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.
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 MECO6943 Book Marketing & Sales unit at the University of Sydney. I absolutely love it. That year I was also asked to travel to Singapore to help the Singapore Book Publishers Association launch their book data site. I've also done in-person and online workshops with others in the Asia Pacific region. And I'm regularly asked to present to publishers and their staff about all aspects of marketing & distribution. 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. In 2014 I worked with Bloomsbury Digital Resources to launch their Bloomsbury Collections platform in ANZ and went on to market and sell other digital products like Drama Online, Bloomsbury Fashion Central, Churchill Archive — which I enjoyed immensely. From 2018 I worked with ProQuest as their publisher relations contact in ANZ for Ebook Central until they changed the platform model in January 2025. In March 2026 I'm back in the publisher relations space working with Hoopladigital, an entertainment platform for public libraries. I think 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 am happy to share my knowledge. 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. Metadata seems to be a topic I've been heavily connected with over the years as I'm regularly asked to present on it and my tip, highlighted by David Shelley, Hachette CEO in the foreword of How to Market Books by Bowen & Baverstock is "know your metadata". It drives everything! 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 ABIA Marketing Campaign award, Australian Business Book awards, and Australian Educational Publishing Awards (scholarly). Scholarly publishing is a great love of mine. After decades living in Sydney, I moved to the beautiful Blue Mountains in 2023. I love to travel and have a particular fondness for all things European. My favourite place in the world to visit is Venice. Before the pandemic, I would travel there every 2-3 years and was delighted to return again most recently in November 2025. You can read my very old Venice blog here. For recommendations and endorsements please go to LinkedIn |
About Rachael
Rachael McDiarmid is a book marketing specialist and the founder of RM Marketing Services, a consultancy that provides outsourced sales and marketing support to publishers, distributors and authors locally and internationally. Rachael has been in the book industry for over 36 years in a variety of product, sales, marketing and senior management roles. She has worked on both sides of the industry, primarily in academic and professional publishing, as well as in library supply, where she managed publisher relations across print, digital and multimedia supply chains alongside a trade distribution business. Earlier in her career, she worked with organisations including Pearson and James Bennett. She was the face of the James Bennett/Nielsen BookData joint venture for many years in the mid-2000s and has worked with Blackwell Book Services and Baker & Taylor/YBP on their retail and digital projects in the ANZ region. Since its launch in 2014, RM Marketing Services has supported organisations ranging from multinational publishers such as ProQuest and McGrawHill to university presses and small, specialist publishers. The business continues to work with a wide range of clients across fiction, non-fiction, academic and professional markets. Rachael’s work focuses on book marketing strategy, metadata and discoverability, digital campaigns, social media, publicity, distribution and sales operations. She has been working in ebooks and digital platforms since the early 2000s and continues to work closely with digital services and library platforms, including content acquisition, publisher engagement and relationship management. In addition to outsourcing services, she provides consulting and coaching, including author marketing and social media coaching, as well as author care programs delivered in partnership with publishers. These services are particularly valuable for small and hybrid publishers supporting authors who need practical, tailored guidance. She is a lecturer in Book Marketing and Sales at the University of Sydney and delivers workshops and presentations on book marketing, metadata, social media, publicity and author brand development for publishers, writing organisations and industry groups. Rachael is based in the beautiful Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. 
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