everyone has a talent they’d like to monetize, but isn’t it the dream of every reader and book lover on the planet to get paid to read books out loud?
Imagine yourself in elementary school. popcorn reading was on the agenda for the day, and it was an excruciating wait as each paragraph bounced off the students before you. you wait, finger on the paragraph, ready to wow your classmates and professor alike.
You are reading: Get paid to read books aloud
When it comes to you, your reading is practically a song. you pronounced that four-syllable word with ease and grace. your heart was pounding in your ears, but hearing your teacher tell you what a good job you did in the end was worth every second of anxiety.
Reading aloud is a skill and fortunately it is highly sought after and can be very rewarding. If you want to relive your popcorn reading days and get paid to do so, there are plenty of opportunities, including through places you can get your audiobooks on Amazon, Audible, and the iTunes Store.
how to earn by reading books aloud
To get paid to record audiobooks, you need to research the platform you’d like to become a reader on. When you make your choice, you’ll most likely have to create an account, create a portfolio, and audition for projects.
There are a few different platforms looking for readers to record audiobooks. each platform will have different requirements and competition may be more pronounced on certain platforms.
1. acx
acx is the internet’s leading platform for audiobook broadcasters, and fortunately, becoming an acx reader is easy, though establishing a reputation can take a lot of time, effort, and luck.
After registering, create your profile to include relevant experience and upload examples that showcase your skills. once you have a solid profile, you can start the audition by recording a few minutes of the manuscript.
After you get your gig, you’ll start recording the book. the rights holder must approve the first 15 minutes of your audio, and then you can finish the project and get paid to read books aloud with acx.
2. audible
audible has the largest selection of audiobooks on the internet and is sold directly through amazon, so getting your voice there would be a huge win. To get paid to read books for Audible, you need to start by signing up through ACX.
acx is the publishing platform for audible, so to become an audible storyteller and get paid to record your voice from home, simply follow the process of registering and creating content through acx, and your product final could be distributed on audible, itunes and amazon.
To see the kind of great content you could one day produce yourself, check out this offer where you can sign up for a free 30-day trial of audible. with this, you will get a free audiobook, which you can keep forever, even after the trial ends!
3. search voices
projects created with findaway voices are mostly independent projects, which means there is a little less competition, but it is the leading company for self-published authors in the united states. To get started, you’ll create your account as a narrator.
In your profile, you will be asked to select a rate per finished hour (pfh). some suggest starting as a beginner at around $85-$100. after this you will finish your profile by which you will be recommended for projects.
If selected, you’ll sign the relevant agreements, download the production rights holder’s notes, and then make and upload the extended sample. Once approved, you can finish the project.
4. Voices.com
voices.com claims to be the number one marketplace for voiceover talent, so there are plenty of paying customers and businesses looking for voiceover talent. not only is it huge, but it connects you with jobs based on your voice profile.
To create an account, register as a freelancer. Then, you’ll fill out your profile in a way that makes you attractive to companies looking for voice talent. once your profile is complete, you will receive job invitations.
receiving invitations or responding to a job offer will allow you to write a proposal and upload a response file. these are essentially your audition pieces that will allow rights holders to see if you are a good fit for their project.
5. bunny study
bunny studio, unlike its competitors, pays you to audition. Promising a response time of just 12 hours for paying customers, every second counts. while they don’t charge subscription fees, they do take a percentage of your final payment.
To get started, you’ll need to register on the platform, including all of your storytelling skills and preferences. once you complete your profile, they send you a project that you have 48 hours to complete. this is your audition for the entire site.
You have four total chances to become a pro with this audition, but if you get accepted, you’ll be able to build your portfolio, audition for projects, and be matched with clients just like on any other platform so you can start getting paid to read. books out loud.
6. people per hour
This AI-powered platform uses your profile to match you with customers; however, like sites like fiverr, you can list your individual works for different price points in the audiobook voiceover category and allow customers to purchase specific packages.
To register with peopleperhour, you must create a profile as a freelancer. like bunny, peopleperhour requires a request to approve it for the website. Once approved, the algorithm will connect you with clients looking for your project specialties and features.
