Though it's now a multi-million dollar movie franchise; the story of The Hobbit had very humble beginnings. Originally, it was written for Tolkien's children (along with illustrated stories of Father Christmas battling goblins who rode on bats), and was brought to the attention of Susan Dagnall, who worked for London publishing firm George Allen & Unwin at the time. Tolkien himself never expected his stories to become popular, but Dagnall persuaded him to submit the story of Bilbo and the dragon for publication. The rest, as they say, is history.
