My Experience As A Book Critic

Writing novels is a major hobby of mine. I've finished one fantasy novel, and I'm working on my second. It all came about because of reviewing books on a consistent basis. Reviewing any item can often be turned into a career, even writing a simple book review can open doors. At worst you will get free books, something nice to put on your resume, and clips. Reviewing books led to my current job as a newspaper editor, so it holds weight.

Still, being a book critic won't pay many bills. Even as an editor for the arts section of a newspaper, I can't just fill up the pages with reviews-you need diversity, to review other things like plays, movies, and music events.

I do think writing book reviews can lead to a promising freelance career, so let me tell you how it happened for me.

My first major book review published came after querying the editor for Compulsive Reader. This is a widely popular book review site that I would recommend to anyone. I asked about writing up some reviews, but at the time I only had a couple clips to show. Nonetheless, I was asked to start sending in reviews; this proves that major experience isn't needed, just a sense for words and a knowledge of what to leave out of your review (like a surprise or ending) and what has to be said (like views on character and writing style).

Compulsive Reader didn't pay me a cent, but I did get a by-line (my name on the article) as well as a short bio paragraph. I wasn't in it for the money, but I found out I could receive free books by doing this job. I loved reading just about anything, from history to novels, so this was a major plus for me.

I learned the basics of writing novels by reading them. I also made valuable connections in publishing, even if only to get a large amount of free books (called reviewer copies). I met many authors, including Evan Kuhlman, winner of a Glimmer Train Short Story award, as well as Jim C. Hines, winner of Writers of the Future contest less than ten years ago. I would interview these writers, and ask the questions I had been so interested in asking for a long time. Interviews are actually not only a good way to get published, but to get paid for it. Associated Content no longer accepts interviews from authors not as well known, but there are plenty of other markets for this type of writing, like Strange Horizons and Writer's Digest.

What it all amounted to was I was getting hundreds of dollars worth of books free. I met top writers and asked them questions I thought would interest readers.

I started writing for my college newspaper because of my interest in book reviews and interviews. They published a few articles and, a few months later, I became an editor at the paper. I doubt the job would have been mine if I didn't have the online experience I did.

Next time you want a career in writing, start small and build from there. It just might turn into a career.