Today we’re excited to be connecting with Amy Lyle again. We’re excited to feature one of their products in our gift guide – learn more below and we encourage you to use your gift budget to support small businesses & creatives whenever possible.
Amy, thanks for joining us again. We’re so excited to have a product focused conversation today. Can you bring our readers up to speed on the product side?
I’m an author, screenwriter, and TEDx speaker with a common thread running through my work: helping people feel better about their failures. Through humor and storytelling, My goal is to show that missteps can bring people closer, while perfectionism often pushes them away. My books are designed to leave you feeling at least 32% better about your own life—because who needs perfection when imperfection is so much more relatable (and fun)?
Do you have any interesting customer success stories you can share about folks for whom your product was a great fit?
Creating something for the market means opening yourself up to both praise and criticism. But for me, the best part of writing books about my shortcomings is the incredible feedback from readers. Some responses are deeply moving, like, “My husband is in the hospital, and someone gave me your book to lift my spirits. I laughed out loud for the first time in months.” Others are delightfully funny, such as, “I thought I was a terrible stepmom and wife, but after reading your book, I feel like I’m doing pretty great.”
Hearing that my work helps people laugh at life’s chaos and give themselves some grace is the most rewarding part of being an author. Knowing I’ve made someone’s day a little brighter reminds me why I share my imperfections in the first place.
Have you tried any fun, non-traditional marketing ideas? If so, we’d love to hear the story and details.
For my second book, We’re All A Mess, It’s OK, I wanted to bring a surprise element to the cover shoot. The session included several of my best girlfriends, and at precisely 10 a.m., a wonderful animal handler arrived with… an alpaca. The reaction was priceless—everyone was delighted, and the fun level skyrocketed. The cover turned out fantastic, but the surprises didn’t stop there.
One of the women at the shoot, who owned a marketing firm, had a brilliant idea: make the alpaca the book’s mascot. We named him Santiago. We hired a voiceover friend to create about twenty short videos featuring Santiago “talking” about the book. These videos ran on social media for months and were a massive hit.
The campaign’s success helped the book hit #1 multiple times and land on Goodreads’ Top Humor Picks list. It taught me an invaluable lesson—sometimes, creating an environment of fun not only elevates the experience but also sparks outstanding ideas that can lead to incredible results.
What has been the biggest surprise for you along this journey?
The most rewarding part of my author journey has been the unexpected doors it has opened. There’s a universal curiosity about overcoming failures and finding humor in life’s messier moments, and my work has tapped into that in ways I never anticipated.
It all started with invitations to speak at events, which launched an entirely new chapter in my career. I appeared as a guest on an Atlanta morning talk show—a spot that grew into a three-year role as a panelist. Along the way, I was cast in about a dozen movies and even had the honor of delivering a TEDx talk for Beacon Street, where I shared my Big Idea: Finding the Funny in the Crummy.
This journey has been a testament to the power of embracing imperfection and using humor to connect with others. It’s amazing how life’s crummiest moments can lead to the most extraordinary opportunities.
Image Credits
Andrea Ferenchik