Meet Our Team: Anabel Pandiella post image

Meet Our Team: Anabel Pandiella


Pantera Press

Brought to life by a passion for storytelling, Pantera Press has been publishing great Australian stories since 2008.

Our goals to invest in and nurture the next generation of Australian readers and writers would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of our team.

Our latest team spotlight is shining on Anabel Pandiella, our Marketing and PR director.

 

  1. What is it that drew you to the Publishing Industry?

I had always loved reading but I studied journalism at university and, after my degree, realised I didn’t really want to work in a news room. I was working in a bookstore full time, not really sure about what I was going to do next, when I saw a teeny tiny ad in the newspaper for a publishing assistant role at Random House. I saw that ad, called my sister and said to her: “I know what I want to be.”

 

  1. What is your favourite book?

No, that is a cruel and impossible question! Here’s my top 5, in no particular order:

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

The Famished Road by Ben Okri

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

 

  1. What book would you love to see adapted to film?

No book I love too much.

 

  1. If you could have dinner with one literary character, who would it be?

Anna Madrigal from Tales of the City.

  1. What is your biggest literary pet peeve?

Bad sex scenes in romance books. Please don’t call it ‘his member’.

  1. Do you remember the first book you read as a child?
    The first book that got me, as in dragged me in and ensured I would never give up books again, was The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton.

 

  1. What is your favourite quote?

“Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill.

 

  1. What’s on your reading Spotify playlist?
    I listen to music to quiet my brain and read to ignite it so never the two shall meet.

 

  1. What is your ideal reading location?

Bed, beach, or bus. Also places not starting with b, like planes and cafes. Pretty much anywhere.

 

  1. What snack best accompanies a good book?

Cup of tea or wine – depends on the book (and time of day).

 

  1. If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you take with you?
    My family, books and matches, so that we could actually survive.

 

  1. If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor?

I’ve had two incredible mentors so far, both who have taught me very different lessons, but, in my experience, mentors choose you, not the other way around, so I’m looking forward to meeting my next one.

 

  1. What do you like most about your job?

Through marketing and publicity, I actually get to recommend books to people. When I was a bookseller my favourite thing in the whole world was hand-selling. Until I have my own bookshop, what I do every day is as close to hand-selling as possible. And I love my authors.

 

  1. What is your guilty pleasure?

Pastries, romance novels, subversive cross-stich and swearing like a sailor.

 

  1. Who is your ultimate book boyfriend/girlfriend?

Oscar Mendoza from Alice Clayton’s Cream of the Crop. He’s a hot cheese farmer from Hudson Valley in upstate New York. Need I say more?