Have you been paid to review books here?

[claire mckay]

I'm a bit frustrated by the changes as I had just hit level 4 and managed my first paid review after several months but am now back down at level 3 and mainly due to lack of views of my reviews. There is such a heavy emphasis on posts and contribution to Book of the Month that I think we will just see more random meaningless posts from people who haven't even read the book or just say a short sentence. I'd rather see a heavier weight on quality of reviews. Those of us who genuinely enjoy books and talking about them will do so regardless. I'd like to improve my score but can only do so by reviewing new books which are scarce or just making more posts although I have already contributed to the topics I am genuinely interested in. It's obviously a tricky thing to juggle and sort through as the quality of reviews is paramount if we want authors to pay for reviews! I don't envy Scott trying to figure it all out!

[Scott]

I'm a bit frustrated by the changes as I had just hit level 4 and managed my first paid review after several months but am now back down at level 3 and mainly due to lack of views of my reviews. There is such a heavy emphasis on posts and contribution to Book of the Month that I think we will just see more random meaningless posts from people who haven't even read the book or just say a short sentence. I'd rather see a heavier weight on quality of reviews. Those of us who genuinely enjoy books and talking about them will do so regardless. I'd like to improve my score but can only do so by reviewing new books which are scarce or just making more posts although I have already contributed to the topics I am genuinely interested in. It's obviously a tricky thing to juggle and sort through as the quality of reviews is paramount if we want authors to pay for reviews! I don't envy Scott trying to figure it all out!

I am sorry to hear you are frustrated. I wouldn't worry about going to level 3 from 4 because you are not the only one. The new scoring system is new and is meant to enable a longer ladder so to speak.

Those who might try to cheat the system such as by making useless posts might find themselves out of luck later on as the exact criteria could change at any time, namely changed to better reflect what they are meant to. For instance, I can quite easily make it so only posts over a certain number of words were counted. Rather, instead of trying to improve levels, scores or counts on the fly with fluff, one can do what one has always been asked which is to be a valued member of the community which makes reviews from them so valuable.

Review quality and popularity can hopefully go hand-in-hand. I am working on ways of helping reviewers gain more popularity such as views, and in theory this would happen much more easily and naturally for a reviewer whose reviewers and other posting in the forums is of a higher quality. I think we can agree we all aren't that interested in reading low quality reviews by someone who has posted a bunch of useless fluff in the forums.

[claire mckay]

Thanks Scott - I read your explanation on the Score System thread too and yes, I can see that it is necessary to include the posts and BOTM stuff too for new members to progress. I think the new system is very logical and an improvement though - after all if you can promise authors good quality reviews from the top level reviewers then they are more likely to ask for reviews and even pay, aren't they! Personally I like the feedback on review quality as it lets me know if I'm producing the right standard of book review or not. Your head must be bursting with figuring all this out though!

[cariannemp]

Only joined a short time ago, but look forward to achieving "getting paid status".

[Sibhone1]

I would like to understand the levels and how they are obtained. I also wanted to know if paid for reviews go to top reviewers does that mean start up reviewers with good reviews don't get paid? The post count of five is it on the forum or in reviews.I'm inquiring to have a better understanding of how everything works so I know if I'm on track.

[gali]

I would like to understand the levels and how they are obtained. I also wanted to know if paid for reviews go to top reviewers does that mean start up reviewers with good reviews don't get paid? The post count of five is it on the forum or in reviews.I'm inquiring to have a better understanding of how everything works so I know if I'm on track.

The Score tab of your Review Team Page explains about that.

[booksal]

Interesting to see these comments. I've just joined and did a review for which I received 100 points, plus some very nice comments from the editor. I was given 47 points for this. Now it seems like the way to get points is to post a lot of comments and do a lot of promoting of the book. I didn't join to promote books. I joined to review books, and yes, to get paid. Do you want reviewers or promoters? I agree with comments that say it hasn't been upfront.

[CommMayo]

The entire point of this site is for authors to promote their books. Of course there is a lot of work and promotion to do in order to get paid...that is how this site can pay you to write reviews. Once you write a few reviews and get up to the higher levels, you can concentrate more on the reviews and less on generating clicks and comments.

