Turn Your Passion of Reading Into Extra Income

by Mari Colham

Are you an avid reader? Perhaps your love of reading could improve your budget. Try some of these ways to turn your passion into extra income.

If you love reading, you don’t have to be a professional to turn that passion into making extra income.

Although many obsessive readers are English majors, teachers, editors or reporters, millions of others devour and collect books as their primary hobby.

If books surround you, and you enjoy reading, make your bank account happy with these six proven ways to increase income:

1. Get paid to give book reviews.

After reading books, you can receive compensation for writing reviews. According to Patricia Ann Jones, a book reviewer for The Tulsa World, payment for critiques can vary from $300+ for top publications to nothing at all, but companies do pay.

Mike Haaren, co-founder of Staffcentrix and Rat Race Rebellion, reviewed books for Kirkus Media. He stated that at the time, Kirkus paid $50 per 350-word review, and he read a total of ten books.

2. Give your books a new home.

Many book hoarders have a library, attic or basement full of books. They make cash and save space by selling their books.

Amazon and HalfPriceBooks.com are good sites to get started.

The Codex Group researched Amazon’s book sales and discovered that they dominate 65% of all online book units. Dave Hamrick, a three-year bookseller on Amazon, made six figures by merely selling books and sold his first book within 24 hours.

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3. Get paid to proofread.

According to Indeed.com, an average proofreader makes $22.38 an hour.

Caitlin Pyle established a blog in 2014 called Proofread Anywhere and corrected transcripts for many years. She now teaches others to earn money proofreading at Proofread Anywhere. Being a professional is not required and she offers a free workshop and paid courses.

You can also find proofreading courses on Udemy.com, often on sale for as low as $9.99.

4. Find hidden treasures.

Specific books are worth quite a bit of money. Biblio tells you how much a book is worth. Try visiting flea markets, used book stores, and garage sales where rare books get sold cheaply. Then, resell your bargains at the price they are worth.

Sotheby’s New York sold a rare copy written in 1794 of The First Book of Urizen by William Blake for $2.5 million to a private collector in 1999. While you are not likely to come across such a treasure, you can still earn a bit of extra cash while enjoying the thrill of the hunt.

5. Self-publish.

If you love reading and writing, you may consider writing a book and self-publishing on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform.

Categories include children’s books, fiction, nonfiction, history and biographies. Amazon’s most popular groups are young adult, self-help, travel, health and fitness, romance, cooking and hobbies. You may already have a few ideas. If not, start by browsing their categories and bestseller lists to get an idea of what sells.

According to Publisher’s Weekly, the average book sells 3,000 copies in its lifetime. Adam Croft, who began self-publishing mystery novels with Amazon in 2011, made $1.4 million in 2016 after publishing nine books through the years.

Depending on your promotional techniques and sales, you should be able to earn extra income.

6. Teach English virtually.

If a classroom full of screaming children makes you nervous, you can still teach. And you can do it by working from home and scheduling your own hours. The Internet offers online learning programs that concentrate on teaching English as a second language to students in foreign countries.

Qkids is a virtual community of thousands of people from America and Canada who teach children English. They seek college students, school teachers, stay-at-home moms, and anyone with a desire for education to work part-time. Teachers with Qkids average $12-$16 an hour, and their minimum is six hours per week.

Adalee Grace, one teacher for the program, is also a full-time Elementary Education student in the United States. She loves working for the company and has a flexible schedule.

Reviewed October 2023

About the Author

Mari Colham is an online published freelance reporter and domestic abuse advocate from north Louisiana who has more than two years of experience in journalism. She graduated with honors and an Associate’s degree in Business Office Administration. When she is not writing, she is cuddling and watching movies with her spoiled cat and Shih Tzu, devouring Christian crime novels, or fishing.

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