Building a Bandersnatch

How the Dream Came to Fruition

by Annie Beth Donahue

This Substack will be a little bit different from our usual fare. First, I’d like to start off by saying, “Happy 5th Anniversary, Bandersnatch Books!”

If you didn’t know, Bandersnatch Books was founded on September 19, 2020. And I assume you didn’t know, exactly. But I do know, exactly, because I have it engraved on a wooden cheese board. So do Carrie and Rachel.

Since that time, we’ve published 25 absolute treasures, we’ve worked with over 25 authors and illustrators, not including ourselves, and we’ve been represented in over a dozen bookstores and conferences. All in our not-so-spare time.

We’ve also had THE BEST volunteers and interns. I’m still amazed at the willingness and enthusiasm of this community that gives of their time and talents. They help us read through submissions, create content, and set up and sell at conference booths. They are the superfans that some businesses only dream about—but they’re our reality!

So how did we get here? How did the dream come to fruition?

This beautiful, expanding community started with a smaller community.

A few years back, after an intense season of ministry and parenting, Rachel Donahue had rediscovered her love for writing. In her search for community, she found a haven in the forums of the Rabbit Room, a Christ-centered community of art, story, and song. One of the forum sections was for finding people in your area (real, live meetups!), and Carrie Givens responded to Rachel’s request for connection. Soon, they became fast friends.

Rachel and Carrie started hosting writers' brunches in conjunction with ArtsCharlotte and participating in some other events. I started tagging along to these events, too. The brunches were especially easy for me to attend since they were at Rachel’s house, and Rachel essentially lives behind me. We’re married to brothers and also work in the family greenhouse business together. That’s another story for another day, but just know North Carolina Farms has helped subsidize some of our escapades and is part of the larger Bandersnatch community.

Out of the writers’ brunches grew a writers’ critique group. Yet another little community. We used Diana Glyer’s book, Bandersnatch, as a jumping-off point. Bandersnatch is an examination of the Inklings and how they influenced one another. The title actually comes from something that Lewis once said of Tolkien, which is, “No one can influence Tolkien. You might as well try to influence a Bandersnatch.” And in the book, Bandersnatch, each chapter evaluates different ways these writers influenced each other and gives you tips on how to do what the Inklings did. We modeled our community on theirs. We called ourselves The Band of Bandersnatches.

Then the pandemic hit. Talk about a reformation of what community looked like . . .

We stopped meeting for a little while, but by the summer, we wanted to get back together in person before one of our members moved away. So we had a very hot, socially-distanced final meeting in Rachel’s garage. At that meeting, Carrie, Rachel, and I all had work ready to go. I was querying agents at the time, and Carrie and Rachel had polished manuscripts.

When reflecting on the state of the publishing industry and what was represented within our little community, Carrie pointed out that we had a variety of skills and probably had enough experience in the room to create our own publishing company. At some point in the afternoon, the name Bandersnatch Books was floated as a good name for such a venture. Then we parted ways.

Ever the Communications mastermind, Carrie went home from that meeting and immediately purchased the web domain for bandersnatchbooks.com. Because, you know, better lock it in now, just in case. Then she thought, “Oh. Social media, too!” And she grabbed all the social media handles. To quote Carrie from an earlier conversation:

Then I started writing an email. I was writing to Rachel at that point. I knew Rachel much better than I knew Annie Beth. And so I was writing her this email of like, what do you think? Am I crazy to think this? What would you think if we did this together? And do you think Annie Beth would be interested? Should we ask her to be involved as well?

Then she sent the email.

Meanwhile, I was on the computer with Twitter pulled up in a tab, and I got a notification that said, “Your contact bandersnatchbooks is on Twitter!” (Follow) I immediately texted Carrie and asked her if she had just made Bandersnatch Books a Twitter account. Were we really going all-in on this idea?

Carrie forwarded me the email, and I responded, “Yes, Annie Beth would be interested.”

And the rest is history!

The very first Bandersnatch Books dreaming meeting in 2020.

We convened. We had meetings to solidify our values and our goals. We filled out paperwork. We published our own books. And we did these things together.

Then we opened our arms to other people and published other people’s books. We did that together as well. But each time we were expanding our circle, welcoming new authors and illustrators into the adventure with us.

We welcomed fans. We welcomed bookstore owners. We welcomed young people (and middle-aged people) that were interested in the publishing industry and wanted to try their hand at parts of the process.

And that’s what we will continue to do. Bandersnatch Books didn’t come into being because Carrie knew some other talented writers, or Rachel took some great photos, or Annie Beth made sure we sent money to pay the printers. The dream came to fruition through the work of all of us—and all of our amazing authors, artists, and friends.

September 19, 2025 - Bandersnatch Books’ 5-Year Anniversary!
September 24, 2025 - Release of The Song of the Stone Tiger, a middle grade fantasy novel by Glenn McCarty
October 17–18, 2025 - Bandersnatch at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, Tennessee
November 2025 - Release of Joe the Fourth and the King’s Crown, a lower middle-grade novel by Mary Barrows
December 2025 - Release of I’ve Got a Bad Case of Poetry, our illustrated children’s poetry anthology edited by Rachel S. Donahue - Preorder on the Kickstarter Platform

So many of you shared your beautiful bookshelves and reading nooks on Tuesday! Check out #bander5natch on Instagram or Facebook to see all the posts. While you’re at it, visit our website and preorder The Song of the Stone Tiger.

Also please follow Bandersnatch Books on Instagram or Facebook!

“People are making good, true, and beautiful things to the glory of the One who made them. We just get to spread the love.”
–Rachel S. Donahue, “Generative Creativity”