Conversations with the Inspiring Natalie Tansill and Amy O’Connell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Tansill and Amy O’Connell.

Natalie and Amy, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Ever Eden Publishing was born out of a desire to publish quality works of art that are written by Catholic women. We firmly believe that feminine voices can change the world. We promote and support women writers by publishing a quarterly literary journal and helping them build community with one another.

Both myself, Natalie, and Amy my co-founder are full-time mothers and writers with a passion for bringing more beauty into the world through the creative written word. It has been a joy to partner together in creating a literary oasis to be enjoyed and savored by hundreds of people nationwide.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to building any business is never entirely smooth. We have had our fair share of hiccups and learning opportunities, but through it all, it has been a joy.

The most difficult experience we’ve had as a new business was creating the first literary journal. The very first issue of Ever Eden served as a template for us for the ones that follow and it also was our first time walking through the process of publishing a journal from beginning to end. Choosing the pieces within, creating the document, working with a designer, losing a designer, hiring a new one, choosing the price, choosing a printer, working with the printer, shipping out the journals, etc. There were a lot of systems that were not in place yet and were being figured out as we went. One of the biggest hiccups we had was when we received our first batch of literary journals from the printer and realized that the art on the cover was not centered and the journal was the wrong size! Navigating that situation was not entirely fun, but we figured it out!

The best advice we would give for entrepreneurs and women, in particular, is to make a commitment to yourself to follow your idea until the end. The beginning of a new business is difficult and there are a lot of times that you have to figure it out as you go. But every setback or seemingly negative situation is an opportunity to learn and create solutions for the future. So commit to yourself and continue working towards your goals!

What should we know about Ever Eden Publishing? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Ever Eden Publishing is an avenue for Catholic women writers and artists to have their work published and promoted. We do this through the Ever Eden literary journal and also through the Open Mic nights that we hold via Instagram live. We have become a gathering place for people who enjoy reading the literary work of emerging writers, and we are creating a community of writers and readers alike. We receive submissions of poetry, creative nonfiction, and short fiction pieces from all over the world.

One thing we are excited about that is coming in the near future is that we are creating avenues for storytellers to share their work to an audience in creative, new ways. We are so excited about all the things that Ever Eden is doing and we can’t wait to continue to grow our audience and writers.

Do you have a lesson or advice you’d like to share with young women just starting out?
So often, we are our own worst critics and out of fear, don’t move forward on things that we feel called to do. Don’t let your fear of what others think influence your dreams and goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.everedenpublishing.com
• Email: contact@everedenpublishing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everedenpublishing/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everedenpublishing

Image Credit:
Nat Marie Photography

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