I made ££££ from failing to be a Sunday Times Bestseller

And other reasons why setting a big goal for yourself and missing it is great

Author Lucy Werner, photographed by Caro Cuinet Twellings

When teaching workshops on elevating your personal brand, I always finish with a DREAM BIG exercise. The learning objective cements the fact that we won’t take the steps to get somewhere without a big target.

In 2021, I publicly stated that I wanted to be a Sunday Times Business Bestseller for my second book Brand Yourself. I was bored of the existing business bore-offs or bizfluencers getting in there. Why couldn’t somebody like me do it?

Cue launch day messages…

Congratulations! You have sold out!

Reader: I was not a bestseller that had sold out. A certain giant online retailer hadn’t ordered enough stock to fulfil the orders, and it took over a month to rectify.

You can read more about how I failed to be a Sunday Times Bestseller here.

Screengrab from my article in The Writing Cooperative

Far from it being unpleasant, it made my audience empathise.

I was frustrated about the distribution issues. But embarrassed I had swung big and tripped over on the way to landing flat on my face? Not at all.

Part of my mission to hype with humility means it’s not just about showing off your trophy cabinet. It is about showing how many misses we have to get to those wins.

Ok great Lucy, but I want to know how it made you money…