You can search for projects manually, but you can only submit 15 proposals per month for free. purchasing additional credits will allow you to request more projects.
7. brilliant audio
Although Brilliance Audio has been around since the 1980s, it is now an Amazon company and is one of the leaders in the production of audiobooks. As an independent publisher, it has a separate catalog of books and audio, but its products can be purchased through Amazon and Audible. As such, working for them essentially involves getting paid to read books out loud for Amazon.
To start getting paid to read books aloud brilliantly, you need to email the company to request an audition. Since the company has higher quality audiobooks, entry to the site’s staff of performers can be difficult. That said, their artists are made up of both beginning and expert storytellers, so you still have a chance to find things like beginner dubbing jobs from home through their platform.
brilliance has a menu for project creators to browse and select their voice talent. they create your order and brilliance sees to it that the project is completed.
8. upwork
upwork is an extensive network of easy freelance jobs in all categories, and audiobook narration is one of those categories. With a huge network of paying clients and the ability to tailor your profile to your most specific talents, freelancers will never feel lost for opportunities.
Creating an account with upwork is easy and, for the most part, free. freelancers can pay for additional “connections,” which is their fee for submitting proposals and auditions, but non-paying members get a few free ones each month that accumulate if not used.
For jobs that pay you to read books aloud, clients may contact you based on your profile, although most of your work will consist of communicating with clients and submitting proposals. Once selected, you will work one-on-one with the client to produce the final product.
9. Voice 123
voice 123 is one of the largest voice acting platforms in the world. Some very large companies hire broadcasters through this site, including clients like NBC, Coca Cola, and the New York Times.
While this often means that a lot of the jobs there are for things like dubbing on TV shows and commercials, they also have a lot of narration jobs. here you can get paid to read books aloud as a beginner, but during the registration process you will be asked to identify the level of experience you have, just to let potential customers know.
However, signing up is free, and given the level of some of the customers here, it’s definitely worth a look.
How much do book readers get paid?
Most book readers are paid by the hour completed. that means if a finished hour of an audiobook takes two hours to record, you will be paid for one hour. your earnings will therefore depend on the length of the text you are narrating and how long it takes you to read it, with many beginners starting at around $85 per hour.
(In fact, according to acx, it takes two hours to record an hour of an audiobook is very standard, so don’t expect to be paid based on how long you work in this field.)
As you gain more experience or if you join a union versus freelancing, you’ll start earning more. some end up earning up to $250 per narration hour.
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Some storytellers choose to be paid through royalty shares. Choosing to get paid through royalties could be risky if you’re not sure the book will sell many copies; however, you could miss out on a lot if you record a bestseller and only get paid the pfh fee.
Storytellers get paid more per hour finished as they build portfolios and gain a reputation. Storytellers who charge $400 pfh can earn several thousand dollars per completed project.
Are there jobs that pay you to read books aloud?
for the most part, to get paid to read books aloud in English, freelancing is the most available with the roof of entry lower. Platforms like upwork and fiverr are the obvious choices, but with thousands upon thousands of members, landing a steady job isn’t easy.
however, you might find yourself lucky in a paid position as a reader, though you might not expect this as it’s not the norm.
One way you can get paid to read children’s books aloud is through hospitals, charities, and schools. Many of these positions will be for non-profit organizations that probably won’t pay for their services, but finding work as a literacy director or school librarian will allow you to read to children. this also has other opportunities, like where you can get paid to read English books to adults learning English as a second language. in any case, you could get paid for doing it without having to work as a freelancer.
other paths to follow could be daycare or childcare assistants, but reading aloud would not be your only job responsibility.
how much can you pay me to read books aloud?
As a freelancer where you get paid to read books aloud, you can earn up to around $250 per hour finished. To do this on a salaried basis, examples include working as a literacy director, which could earn you a nice salary of up to $60,000 a year, or as a literacy coach, where you can earn around $44,000.
