiple languages is a highly sought-after skill for freelancers and job seekers. You’ll need a thorough understanding of at least two languages to make money translating books and other written works. Depending on the type of material, you might also need some knowledge of idioms, slang, technical terms, and cultural differences to ensure that your translation reads well.
Get Paid to Narrate Audiobooks
You can make money narrating audiobooks if you can speak clearly and have a compelling voice. You’ll get paid to read books aloud, cover to cover. It’s a good side hustle for book lovers; the pay is decent, and there aren’t many startup costs or ongoing expenses. Writers don’t want to miss out on more exposure and an extra revenue stream, and audio brings in additional revenue, so there is good demand.
Design Ebooks or Book Covers
Best-selling fiction writers are great at telling a riveting tale. Successful nonfiction authors are highly skilled at explaining things simply. Both may struggle with the rest, but that’s where your opportunity lies. With more aspiring authors publishing independently, there is a growing need for book cover designers and those who understand the technical formatting required for popular ebook formats like MOBI for Kindle, EPUB, and more.
Blog About Books
Starting your blog about books allows you to write about the books you enjoy in your writing style. Blogging also allows you to earn via multiple revenue streams, including affiliate commissions through direct links to products you recommend, display ads, recurring subscriptions, or sponsored posts. But success won’t come overnight; it will take time, effort, and the ability to build an audience online.
Start a Podcast About Books
As with book blogging, starting a podcast about books gives you freedom. Also, like blogging, podcasting requires technical skills, familiarity with tools like audio editing software, and the perseverance to keep going until you build a large enough audience to generate revenue. You can monetize a podcast through paid sponsorships, joining an ad network, affiliate marketing, or using Patreon for monthly recurring revenue from subscribers.
Start a YouTube Channel
Book lovers are finding a home and building communities on YouTube. You can share your takes on your favorite books, review recently released titles, or do bookshelf tours. Whether you prefer the classics, sci-fi, YA fiction, children’s books, or any genre, your audience is out there. YouTube content creators can monetize through AdSense ads, affiliate links, sponsored videos, and donations or subscriptions.
Coach Writers
An author can get stuck with writer’s block, lose confidence, or need guidance to help them finish their book. A book writing coach can help them get their book across the finish line. As a book coach, you might help authors with:
- The writing process
- Brainstorming ideas
- Feedback on their work
- Staying organized and on track
- Getting published
- Marketing strategy
Summarize Books for Instaread
Instaread is an app that provides subscribers with summaries of popular books in text and audio form. Writing summaries entails reading a book cover to cover, breaking each chapter down into its main points, and providing your insights. Their summaries are meant to be consumed in half an hour. If you’re an avid reader willing to take thorough notes and provide your analysis, the company pays $100 per book summary.
Write Book Summaries for Getabstract
People looking to get the key insights from the best books without spending the time it takes to read them turn to getAbstract. They tend to focus on business and personal development but also cover history, politics, and classics. They look for freelance writers who can distill the main points of a book into a 10 to 15-minute read.
Earn $200 per Novel You Read
WordsRated reviews are not like that of typical book review sites. The company collects statistics about books to create data-driven studies. You’ll need to record things like:
- What kind of animals appear in the novel
- The number of characters by gender
- The number of sentences given to male and female characters
- How many questions are asked in the book
You can read one book per month or several. If you deliver accurate data on the specific things they’re looking for, they will pay you $200. The job title is Bibliophile-at-large, but it’s not always open.
Review Books for Online Book Club
Online Book Club is a popular book review website and community for book lovers that pays reviewers $5 to $60 per review. You won’t get paid for your first review, but you get a free book. You’re eligible for payments after they accept your first review.
Online Book Club looks for honest reviews with a book summary, your thoughts, and a star rating from 1 to 4. They’re looking for genuine reviews, so don’t feel you must write a positive review to get paid.
