Interview Books & Buzz: Aimee Ravichandran (Abundantly Social) and Mickey Mikkelson (Creative Edge Publicity).
- 2 hours ago
- 8 min read
By Aimee Ravichandran, owner of Abundantly Social and Mickey Mikkelson, Owner of Creaitve Edge Publicity
Where are you both from? Is that where you’re from originally?
Mickey: I am lifelong from Canada, growing up in Alberta and living in Edmonton for 23 years and then moving to Calgary, and then finally Lloydminster which is where I live now.
Aimee: I am a Texan girl born and raised. I grew up in San Antonio, moved to Houston where my husband attended college and I currently am residing in College Station. If you follow college football I live in the smallish town that is home to the Texas A&M university.
How did each of you get into the field of marketing?
Mickey: Living and working within the Alberta, Canada market, I originally graduated from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology with a Marketing diploma that took me to working special events for Canada’s largest book chain, Indigo. That work was done in 2002 and ultimately, I left there ten years later to work with a technology and insurance company servicing the Saskatchewan and Alberta credit union market. Working in the corporate environment changed my life because that is where I met Miranda Oh, the first author I would ever sign!! She had written a book called Chin Up Tits Out and because I had bookstore experience, I offered to help her market her book. We started by booking eight book signings in the Alberta market, tying the events into our corporate trips during the day. So, imagine spending eight-hour meetings with credit union executives during the day and then adding additional three-hour book signing events at night. The work was worth it as Miranda was able to network at every store that she went to and our success led to several book events in Winnipeg, where she lives. After our trip ended, we both decided we didn’t want it to end and so I signed her as my first client and with the help of my autistic nine-year-old daughter (at the time), she helped me design my company logo and select the name Creative Edge. The premise of the logo was two puzzle pieces connecting, which is what our mandate is. One puzzle piece is blue showing support for Autism, something that Creative Edge is a big supporter of.
All of this was done in March of 2015, and by August of that same year through marketing, word of mouth referrals, and overall networking Creative Edge became a successful business.
Aimee: So, to be honest with you I fell into Marketing. I attended the Univerity of Texas at San Antonio in which I graduated with a BA in Psychology. While attending UTSA i was working for a lady named Sandy Lawrence and her PR firm Perceptive Public Relations doing Social Media Marketing. Once I graduated in 2016, I moved to Houston and starting working with her in both the PR and digital marketing fields.
It was during this time that I started Abundantly Social which started off as a Social Media Marketing company and then grew in a company that offers done for you author services including PR and Social Media Marketing. We do drive to #1 best seller and enjoy doing a fun party for the launch of your book.
What are the roles you both play in helping authors promote their books?
Mickey: I focus on all of the traditional media marketing aspects. I book interviews for authors on Podcasts, newspaper coverage, TV coverage, Radio coverage, and magazines. I also obtain book reviews and focus on library event bookings as well as book store signings. Truth be told, the authors we work with jointly hear more from me than Aimee and I use the comparison of a car meaning that my efforts are the high gloss paint and the tinted windows while Aimee is the engine that keeps the car running including all of the maintenance of that.
Aimee: Mickey gets your visibility in the traditional arena i.e. podcasts, magazine interviewers ,etc.. While I focus on the digital use of those opportunities to drive online sales and reviews of your book. All while keeps your social media you update with all the latest adventures you are doing and sharing those to our networks to help you get the maximum reach we can get.
How did you meet, and what led you to believe you would work well together? How did you join forces?
Mickey: I am going to pass this onto Aimee because it’s a funny story and one I am sure she is dying to tell!
Aimee: OH MY!!! I LOVE TELLING THIS STORY. So, mickey saw an ad I was running promoting my podcast (Author Talk) we were looking for new authors to interview and wouldn't you know Mickey saw it. I believe it was on RadioGuest List. Anyways…he emailed me asking for a phone conversation. I told him sure anytime. This man called me the next minute started talking about my show how he could fill it and so on and so forth. Then in true Mickey fashion he said and I quote “ I see you have a Publicist on your team, there will be no conversations with my clients about your services or I will pull of my authors from your show.” In which I was like yeah no that would be me and I am no longer do PR I am focusing on Marketing since my kids at the time were much younger and needed my attention more. He then agreed and the rest is history. I will say when we started working together I reached out to him for help on a client. He then sent over his contract and I had very strict rules to follow etc.. now look at us the best of friends.
