About Us
Bandersnatch Books is a publisher of treasures found off the beaten path, books that might otherwise be overlooked in the vast world of publishing. We don’t look down on small ventures, but focus instead on making excellent books accessible. You’ll often hear us quote Zechariah 4:10, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin” (NLT).
Who We Are
Carolyn Clare Givens is a displaced Northerner exploring the foreign ways of the South. She works in communications at New City Church in North Carolina, handling much of the stuff that goes on screens or paper (or signs, or t-shirts, or pens, or mugs….). Carrie lives in Charlotte with her literary cat, Lord Peter Wimsey. She has previously bumped around the world, both as a missionary kid and adult. Carrie was part of the publishing process on more than 30 books before launching Bandersnatch. She’s the author of Rosefire, published by Bandersnatch Books in 2021, and The King’s Messenger, released as a new edition by Bandersnatch in 2022.
Annie Beth Donahue is a native North Carolinian. While enjoying both local and international travel, she’s never put down roots anywhere else. Annie Beth spends her time as a homeschooling mom of four, project manager, and integrator. She’s also the founder of Signposts Ministries, a nonprofit for children with special healthcare needs. Annie Beth has experience writing articles, staff trainings, and web copy (and has also been the editor for several nonfiction books) but is looking forward to turning her focus toward fiction—especially middle grade mysteries. Annie Beth is the author of No Clues, You Lose: A Joey Jacobs Mystery, published by Bandersnatch Books in 2022.
Rachel Donahue isn’t a typical homeschooling mother of four: after finishing her English degree, she and her husband, Mick, moved to Spain and spent the next dozen years in cross-cultural ministry. When family circumstances brought them back to North Carolina, a return to literature ushered her into a new season of writing: both poetry and the beginnings of a novel. Friendships with other writers, combined with her editing experience and design work, led to the publication of her first book: Real Poems for Real Moms: from a Mother in the Trenches to Another. Rachel is the author of Beyond Chittering Cottage: Poems of Place, published by Bandersnatch Books in 2021.
Our Story
It may have been inevitable. We should have seen the writing on the wall when Rachel gave Carrie a Christmas present with P.G. Wodehouse’s words on it: “There is no surer foundation for a beautiful friendship than a mutual taste in literature.”
After a few years of just such a friendship, we, together with Annie Beth and a couple other friends, started a writing group designed around the principles for creative encouragement found in Diana Glyer’s book Bandersnatch. A year or so into the group, Annie Beth, Carrie, and Rachel decided to start a whole new venture altogether. (It’s possible that the pandemic got to us, because we’re all rather busy in the rest of our lives, but at the same time we just couldn’t shake it that this was a good idea. Our families agreed.)
So in the fall of 2020, Bandersnatch Books was born: a small publishing company with a focus on accessible excellence and a goal of providing books of substance (that might otherwise be missed) to lovers of all that is good, true, and beautiful.