Saturdays @ the South: From Blog to Book

imagesThis may come as a surprise to our beloved readers, but the Peabody Library’s blog is not the only blog out there with interesting content. Long before I started having an absolute blast writing the Saturdays at the South section and peppering all of you with my quirky recommendations, I was (and still am) a longtime blog reader. There are some truly talented people out there churning out fantastic content. We’ve mentioned Book Riot a few times here on the website along with Quirk Books which also puts out fascinating book content, but there’s so much more out there than just amazing book blogs. (OK, I hyperventilated a bit writing that last sentence, but it’s true, nonetheless.)

The internet is a fascinating place to learn and pick up new skills, if you know where to look. Pretty much anyone can start writing a blog, but it takes commitment, significant effort and a level of expertise (both in the blogger’s topic of choice and in Web Things like “search engine optimization” and social media) in order to make a high-quality and successful blog. Bloggers have tested the waters for years, writing about their particular areas of expertise and have found fans, community, in some cases a steady paycheck, and an increasing amount of book deals for those who have that elusive combination of faithful followers and quality content.

3653717An early success story was Ree Drummond, aka the Pioneer Woman. She’s parlayed her blogging success to a highly rated food network show and several book deals, the newest of which has already spent several weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. I’ll be perfectly honest and say that I’m not a huge Drummond fan, but the clear organization and the visual appeal of her books is undeniable, as is her popularity. You can find her newest book: Dinnertime and some of her previous publications here at the South.

3617330Food52 has had a busy year this year. Begun by bloggers Amanda and Merrill, they initially set out to create a community of people who love food and love cooking by providing a space to share recipes, tips and tricks. What they created was a beautiful website that is as combination of resources, recipes and, as of 2013 an online store. These bloggers have created an empire based on their principles of good, homemade food. As a home cook, I’ve found this website to be invaluable and made many recipes from their repertoire, with very successful results. Plus the pictures on the blog are stunning, so I’m never at a loss for inspiration there. Naturally, I was thrilled when I saw that they published a book, Genius Recipes: 100 Recipes that will Change the Way You Cook and what a book it is! The stunning photo arrays with clear instructions and tastes for every palate. It’s not always easy to channel the same image and energy from a blog onto the page, but this book has done so wonderfully.

3577260Not all bloggers start writing on web pages. Michelle Phan is a self-taught makeup artist who started vlogging (video blogging) during the early days of YouTube by posting makeup tutorials. Before long, she had millions of views on her tutorial and became the most subscribed-to woman on YouTube. Currently, her channel has more than 8 million subscribers and over 1 billion total views and she has managed to carve out a style niche for herself on her own website. This is the type of Cinderella story publishers love and Phan’s first book: Make Up: Your Guide to Beauty, Style and Success Online and Off  was published last fall. It’s a very twenty-first century book with advice on digital dos and don’ts,  job-hunting tips and, of course, style tips. While I would have expected a video blogger’s book to be considerably more image heavy, the book is accessibly well-written and anyone who’s followed Phan’s career will likely find these tips both enjoyable and helpful to read.

3635074Tom Cox made a name for himself (or perhaps more specifically, for his cats) by microblogging on Twitter and became successful writing about his sad cat (@mysadcat), his smug cat (@mysmugcat) and his angry cat (@myswearycat). The result of his unique blend of morose humor, silliness and cats (which we all know the Internet loves) ended up offering material for several books, plus his own website which, naturally features more information about his cats and general wildlife info about his native England. Here at the South, we have The Good, The Bad and the Furry ready for your perusal and laughter.

3640389The Kitchn is a division of Apartment Therapy, and uses the term “online magazine” instead of blog. While it was started by two people, the website is now run by an editorial staff that churns out about 20 articles daily on their website. The content involved recipes, how-to instructional videos and articles, plus tips on keeping a kitchen well-stocked and organized, no matter the size. I started following The Kitchn shortly after I found Food52 and haven’t been disappointed. The resulting cookbook, The Kitchn: Recipes, Kitchens & Tips to Inspire Your Cooking  that came out this year has won a James Beard Award and is as beautiful and helpful as their website.

3678923Bonus: Food52 Baking: 60 Sensational Treats You Can Pull Off in a Snap

This month, Food52 came out with a baking cookbook that I pretty much have fallen in love with. They had me at scones, but they kept me with just about every other recipe that kept me turning the pages like a it was a suspense thriller. Not only are the pictures completely mouthwatering, but the book is filled with helpful tips (I FINALLY have a good cake-flour substitute) plus encouraging notes about making recipes your own. This book is the epitome of unintimidating, with a manageable number of simple recipes, but a good enough variety to have something for every palate. When I brought the book home, I had to fight the urge to curl up in bed with it that night so I could come as close as humanly possible to literally having sweet dreams. The book stayed safely tucked with my other library books that night (i.e. NOT in my bed), but I can guarantee that my oven will be earning it’s keep during the loan duration.

Till next week, dear readers, I encourage you to venture out into the World Wide Web and discover a new blog (or several) on a topic you enjoy, comforted by the knowledge that your readership here at this blog, is enormously appreciated.