I’ve recently started getting paid to review ebooks. I question whether this is a good thing to do because I’m reading books I would never think to pick up on my own so I don’t feel my reviews are accurate. If I don’t normally read mysteries I don’t have anything to judge or compare to. Some books are torture to read but some people might enjoy their particular genre.

I try to write fair reviews based on the writing ability not the subject matter but some are just so hard for me to read. Others have surprised me because the synopsis sounds so uninteresting but the book ends up being completely different.

I’ve only refused to read one book and that was because I had read two of the authors previous books and knew that he needed a good editor to trim down his 700 page manuscript. I did not want to waste my time in order to make $5.

Yep, that’s what I make to do these reviews. Not exactly a fantastic career choice. I just figure, if I’m not doing anything else, then why not? Of course I don’t read every word or do research into the author or topic, but I get a fair sense of the mood and tone of the book and whether I like it.

The main dilemma for me is that people are reading these reviews and possibly basing their purchases on what I say. These aren’t books I’ve chosen to read or genres I necessarily enjoy so I don’t think my judgements are accurate.

Also, there are certain tricks such as purchase times and endorsing other reviews that are used to boost ratings that aren’t exactly honest.

I will eventually get tired of giving up my reading time for these books but for now it at least pays for my eBay shopping habit. It has opened up my range of titles that I’ll consider when choosing a book for myself but considering the level of writing that most of the books I’ve written about, that might not be such a good thing.