Are most of the authors you work with traditionally published or self-published?
Mickey: The majority of the authors that we work with jointly are self-published authors while I also work with some traditionally published authors both small press and with the big four publishers. There is no preference in the work and I strongly believe that the Indie author of today has as much right on the big stage as the traditionally published author does provided that they invest in themselves!!
Aimee: I focus mostly on self-published or small press published authors. Not to say we don't work with traditional published authors. I just Have a sweet spot for the underdog which I very much believe is self-published and small pressed published authors. Some of the best books I’ve read are self-published.
What are the most challenging parts of your jobs?
Mickey: For me, the most challenging part and yet fun part is working with all of the dynamic personalities that we get to work with not only from a client perspective but also from a media and outsource perspective. You have to be constantly pivoting and being able to think about opportunities in different and innovative ways, at least from a traditional media standpoint. The one thing that I have learned working within this is that rules are made to be broken and everyone is an expert and has their own take on things.
The biggest challenge is to be able to determine which is the right direction to go on something and then have the foresight to work with your client and pivot when needed to have success.
For me, I’m lucky because I have someone like Aimee that I can bounce ideas off of to ensure that we are always going in the right direction.
Aimee: the most challenging part for me is hitting the goal that I’ve set for the author in terms of sales. When we hit it it’s amazing but sometimes we try everything and it just still doesn’t do what we want it can be discouraging.
What's been your greatest success story?
Mickey: Jointly, I think it was working on Dr. Roger Leslie’s memoir Light Come Out of the closet which received a Five Star Publishers Weekly Review, an article in USA Today, and we also received a National Buy of the Book through Indigo which is Canada’s largest bookstore chain. The great thing about this is Roger is a self-published American author and many critics of us said that we would never get a national buy on a book that was not Canadian or bred at home – well we proved it wrong and broke the rules. All in all, it took about eight months after release date but the point is that it happened!
Aimee: I mean I agree with Mickey but I also think being a part of the journey with the author when they hit these milestones for me is the best gift I can get. What an honor to be a part of their success story.
For authors who are just learning how book marketing works, what goes into a book launch?
Mickey: I will pass this off to Aimee because she is in charge of our book launches (see, The Engine that runs the car)
Aimee: oh man where do I begin. Timing your launch with a holiday or day that is somehow relatable to your book. Then it is setting up what promotion you are going to offer. Promo stacking it to give it the best chance. Doing the launch party and celebrating its birth. Stressing over ranking and having mini heart attacks throughout the day. Thats the tip of the iceberg into what goes into setting your book up for the most success possible.
What's the biggest mistake you see authors make when promoting their books?
Mickey: For me, the biggest mistake that authors make is not having a clear vision of what they want to do and trying to listen to so many so-called experts about what to do next. When that happens, the author will start to take shortcuts instead of striving for quality in their book covers, their images, and their overall branding. Authors who take the time to properly edit, format, and then release a book will always have more success that an author who is turning out books every month. The lack of quality will show in the work and that mindset does not lend itself to obtaining new fans and readers.
Aimee: For me it when all they are posting on Social Media is buy my book buy my book.. STOP no one wants to be sold!!!! They want to buy because they feel a connection to you.. go back to just being friends with your following and oh yeah you wrote a book. Don't cram it down their throats. Trust me people don't like it and will avoid you.
Any other advice for authors as they go out and seek to make names for themselves?
Mickey: For Indies, it is so important to stay professional both in their own personal image and in with their author branding. The key thing to remember is not to sacrifice quality when putting out the product but it’s also important to ensure that the brand is your own and that you are not trying to second guess what your audience wants.
Hiring a publicity team can help an author identify with that branding and, in most cases, it’s not as expensive as people think. Creative Edge and Abundantly Social started out working with Indies and so pricing strategies are set up so that the majority of Indies can afford to work within strategies and services. It’s usually a win-win for both sides.
Aimee: Don't let Social media overwhelm you. It started off meaning to be social and connect people all over the world. Focus on that! Pick one or two that you are comfortable with and do those. You don't have to being everywhere be where you are comfortable and your readers will come.
Connect With Us
Aimee Ravichandran
Mickey Mikkelson
Website: Creative Edge Publicity - Home
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