Similarly, elementary school librarians have widely varying salaries, depending largely on the state. the national average is around $55,000, though of course getting paid to read books aloud wouldn’t be your only job in this position.
freelancing is a bit more difficult to estimate. As a beginner reading for $85 pfh, if you are a full-time reader and can produce an 8-hour audiobook in 16 hours per week, you could earn about $33,000 a year working less than half a full-time job.
a more reputable storyteller who sets his rate at $400 pfh to produce an 8-hour audiobook a week could earn $154,000 a year. however, it should be noted that landing a steady job on such a regular basis is quite rare.
Can you make money narrating audiobooks?
You can make money narrating audiobooks, with various platforms paying a lot of money for people to record themselves reading these out loud. however, the exact amount you’ll earn will vary depending on your experience, the length of the book, and how long it takes you.
After all, if you’ve ever listened to an audiobook in your life, just think that someone had to have originally recorded it, and almost certainly got paid to read that book out loud. So why couldn’t that someone be you for future books?
Can I make a living reading books?
yes, you can make a living reading books if there is enough constant work. While a salaried position in this field is not the norm, contract or freelance work can earn you around $600 per project with no prior experience.
however, finding work consistent enough to pay the bills is a hurdle that can only be overcome with time and dedication. Emily Woo Zeller, a full-time independent contractor, reads 5-6 hours a day and makes her living entirely from audiobooks (with the occasional passion project in between).
His first audible project launched in 2009 and since then he has amassed a portfolio of over 500 audible audiobooks.
With time and dedication, you too can build a reputation and a portfolio, and these things will help you stay busy as a contractor and make a living reading books.
Do I need previous experience to get paid to read books aloud?
While experience can help showcase your portfolio to potential clients, experience isn’t strictly necessary to get hired to read books aloud. many platforms require you to submit audition pieces, and there your actual skills will be more important than any prior experience you may have.
Of course, for careers as literacy coordinators and librarians, some qualifications and previous experience in similar positions will be necessary. however, you can start out in freelance jobs where you’re recording things like audiobooks with no experience, though talent will help.
When rights holders are shopping for talent and asking for auditions, or when you’re auditioning for books you’d like to narrate, your experience is just one piece of the profile. On ACX, your experience and accolades show before your audio samples, so having the experience to show can still be important to getting auditions.
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However, if rights holders do outperform your profile and make it to your samples, the quality of the pieces you narrate is really what will tell the rights holder that you are the right person for their project.
can i read books on youtube and get paid?
You can’t read books on youtube and get paid if you don’t own the rights to the content or if you don’t have the permission of the rights holder, as this is copyright infringement. however, you can get paid to read books aloud on youtube by reading public domain books.
Public domain books do not have a rights holder to determine if you can monetize their content. this means you can read books that are no longer copyrighted and monetize your channel to earn money from ads or sponsors.
Determining whether a work is in the public domain depends on when it was written, whether it was published, and whether the author’s name was known. If you find a work in the public domain and want to record an audiobook for it, you can upload your recording to YouTube and monetize it.
according to the youtube help center, the only other way to monetize a book you’ve recorded is if you get permission from the rights holder. if a book is still in circulation, you’ll probably contact the publisher, not the author. if a book is self-published, you can contact the author for permission.
Is it illegal to read a book on a live stream?
via twitch, youtube and facebook live, you must be the rights holder or the book must be in the public domain in order to read it aloud on a live stream. the only way you could get around these rules is to get permission or comply with the fair use doctrine.
If you do not intend to monetize your stream or channel and do not accept donations while reading, you may still be able to use the book within the relevant fair use guidelines. To be perfectly clear about whether reading a book can be protected under fair use, you must follow one or more of these four guidelines:
- your use of the material is expressed in a new way that adds meaning to the original material, and is not used commercially.
- the material is primarily factual, not fictional.
- you are borrowing small parts of the material, without using all or even “the heart” of the work.
- your use of the material does not harm the property of the copyright owner’s ability to profit from its work.
An example of something that could be considered fair use and possibly even monetized would be if you read small portions of a book and add analysis or educational commentary on those pieces. however, if the publisher and copyright owner already have educational material on that piece, you may be competing with them and in danger of violating fair use and copyright laws.
