get paid to read books

How to Get Paid to Read Books

Any bookworm would tell you their dream job would involve reading all day. The truth is, that could be a reality. Are you wondering how to get paid to read books? These work-at-home jobs will let you earn an income doing what you love.

Getting paid to read books is pretty much a dream job. This is coming from someone who chose her college major based on how many novels I could read.

Most people will tell you that reading books is not a legitimate job but the truth is, there are some great work-at-home jobs that require you to spend a lot of time reading.

How to get paid to read books – Best Remote Jobs

There’s a pretty huge variety of remote jobs that are perfect if you love to read. We definitely aren’t covering all of them, so if we miss any feel free to let us know in the comments.

Earn Money Reading by Starting a Book Review Blog

Interested in reviewing books? Start a book review blog (or social media channel). You can earn money through affiliate marketing by recommending books and earning a commission when people make a purchase.

#BookTok is hugely popular on TikTok, and many of those content creators have incorporated affiliate marketing into their channels to earn an income. No matter what platform you choose to use, there are some great options to monetize book reviews.

Work as a Proofreader

Proofreading can be a great work-at-home job if you have a good eye for details and love to read. While some proofreaders have degrees in English, communications, or journalism, you can get a job simply by starting at the bottom and gaining some experience.

Best places to find remote proofreading jobs

  • FlexJobs – This is one of our favorite places to find remote jobs of any sort. They pre-screen all jobs so you know they are legit.
  • Wordvice – This is primarily geared towards part-time remote opportunities.
  • Fiverr – Most people don’t expect much out of Fiverr, but it can be a great place to get started with freelance work. Offer up some basic proofreading jobs to gain experience.
  • Reedsy – Want to proofread books? This is a great platform to help you get started.

Become an Audiobook Narrator

There’s a huge market for people who want to do audiobook narration. If you have a background in public speaking or acting this gives you a bit of a leg up but anyone can get into this field with the right training. Find entry-level audiobook narration jobs at BunnyStudio or ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange). For higher pay, look into Findaway Voices.

Learn a few tips for becoming an audiobook narrator here.

Get paid to read books and analyze them at WordsRated

Love to read and open to taking notes on specific details? WordsRated hires readers to analyze books and take notes of information such as the number of characters by gender, number of sentences given to male vs. female characters, number of certain phrases, etc.

They pay $200 per book read. Applications are not currently open but they are likely to open again in the future so keep your eyes open for opportunities here.

Get paid to read books and review them

If you have strong opinions on books, working as a book reviewer may be a great option for you. As mentioned above, you can certainly do this by running your own blog, but there are companies who will pay you to write book reviews.

On the traditional side, newspapers pay people to write book reviews, but those jobs are typically given to established journalists or require very specific pitches.

You can get paid to review books here:

Translate Books

If you speak a second language you can earn money by translating books into another language. This can be a great way to discover new books while earning an income. It is helpful if you have some work to show potential clients so consider taking small projects at first to help build your portfolio.

Make money reading books by becoming a first reader

Being a first reader involves reading manuscripts that have been submitted to a publisher and looking for books that may deserve to be published. These manuscripts come from what is called the “slush pile” and they are typically authors who have not been published yet. Many publishers employee someone full-time to do this but you can occasionally find remote first reader jobs.

Get paid to write book summaries

Everyone is busy now, which is probably why there are so many services popping up offering summarized versions of popular books.

getAbstract will pay readers to write summaries of popular non-fiction books. See their current job listings here.

For higher pay, look into writing summaries for Instaread.


Hopefully, these work at home jobs have given you some ideas and convinced you that you can get paid to read books. Jobs take up a lot of our time. You may as well do something that you love.

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