I’ve been a blogger for a long time. When I first started blogging, as in, a personal blog–whether it was sharing a bit of life, jumping into the world of fashion, or really digging into what I think about life–I assumed my friends and family might read it. Honestly, that first stranger to comment and then follow my blog shocked me. But then I was hooked. What writer doesn’t love a world where they can have a byline or two a day, put out there for any potential millions to read it?

The more I learned the blogging world, the more I realized just how it can become a platform. There are blogs out there with hundreds of thousands of followers–and they’re just blogs about people’s lives. How readers come to stumble across personal blogs is beyond me. In fact, I don’t even know how I’ve made it to half the personal blogs that I read.

There are lots of niches in the world of personal blogging. There are the fashionistas posting outfit pictures every day; there are mommy bloggers; there are what I call “re-posters,” those who find pretty pictures on the internet, repost them and call it “inspiration.”

And then there are those who were the first of their kind. The genius bloggers who had an idea, put it out there, and stumbled upon fame. This is where I’ve noticed a blog-to-book phenomenon. Now, why you’d go out and buy a book when you can access a writer’s content for free on their blog is a bit confusing to me; and yet I’ve read blogger after blogger who has paved the way with a unique and catchy blog, and then they’ve landed themselves a book deal!

Here are a few that come to mind:

What I Wore

Design*Sponge

ThxThxThx

Hyperbole and a Half

Pioneer Woman

Any other favorites out there? And have you read the books? Or are you like me–just visiting the blog for free?