How To Become A Book Reviewer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a book reviewer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A book reviewer sources and review new books according to a schedule. As a book reviewer, you must be an active researcher. This way, you can source relevant personal and professional information about the book and the author. Your job is to give a reader a better idea of new books across a wide variety of genres.

For easy identification, you are expected to evaluate and analyze books according to their merits, giving opinions on both new and established authors. Since book reception by the audience can be unpredictable sometimes, it is your job to write in conversational tones and identifying themes of books. Keep in mind; a book reviewer must be an enthusiastic reader and writer. You will become a liaison with authors or publishers to establish essential criteria for reviews of different books.

A book reviewer must have excellent analytical skills, the ability to read books, and have quick and sharp insights into the text. You must also have an excellent understanding of writing styles and texts. Formal education is essential for this role; hence, a bachelor's degree in journalism and other related fields is required. The average yearly salary of a book reviewer is $62,611.

ScoreBook ReviewerUS Average

Salary

3.5

Avg. Salary $44,791

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.3

Growth Rate -10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.29%

Asian 9.57%

Black or African American 6.28%

Hispanic or Latino 12.38%

Unknown 4.33%

White 67.14%

Gender

female 74.35%

male 25.65%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress Level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.1

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

2.1

Work Life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a book reviewer

Explore book reviewer education requirements

Most common book reviewer degrees

Bachelor's

59.3 %

Master's

24.4 %

Associate

8.5 %

Start to develop specific book reviewer skills

Skills	Percentages
Fiction	35.45%
Literature	27.21%
Biographies	13.76%
Poetry	12.10%
Non-Fiction	11.48%

Complete relevant book reviewer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New book reviewers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a book reviewer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real book reviewer resumes.

Research book reviewer duties and responsibilities

Post a book review, including HTML codes (if applicable), on personal blog.
Write book reviews for prominent genre literature magazine
Review economics text books to determine level of mathematics require to comprehend material.
Participate in meetings with inter agencies and other entities as appropriate to facilitate and enhance the Medicaid eligibility determination process.

Get book reviewer experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a book reviewer. The most common roles before becoming a book reviewer include editor, internship team lead and writer and editor.

Prepare your book reviewer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your book reviewer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a book reviewer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Book Reviewer Resume templates

Build a professional Book Reviewer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Book Reviewer resume.

Apply for book reviewer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a book reviewer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do book reviewers rate their job?