book critic/reviewer

redcat-71

Ha ha! I know what you mean! Thanks for the reply, I feel the same way about books, but everybody seems to think Ebooks are the future. I've had a book published, and it's harder than I ever imagined to make any money out of it. Ebooks are a lot cheaper to buy by the looks of it, but I'm not sure that many people read them yet.

tyllwyd

I used to do reviewing on Ciao and Dooyoo about five years ago, and at that time you could earn a bit by writing reviews - I've no idea whether it is still worth doing I'm afraid. A couple of the people I met online doing that went on to set up their own website dedicated to book reviews called bookbag, which you could have a look at.

leelee24

Hi lulalolly,

You might find a site called shvoong.com worth trying. I used to use this for some extra pennies when I worked freelance. You write an abstract of up to 900 words on any book, newspaper, website, magazine or journal article and post to the site. You then earn royalties based on the number of hits on each of your abstracts. Payment is in dollars and you need to make a minimum of $10 before you can get a payout, via paypal.

The amount earned for each article is very small but the good thing is that once posted to the site you will earn some royalties each month, for each abstract. As you read so much it might be a good option for you - the trick to earning is posting lots of good quality reviews. I have found that popular fiction and any books that have been or about to be made into films will get lots of hits but you can review just about anything. You can also increase your hits by promoting your reviews via Facebook etc so it could work out to be a decent source of income for you.

Whatever you choose to do, all the best with it!

zipady_do

Not sure how you'd make money out of this without starting your own Blog to be honest. Once you've done that and got some traffic numbers up though I think you can easily get on publisher's lists and be sent some new books when they first come out. Obviously you'll have to root around for less well-known ones to start with and get your chance. I'd suggest trying locally first as everyone is more willing to help other's locally.

I'd also watch what you're posting to an extent, you don't want the reviews to sound too "sponsored" like people are paying you to review them (although I'm sure that's lucrative too), more of an honest take on what you've read. If it sucks in places, say it does, but I'd always start and finish with a positive, the proverbial s*** sandwich

mytimetoshine2012

This is really useful to me too. I am also a fast reader and can polish off a standard crime novel in 3 hours on a good day, although classics slow me up a bit because I have to keep looking up the words in the back!

So I will look at some of these suggestions .

I have been a very vocal anti e-reader book traditionalist who NEVER wanted an e reader until I got one for Christmas and I absoluetely love it. It is more practical than a book and easier to read. Strangely despite all of my precvious reservations I can read faster too .

I know it's not for everyone but may be worth a try... (honestly rewind a month and I would not have said this!!)

redcat-71

I have been very much on the side of traditional books, but I haven't heard a single person who got an e reader say they don't like it...so, there must be something in it. I hope it doesn't mean less paper books though, hopefully people will still want both.

lincroft1710

redcat-71 wrote: »

I hope it doesn't mean less paper books though, hopefully people will still want both.

If the demand for certain hardcopy titles diminishes to an extent that it is uneconomic to print them then clearly these will disappear. However this is probably years away.