What should a Gluten Free Blog offer its readers?

Blogs are relatively new, and gluten free blogs are perhaps even newer. There have been a few that have garnered some significant attention recently - and, I do read other blogs to get an idea of what the Celiac community actually wants to read about or expresses interest in.

I have noticed that since I started this simple gluten free blog, I have had more visitors to the site as time progresses. And, I am honored by anyone that finds my blog information useful and interesting. I started blogging about what I thought prospective readers would be most interested in; like, the latest news about celiac disease and various scientific articles and interesting discussion about the condition.

But, after reading quite a few other blog entries and checking out user comments that were posted in response to the articles, it seems that gluten free blog entries that gain the most following and best satisfy the most readers do something a bit different. Many talk about food and show pictures of gluten free and wheat free recipes, though not necessarily the recipes themselves. One common theme I see among the more popular blogs is the use of pictures of food or places. The pictures do not have to have anything to do with gluten intolerance or allergies at all, so long as you offer pictures. Why is this? And, readers seem to be more interested in stories than in the latest news, scientific advancements, and so forth related to Celiac than they are in reading arbitrary discussion of the blogger's personal life.

So, this has me thinking: do blog readers want cold, hard, facts about CD and GF living, or do they want the facts as they pertain to the blogger and the life of the person that is writing the blog?

The bottom line is that I want this gluten free blog to be of use to my readers, and be even more than just "useful" -- I'd like the content to be compelling and give all those with a gluten-free lifestyle a reason not just to read on article, but read on an ongoing basis in hopes they will gain some insight or vision into how to lead a better life with gluten intolerance.

So, I plan to change my approach on this site a bit.
This blog was mainly about "fact" up to this point, and informative information.

Now, I will try to deliver a bit more story type dialogue - one that will keep you all reading and commenting on a long-term basis, and have you always wanting to come back for more. I am sure this will be a challenge, since I am a bit more comfortable with scientific fact and figures than I am with story telling from the perspective of a Celiac Disease patient.

So, this is the day this Gluten-Free Blog takes a step in a new direction - a step that I hope will please my varied readers. I plan to include much more discussion about my personal history with Celiac disease and gluten intolerance in an attempt to further raise awareness of this condition, and present some of the day to day challenges and solutions that I encounter.

Outside of the gluten-free blog arena, there are general signs of improvement in awareness and coping with Celiac Disease these days, with The Food Network even doing a brief spot on various lifestyles affected by food - one of which was gluten-free lifestyle.

Stay tuned, my upcoming posts will take on a creative, but still information filled, direction that will include postings about:

• The path to publishing my first cookbook: Gluten-Free & Wheat-Free Gourmet Desserts
  
• Gluten-Free Recipes: I have many that did not make the book, and plan to give them away to all who are interested - including all sorts of main dishes, other dessert recipes for cakes, cookies, pies, and more.
• How I am living gluten-free here in Cleveland, Ohio, and my experiences and encounters with other Celiac Disease sufferers in my life and in the region
• Places I eat and acquire ingredients to bake with - especially info about were to acquire gluten free bargain priced ingredients
• Reviews of other gluten free blog sites and forums
• And yes, some continued news/science stuff, since I can not ignore any breakthroughs that may help all of those on this diet or with an allergy to gluten.
• Oh yeah: pictures! I will start adding that other side of this multimedia experience soon, since that was something that all the gluten free blog sites (that seem to garner attention) use on a regular basis.