Kottke joins a number of prominent bloggers who've turned to readers for financial support. Others include Andrew Sullivan, a journalist who runs the website AndrewSullivan.com, and John Gruber, operator of the tech blog DaringFireball.net.

Kottke's quitting his day job may not be so risky. Blogging is fast becoming a business. Mini media empires like Gawker and Weblogs are being built on the backs of bloggers. Kottke is one of the highest-profile bloggers on the net, enjoying lots of traffic and loyal readers.