I love the New Year! It's full of promise for the year ahead and in today's show, I talk to Nina Amir about positive thinking and creative visualization to help you set your goals for 2017.
In the (mega-45 mins) introduction, I go through a couple of the trends I see for 2017. The Amazon Echo was the biggest seller for Christmas which (I think) means a rise in audiobook listening through the devices. But stay non-exclusive with your audiobook deals if possible because there will be more options than ACX coming in 2017.
The rise of beautiful print products will continue in 2017. Indies will continue to make the biggest chunk of income with digital but gorgeous hardbacks and limited edition print products will become collector's items – mirroring vinyl in the music industry. This was also emphasized in Rohit Bhargava's Non-Obvious Trends 2017 under Precious Print.
I recap my 2016 creative year including the surprises I hadn't planned for, and talk about how I hit my income goals. I also share my 2017 goals for The Creative Penn & non-fiction as Joanna Penn, our new small press, and J.F.Penn.
Nina Amir is the bestselling author of How to Blog a Book, The Author Training Manual and other nonfiction as well as an author, coach and trainer, award-winning blogger and professional speaker.
She founded National Nonfiction Writing Month and the Nonfiction Writers' University. And her latest book is Creative Visualization for Writers: An Interactive Guide for Bringing your Book Ideas and your Writing Career to Life.
You can listen above or on iTunes or Stitcher or watch the video here, read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.

* How Nina got started with journalism, then editing non-fiction and finally into writing her own books
* Why non-fiction can be creative and can change lives
* What visualization is and how you can use it as an author

* My own story: Back in 2006, I wrote the affirmation “I am creative, I am an author.” In 2011, that affirmation became a reality.
* How to identify your own visualizations

* How to take ACTION in order to set your visualizations into motion. (This is sometimes the missing aspect that people forget!)
* Why successful authors work on their mindset as well as the practical aspect of writing

* What will you give up in order to achieve your creative dream? Because there is always a trade-off. How much do you really want this, and what are the excuses you're telling yourself that are preventing you getting there?

* Why deciding on your values is so important in shaping the life you want
* How to stay focused and positive in troubled times