Introducing the Director of RM Marketing Services
RM Marketing Services was set up in 2014 to share the skills, knowledge and expertise acquired from decades in the book publishing business, a majority of which was spent in senior management roles. Working with thousands of publishers locally and internationally while managing publisher relations and distribution for a major book distributor and library supplier, Rachael could see what was missing in the market — an outsourcing solution and consulting service for publishers, distributors, library vendors and anyone in the industry who needs help with sales, marketing and distribution. Read more about her.
My name is Rachael McDiarmid. I have been in the Australasian book trade since 1990, starting my career at Pergamon Press working on such riveting products as Modern Power Station Practice (I shouldn't knock it - it actually sold A LOT of copies back in the day and taught me a lot about the power of direct & niche marketing), educational resources, science books and textbooks. I have a strong leaning towards professional and scholarly resources, and I'm known for my love of all things academic.
I've worked in a variety of marketing roles - from product management to senior marketing management, digital marketing and social media. I've worked in sales. And I've worked in senior management. And now I know what it's like to run a small business.
I managed a distribution business (Inbooks) for over 10 years representing around 100 presses to the ANZ book trade, primarily prestigious university presses like Harvard, Yale, California, as well as scholarly publishers like Rowman & Littlefield, select trade publishers, specialist heritage and library presses. Before that I was involved with agencies while at Pearson including AMACOM, Jossey Bass, The Free Press, NTC, Pfeiffer, and many other imprints that are no longer around today.
In library supply and book distribution I've worked with hundreds of suppliers, and thousands of publishers - seriously! - and know what it's like to be a customer and trading partner, locally and internationally.
I've worked on both sides of the fence - 11 years as a customer (representing the largest single account in the region at the time for trade and academic publishers) and the rest in publishing (with the majority spent in digital, professional, academic & scholarly publishing). I think everyone should do a stint in both.
I've added to the bio in recent years taking on more opportunities for speaking engagements and workshops. In February 2022 I began teaching the Book Marketing & Sales unit at the University of Sydney. I absolutely love it. I was recently asked to travel to Singapore to help the Singapore Book Publishers Association launch their book data site and I'm doing online workshops with others in the Asia Pacific region. For someone who was terrified of public speaking only 10 years ago, this is wonderful progress! Then again, I'm talking about things I love.
I've worked in multiple channels - B2B, B2C, with the bulk being in the retail and library markets. (I think libraries rock.) I also love direct selling and marketing and enjoy discovering special sales opportunities for niche books. Not every book has a retail audience.
I've worked with print and digital content - my ebook career started in 2003 (working with Etitle and then partnering with EBL for library supply) but I was selling CD-ROMs and databases in the mid 1990s. Recently I worked with ANZ libraries to launch and sell a number of digital platforms covering multiple disciplines which I enjoyed immensely.
I've been a successful publisher relations manager because my first mentor told me never to burn any bridges in this industry. I've been lucky enough to travel the world, attending Frankfurt, BEA, London Book Fairs annually for over a decade. I worked with great publisher relations teams at Blackwell and then YBP and Baker & Taylor. The retail President of the latter once told me that "every publisher has its own story". It's true. You just need to figure it out. Then you know how to work with them.
I've had some of the best mentors in the book industry and enjoy mentoring others as a result.
I was also a senior manager on the Nielsen joint venture with James Bennett and have a great regard for bibliographic data. Just please don't ask me to decipher ONIX. I had a team to do that - but I can help you with your ONIX and bibliographic data if you need guidance and am familiar with a number of sites related to book data.
I'm known for my honest and professional approach. And my approach to customer service. Customers always come first.
And I've been asked to judge books in recent times including the Australian Educational Publishing Awards (scholarly). Scholarly publishing is a great love of mine.
I live in Sydney but work globally. My favourite place in the world to visit is Venice. Before the pandemic, I would travel there every 2-3 years and have missed it terribly. You can read my old Venice blog here.
For recommendations and endorsements please go to LinkedIn
I've worked in a variety of marketing roles - from product management to senior marketing management, digital marketing and social media. I've worked in sales. And I've worked in senior management. And now I know what it's like to run a small business.