How do I record myself reading a book aloud?
you can record reading books out loud with very little investment. all you really need is a quiet space, a microphone, and some basic editing software. beyond that, you’ll need a lot of practice, trial and error.
1. create a good recording environment and sound setup
First, you’ll need to set up a recording studio that gives you quiet, balanced audio. wherever you choose to shoot, this has to be your home base. even a small move to a different room in the middle of a project can change the quality of the audio. test your voice levels when recording on your iphone using an app or by viewing the spikes in your audio with your voice memo or other recording app.
according to home studio professionals, levels should not exceed 50 to 75 percent of the meter height, which means that if you see spikes hitting the top of the bar while you’re recording, your audio will be unbalanced.
To eliminate outside noise, place your microphone away from anything that makes noise, including brown or white noise, such as fans, computers, appliances, or other equipment that makes a humming noise. once you’ve found a quiet space, test your audio, over and over again, to see if you can get a quality result.
2. read the whole piece before you start recording
To get a good idea of who a character is, and therefore how to express them, you should read the entire book to understand who they are. Not only that, but you may need information later in the book on how to read certain scenes and whether to emphasize words that are more important than others.
You should know your project inside and out before sitting down in the studio; Otherwise, you could make a huge time-wasting mistake interpreting the book that could cause the rights holder to return your initial sample, or could force you to re-record content when you see something you missed.
If you read the entire book and discover that a character has important background information that could change the way you read them, you may need to do more research. This could mean reading more about your nationality, practicing your accent, or simply looking at content that might help you understand you better.
3. practice each section as if it were a monologue
As an audiobook narrator, you’re not just reading. you’re acting You not only want to emphasize the right words, get the tempo right, and create a smooth listening experience, but you also want each character to sound right to the reader.
dialogue will be the most practice and research intensive part of the assignment. practice and record small sections at a time. you can reconstruct the audio as you edit it later, but make sure each section is as good as it can be before moving on to the next.
If you’re having trouble mastering a section, it may be a sign that you need to take a break or come back to that section. be sure to tag each recording extremely specifically, so you can keep track of each take.
4. edit your sound as best you can
There are plenty of free audio editing software out there capable of trimming clips, stitching them together, and improving the quality.
When recording, keep your files one chapter long to make editing and exporting a bit easier. make sure you make your recordings lossless through your iphone before uploading them to a program.
For beginners, there are a few things you can do in post with editing to make your voice sound better. To improve your audio, you’ll need to equalize, normalize, and compress, then normalize again according to mike russell, who’s a music and radio pro.
The goal of equalizing audio is to remove unwanted sounds and make your voice more prominent. normalizing will make the volume consistent throughout the piece, and compression will lower the loudest peaks in the recording and make them quieter. normalizing again makes the adjusted highest peaks consistent throughout the recording.
5. export lossless audio
exporting with the most optimal settings will be different for whatever program you use. exporting to a free lossless audio codec (flac) is a good rule of thumb to avoid losing quality when exporting.
If you upload to youtube or another platform, you will lose quality in that file, so exporting and uploading at the highest quality possible will limit the loss you experience. some publishing platforms may also require high quality recordings which flac files should be able to measure.
final thoughts on getting paid to read books out loud
It’s certainly possible to get paid to read books aloud simply because audiobooks exist. Since these people don’t work for free, this means that you could also earn money narrating audiobooks.
Of course, the amounts book readers get paid don’t always start out very high, but with a little practice and building your portfolio, it’s certainly possible to make a living reading books.
Just make sure you’re doing it through legitimate platforms and that if you try to do it yourself in any way, you’re not breaking any copyright laws. for example some people have tried to get paid to read books online on youtube and get paid but without the permission of the rights holder you could be accidentally watching something illegal if you read a book on a live stream for example .
but those are some pretty rare cases. For most people interested in jobs that pay them to read books out loud, you’ll find plenty of similar sites and platforms where you can get paid to do just that – a perfect way to combine your love of reading with your love of reading. for having more money!
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