How to Write a Book Review

Questions Before You Start

What are the components to a book review? How does one go about writing one? Will you get paid to write a book review? Will you be able to write book reviews to earn extra money? These are all good questions. Equip yourself with all you need to know before you venture into writing a review.

Dissecting the Book Review

A book review is a summary of a book you have read, whether it be fiction or nonfiction. You are free to not only list the story line or theme of the book, but express how reading the book made you feel. Take a look at the components of a book review.

The Beginning

Right away in the introduction, you need to let your readers know which book you are reviewing. Don't put the title of the book so far into the body of the review that your audience has no clue what you are writing on. Place the title, the author, and the publisher in the first paragraph of your review.

The Overview

A brief overview of the contents of the book will be helpful. For fiction, tell the plot succinctly.

Your Evaluation

Last, and this is often the most enjoyable to write, you can insert your reaction and evaluation to the book. Some thoughts to consider when writing a nonfiction book review include:

• How well the book has achieved its goal
• What would have made the book a stronger read
• Which points are not convincing
• How the book affected you as a reader

Tips On How to Write a Book Review

As you sit down at your computer to write your review, emphasize the following:

• Honesty: Let the audience know how you feel about the book.
• Details: Tell what you liked or didn't. If fiction, was it a story you were engrossed in? If nonfiction, did it provide themes or points that captivated your mind?
• Accuracy: Get the facts straight. Refer to pages in the book to make sure that the title, author, and names of the characters are written correctly. Check your grammar and spelling. Get rid of winding sentences. Make sure you use proper verb tenses.
• Courteousness: For fiction, be sure to keep the reader--a potential reader of the novel--in mind. Do not give away the ending! Tell readers just enough about the plot to get them interested.

Book reviews reflect your opinion.

Keep In Mind

A book review is not just a summary or a book report as one would do for a class in school. Your opinion matters; get it in there! Show that you have your own thoughts and reflections about the book, and that you know how to creatively convey these to your readers.

Payment for Book Reviews

How much will you be paid to write a book review?

Some ezines will offer you between $10 and $25 for a review of 300 to 500 words.

While there are a number of pay-to-write sites, affiliated with click-to-pay, these only offer $2.00 or less per review, and then a commission of pennies should someone buy the book you have written about, or when someone clicks on your review. Review Stream is one such website.

Newspapers and print magazines tend to pay more for reviews and are worth checking out. One example of such a magazine is The Writer. This 121-year-old publication pays between $40 and $80 for a book review. The Women's Review of Books has a rate of 14 cents per word and accepts book reviews from freelancers.

Have Fun

Hopefully, as you perfect your writing style, you will land many jobs that will pay you to write book reviews.