Write for the U.S. Review of Books
The U.S. Review of Books hires freelancers to write reviews for thousands of books across every genre. Its tagline is “Professional Reviews for the People,” which should give you an idea of the quality they expect. A standard review is 250-300 words; the copy conforms to the Chicago Manual of Style. You’ll have 2 to 3 weeks to complete your review. Then, you’re paid monthly by check for all reviews completed during the previous month.
Write Reviews for Bookbrowse
BookBrowse is an online magazine for avid book readers. The magazine seeks and recommends the best in fiction and nonfiction titles. They only feature books they consider enjoyable to read. They pay $50 for an honest review of about 600 words. You’ll also write a “Beyond the Book” article that dives deeper into one interesting aspect of the book as a companion to your review.
Kirkus Reviews is a well-known and highly respected source of book reviews and services for authors. They’re looking for freelance book reviewers to write reviews of English and Spanish language titles covering all kinds of books in almost every genre. You are expected to complete your 350-word review within two weeks.
Be a Freelance Book Reviewer for Booklist Online
The American Library Association publishes Booklist, a book review magazine that helps librarians and readers select books. Booklist reviews fiction, nonfiction, young adult titles, audiobooks, and DVDs. Booklist publishes approximately 8,000 book reviews annually and accepts freelance book reviews on a book-by-book basis to maintain that volume. Booklist Publications pays $15 per review and $5 for a rejected review.
Provide Book Reviews for Bethany House
Bethany House is a publisher of Christian Books. They look for fans of Christian nonfiction and fiction books to help promote their book launches and Christian authors through reviews. They’re looking for reviewers with an established audience through YouTube, social media, or a book blog. There’s no mention of payment in cash for book reviews, but you get free book copies in exchange for your review.
Post a Book Review for Moody Publishers
Moody Publishers is another Christian book publisher with a blogger review program that offers free books in exchange for reviews. The program requires you to post honest reviews on your blog and other sites like Amazon or Barnes & Noble. If you participate in the program, you won’t get paid, but you will get free books for reviewing the Christian titles they publish.
Compose Short Reviews for New Pages
If you can keep your reviews short, NewPages.com is looking for flash reviews of books, literary magazines, and other pieces of writing you’ve read recently. They publish original reviews of up to 200 words. NewPages doesn’t currently offer any compensation for reviews, but you will get exposure via their blog and social media accounts.
Making Money Reading Books
If you are passionate about the written word, you can get paid to read books. An avid reader looking for extra cash or a new job can find plenty of opportunities to earn money by reading books within or without the book industry. If reading is your passion, reading books for cash is a viable way to make extra money or build a career in proofreading or editing for book publishing companies.
41 Shocking Ways You’re Throwing Money Down the Drain
There are many ways to increase the money in your bank account. Many people start by looking at ways to make more money. And, of course, that is a great solution. But it isn’t always the easiest. A better, easier way may be to examine your spending habits. By tracking your spending and seeing where every dollar goes, you’ll likely find several instances of spending money you don’t have to. It could be little things that add up or recurring monthly expenses that are an utter waste of money.
Once you eliminate your bad spending habits, that money can go toward your emergency fund, paying off debt, or other essential things. Here are the 41 biggest wastes of money to look out for:
Read More: 41 Shocking Ways You’re Throwing Money Down the Drain
15 Highest Paying Jobs That Nobody Wants
Truthfully, almost all the best high-paying jobs no one wants to work are blue-collar jobs. Working in the trades can sound intimidating, but it comes with great benefits, high pay, and job security. Despite the pros, not a lot of people turn to the trades. If you’re feeling stuck, you may want to consider one of these high-paying jobs. To curate this list, we chose jobs where you could earn at least $25 an hour. These jobs are also high in demand. To find out how in demand, we used Indeed and ZipRecruiter. Here are 15 high-paying jobs that nobody wants.
- Read More: 15 Highest Paying Jobs That Nobody Wants
