Trust Signals: Brand Building in a Post-Truth World received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Scott Baradell.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Trust Signals: Brand Building in a Post-Truth World, October 2022
What’s the book’s first line?
As a longtime PR guy, I’d like to start by speaking to others in my profession.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Trust signals are the points of evidence that individuals, companies and brands use to win one another’s trust. Mastering these signals is the single best way to build, grow, and protect your brand in today’s post-truth world—where trust is the most precious commodity of all.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
A desire to modernize and elevate the work of PR professionals and to give practical tools to marketers and entrepreneurs to grow their businesses with a trust-centered approach.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
To understand the importance of trust to success in business and to learn practical tools for building trust online.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I’ve always wanted to, but made the commitment about four years ago.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
Yes.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I own a PR and marketing agency.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
I feel like I’m always writing. Probably an hour or two a day.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
The best is the control you have over all aspects of the process. The hardest is attracting enough visibility to have the impact you’d like your ideas to have.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Find someone to help you with accountability, like a personal trainer for your book. I would have never finished mine without that kind of support.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
Yes, depending on the reputation of the publisher. It’s a trust signal that can attract more readers to your ideas.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
It’s rewarding to share what I’ve learned with others.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
It changes all the time, but today I’ll say Roger Ebert. He was the least pretentious film critic I’ve ever read.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
Simple Justice by Richard Kluger.