Literably Transcription 2024: Is It Worth It or Not?

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What is Literably?

Literably is a reading assessment platform that was established in 2013 with the aim of partnering with schools and districts to provide literary assessments for students. Literably offers transcription jobs to freelancers known as “Scorers” whereby you have to listen to audio files of children and sometimes adults and transcribe (score) exactly what you hear. The data is then sent to the teachers of these students so they can identify the needs of their students and work towards improving them. The main objective of scorers is to focus on the phonetics of the audio files when transcribing

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With Literably, children can learn how to read and pronounce words with ease — Literably helps train children how to read

How Does Literably Work?

Before you can start working on Literably, you’ll need to sign up on the platform. During the sign-up process, you will be given a total of 6 training recordings which need to be transcribed within 30 minutes. These recordings are usually a few seconds to a minute long so 30 minutes should be more than enough to transcribe all 6 recordings. After the training, you will have to wait a while for Literably to assess your transcription and if you pass, you will be contacted via email informing you of your acceptance on their platform. You can then log in and start working on Literably.

You will receive a collection of audio recordings featuring mostly children, but occasionally adults, trying to read prepared texts. These audio files have varying duration, with most being around one minute long but some shorter or longer. Your responsibility as a scorer is to create an accurate transcript of all the words and non-word sounds in each audio file. Literably has built an online transcription interface that presents you with the original text and allows you to modify the text to reflect exactly what is said in the audio file. The main purpose of this interface is to help you save time so you can work more effectively and efficiently.

How Do I Sign Up on Literably?

• Visit the Literably instructions page for scorers here.

• Click on the link provided on the page to create an account.

• Fill out the form with your credentials which include your name, username, password and email address and submit it to create your account.

• Transcribe 6 training tests after going through the transcription instructions on their page, submit them, and wait for Literably to get back to you with your results via email. This usually takes a couple of weeks due to the high number of applications they receive.

• If your application gets accepted you can start working on Literably but if it gets rejected, you’d have to check back in 1 year.

What Requirements Are Needed to Work on Literably?

As a transcriber, you will need a few equipment to ensure the effectiveness of your transcription. These include a PC with internet connectivity and headphones — You need a computer with an internet connection to work on Literably

In order to become a scorer on Literably you must be at least 18 years or older. You will also need access to a computer with an internet connection, applications cannot be completed on a smartphone or tablet. Literably is beginner friendly so you can still give their platform a try without having any transcription skills.

How Much Can I Earn on Literably?

The price per audio minute fluctuates depending on the volume of audio available to be transcribed but Literably’s pay ranges from an amount of $0.38 to $0.80 per audio minute, where their average pay per audio minute has been $0.51 since December 2020.

How Do I Get Paid on Literably?

PayPal is the only payment available on Literably. Payments are sent once every week, generally on Friday evenings, based on the total number of audio minutes you have accurately transcribed since your most recent payment. Literably covers all PayPal fees so you will not have to pay any fees as the recipient. Also, make sure that the first and last names as well as the email address of your PayPal account match the ones you used to create your Literably account or else they will not be able to pay you. If it happens that you used different details to sign up, you can change them to match your PayPal account in the Scorer Portal once you have been hired.

What Countries Does Literably Hire From?

Literably hires freelancers worldwide with exceptions for individuals located in certain states in the United States of America, who are ineligible to work on Literably. These states include California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, and New Jersey.

It doesn't matter what part of the world you find yourself in, you can still get hired by Literably to work as a transcriber on their platform — Literably hires scorers worldwide

Is Literably Legit?

Literably is a legit platform and you should expect to earn around $500 per month if you take transcription on the platform seriously. There isn’t enough information out there about the platform as well as individual reviews and reports from Literably transcribers so, I can’t tell if there are still jobs on there.

Final Thoughts

On their website, Literably claim to hire transcribers all year long but tend to do large hiring rounds during their busy seasons, when transcribers’ pay rates tend to be the highest. These seasons include Early August through October, January through February, and Late April through early June. I did apply a while back on the platform and I still haven’t heard from them in over a year.

Will I reapply? My answer is No, because I really don’t think it’s worth the stress. I’m still yet to come across anyone who has worked or is currently working on the platform, to find out more details about the platform. It’s stated on their website that they are still hiring so you can give it a shot. After all, there’s no harm in trying, you might get lucky and have your application approved. If you’ve had the opportunity to work on Literably, kindly share your experience in the comments.