I managed a distribution business (Inbooks) for over 10 years representing around 100 presses to the ANZ book trade, primarily prestigious university presses like Harvard, Yale, California, as well as scholarly publishers like Rowman & Littlefield, select trade publishers, specialist heritage and library presses. Before that I was involved with agencies while at Pearson including AMACOM, Jossey Bass, The Free Press, NTC, Pfeiffer, and many other imprints that are no longer around today.
In library supply and book distribution I've worked with hundreds of suppliers, and thousands of publishers - seriously! - and know what it's like to be a customer and trading partner, locally and internationally.
I've worked on both sides of the fence - 11 years as a customer (representing the largest single account in the region at the time for trade and academic publishers) and the rest in publishing (with the majority spent in digital, professional, academic & scholarly publishing). I think everyone should do a stint in both.
I've added to the bio in recent years taking on more opportunities for speaking engagements and workshops. In February 2022 I began teaching the Book Marketing & Sales unit at the University of Sydney. I absolutely love it. I was recently asked to travel to Singapore to help the Singapore Book Publishers Association launch their book data site and I'm doing online workshops with others in the Asia Pacific region. For someone who was terrified of public speaking only 10 years ago, this is wonderful progress! Then again, I'm talking about things I love.
I've worked in multiple channels - B2B, B2C, with the bulk being in the retail and library markets. (I think libraries rock.) I also love direct selling and marketing and enjoy discovering special sales opportunities for niche books. Not every book has a retail audience.
I've worked with print and digital content - my ebook career started in 2003 (working with Etitle and then partnering with EBL for library supply) but I was selling CD-ROMs and databases in the mid 1990s. Recently I worked with ANZ libraries to launch and sell a number of digital platforms covering multiple disciplines which I enjoyed immensely.
I've been a successful publisher relations manager because my first mentor told me never to burn any bridges in this industry. I've been lucky enough to travel the world, attending Frankfurt, BEA, London Book Fairs annually for over a decade. I worked with great publisher relations teams at Blackwell and then YBP and Baker & Taylor. The retail President of the latter once told me that "every publisher has its own story". It's true. You just need to figure it out. Then you know how to work with them.
I've had some of the best mentors in the book industry and enjoy mentoring others as a result.
I was also a senior manager on the Nielsen joint venture with James Bennett and have a great regard for bibliographic data. Just please don't ask me to decipher ONIX. I had a team to do that - but I can help you with your ONIX and bibliographic data if you need guidance and am familiar with a number of sites related to book data.
I'm known for my honest and professional approach. And my approach to customer service. Customers always come first.
And I've been asked to judge books in recent times including the Australian Educational Publishing Awards (scholarly). Scholarly publishing is a great love of mine.
I live in Sydney but work globally. My favourite place in the world to visit is Venice. Before the pandemic, I would travel there every 2-3 years and have missed it terribly. You can read my old Venice blog here.
For recommendations and endorsements please go to LinkedIn
Our Affiliates
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Affiliate Senior Associate Antonia Matolov
I am Antonia Matolov. I've worked in publishing for many years, starting at Stafford Books/AES in 1994, then Pearson and Blake Education, then took a detour to magazines (Yaffa) but returned to academic publishing and was with Cengage for some years. Most of my roles have been in Marketing - Product Manager and Marketing Manager but I also have experience in sales and business development. I work effectively across functions and territories and have been involved in all levels of relationship building, customer acquisition and retention, digital marketing and marketing analytics. I see myself as a marketing professional with common sense and integrity, creativity and imagination The world of publishing is my world. I live in Europe at the moment. My favourite pastime is walking in big cities. |
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Affiliate Senior Associate Alicia Cohen
I am Alicia Cohen. I have over 20 years publishing experience in the Australian and UK industries. My passion lies in educational and academic publishing where I have spent most of my career helping grow publishing lists and increase business revenues. With a postgraduate degree in publishing and communications, and a passion for all things books and digital, I enjoy supporting publishing houses and edtech businesses. I am based in Melbourne, and love a coffee catch up. Interested in working with us on a freelance basis?
Let us know your skill set and experience as it relates specifically to the publishing industry. As a marketing business, we work with people we know and trust who have sales and marketing experience, and an excellent reputation in the book trade.
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