[Yssimnar]

Just to post an update, who is getting paid in 2018? How difficult is it to find paid reviews? What level do I need to be to realistically get paid reviews?

[Yssimnar]

Interesting to see these comments. I've just joined and did a review for which I received 100 points, plus some very nice comments from the editor. I was given 47 points for this. Now it seems like the way to get points is to post a lot of comments and do a lot of promoting of the book. I didn't join to promote books. I joined to review books, and yes, to get paid. Do you want reviewers or promoters? I agree with comments that say it hasn't been upfront.

I second this!

[gali]

Interesting to see these comments. I've just joined and did a review for which I received 100 points, plus some very nice comments from the editor. I was given 47 points for this. Now it seems like the way to get points is to post a lot of comments and do a lot of promoting of the book. I didn't join to promote books. I joined to review books, and yes, to get paid. Do you want reviewers or promoters? I agree with comments that say it hasn't been upfront.

I second this!

The whole point of participating in the forums is so people will get to know you and trust your reviews. This site is for book lovers who want to share their love of reading. People who join just for the money aspect won't last long. I for one don't trust reviewers who are here just to get paid and don't participate.

You need to be level 1 to get access to paid reviews. The score tab explains about that.

[Yssimnar]

Interesting to see these comments. I've just joined and did a review for which I received 100 points, plus some very nice comments from the editor. I was given 47 points for this. Now it seems like the way to get points is to post a lot of comments and do a lot of promoting of the book. I didn't join to promote books. I joined to review books, and yes, to get paid. Do you want reviewers or promoters? I agree with comments that say it hasn't been upfront.

I second this!

The whole point of participating in the forums is so people will get to know you and trust your reviews. This site is for book lovers who want to share their love of reading. People who join just for the money aspect won't last long. I for one don't trust reviewers who are here just to get paid and don't participate.

You need to be level 1 to get access to paid reviews. The score tab explains about that.

I don't mind participating in the forums, but it's the posting regularly for the popularity points and daily stuff that feels somewhat uncomfortable. I don't want people I know to feel like I am spamming them. One of my posts on Facebook sharing my latest review was blocked and deleted by Facebook as spam

[JHuschle519]

I'm just wondering if there is actual money paid to us reviewers. I'm almost on level 5 and the price I get for reviewing are just free books. As much as I like free books, but I would like to be paid for at least one book. Has anyone been paid real money after a book review here? If so how long did it take before you started getting paid? just being curious.

Hi. I've been a member for about a month, and I started getting offered $5.00 reviews as soon as I hit level 1. I am currently level 2, and right now I see anywhere from 3 to 5 paid reviews offered when it comes time to select a new one to read. It seems rather odd that at level 5 you are not seeing any. Have you reported this to the site moderators yet?

[kfwilson6]

I'm just wondering if there is actual money paid to us reviewers. I'm almost on level 5 and the price I get for reviewing are just free books. As much as I like free books, but I would like to be paid for at least one book. Has anyone been paid real money after a book review here? If so how long did it take before you started getting paid? just being curious.

Hi. I've been a member for about a month, and I started getting offered $5.00 reviews as soon as I hit level 1. I am currently level 2, and right now I see anywhere from 3 to 5 paid reviews offered when it comes time to select a new one to read. It seems rather odd that at level 5 you are not seeing any. Have you reported this to the site moderators yet?

That post is 4 1/2 years old. The scoring system is different than it was then.

[kfwilson6]

Interesting to see these comments. I've just joined and did a review for which I received 100 points, plus some very nice comments from the editor. I was given 47 points for this. Now it seems like the way to get points is to post a lot of comments and do a lot of promoting of the book. I didn't join to promote books. I joined to review books, and yes, to get paid. Do you want reviewers or promoters? I agree with comments that say it hasn't been upfront.

Most of the comments in this topic are more the 4 years old. Starting off with a perfect editor score will help you move up the levels quickly. Once you start getting high average views and replies on your reviews you won't need to do Book of the Day posts to achieve the max number of popularity points. The whole scoring system is explained so if you choose to be a reviewer, you choose to adhere to the rules, policies, and scoring method.

The discussions can be quite enjoyable. There are other reviewers I really enjoy interacting with.

This website is designed to help authors promote their books. Positive reviews and shares on social media achieve that goal.