If getting paid to read all day sounds like a dream job, MoneyMagpie’s Editor and financial expert Vicky Parry has tips on how to turn it into a real income
Reading is a pastime for people of all ages and backgrounds, and technology makes it even easier than ever these days to read as much as you like.
Audiobooks and text-to-speech technology make reading accessible, while ebooks mean you can take an entire library with you wherever you go. If you’re a complete bookworm who has dreamed of being paid to read all day, you’re in luck! There are some things you can do to make money reading, either as a side hustle or as a full-time job.
Become a BookTuber
There is an entire corner of social media dedicated to reading and readers. BookTube on YouTube is a place to start, but TikTok and Instagram are also thriving places for book reviewers.
The boom in the reviewer culture seemed to occur around the release of huge fantasy books such as Fourth Wing and A Court of Thorns and Roses , but you can carve your own niche audience depending on which genre you love. Romance, for example, or thriller, or cosy mysteries – whatever you could talk about for days, that’s where to start.
Create your channel and prep content
While it’s tempting to just launch yourself online with reviews, take time to build a stock of content so you have a headstart when you go live. Review several books in videos before you upload to your social media and YouTube channels, to buy yourself time to read and review more as time goes on. Consistently posted content is one of the easiest ways to build a regular audience.
As your online channels grow in popularity, you can start monetising your views with a platform’s creator programme, or with sponsored products. Some online book reviewers will do paid reviews for new authors or books due to be published soon, but it’s important that you’re clear any review will be honest. Paying for a good review is highly frowned upon in reader circles!
Be a fiction proofreader
Proofreading is when you check books for errors before they are published. You will need to take a proofreading course to ensure you know what you’re looking for, but these can be done quickly and cheaply online. There’s even a free starter course on Alison.com to learn the basics and find out if it’s something that suits you.
Proofreaders work for publishers and also for independent authors who want to self-publish their book. They need a really keen eye for mistakes, but also have a sense of story and be able to check for errors like plot loopholes or inaccuracies. Line editors and copyeditors do a lot more of this kind of work, but it will help clients know what they need to correct so if you spot something you should highlight it to them.
Proofreading rates vary depending on who you proof for and how long you’ve been doing it. Pricing by the 1000 words is common, starting as low as £10 per 1000 up to £30+ – the longer the book, the less per thousand you can charge. The good news is you can do it in your spare time, so it’s a good way to read books before they’re published and work around any other job you have, too.
Become a book scout
Do you ever wonder how publishers find books? Or how TV producers seem to know about books to adapt for screen before they’re even published? That’s all down to the unsung heroes: book scouts. A literary book scout reads new and unpublished work. They write up reports about the book once read, to help people interested in buying rights for it decide whether they want to know more.
Some work in-house for publishers, while others are freelancers who send their inside knowledge to a network of TV and film producers. This takes a lot of work to build your own network, but can be rewarding as you’ll earn a fee when a book is picked up for option.
Be a researcher
If you want to stay in the factual realm, research is something many writers and businesses need to do but don’t have the patience or interest in. If you have excellent research skills, and can distill a wide range of sources into one clear document, being a researcher is a great way to make money reading.
It helps if you have a niche interest or qualification – such as being an archivist, librarian, or historian – but you can research anything and everything. Many researchers are freelance, which means you can set your own rate and hours, which makes it a great way to make money reading part-time from home!
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