As advertised recently, Rachael McDiarmid has returned to RM Marketing Services (www.rmmarketingservices.com) on a full-time basis. RMMS provides a suite of sales, marketing, promotions and communications services to the book industry at a competitive hourly rate. Freelance and/or project work. Take advantage of 27 years experience in the local publishing industry and start ticking off your to-do list today! Phone 0409 772 850 or email info@rmmarketingservices.com.

Andrew Davis, formerly Deputy CEO Asia Pacific at Penguin Random House and APA Vice President, has joined Hardie Grant as COO and will be working closely with Sandy Grant and Julie Pinkham on business development and strategy whilst taking full responsibility for Operations including finance and distribution.

Hardie Grant includes three divisions (book publishers Hardie Grant Publishing, with offices in Melbourne, London and San Francisco) and five publishing units (Hardie Grant Books Melbourne, Hardie Grant Books London, Quadrille London, Hardie Grant Travel and Hardie Grant Egmont), as well as Hardie Grant Media (a publishing and content agency) and HGX (a consumer-facing largely digital publisher).

Andrew will be closely involved with all three divisions.

Sandy Grant commented, ‘We are really pleased to have someone with Andrew’s industry knowledge, reputation and experience join our business as we start our 20th birthday year’.

Andrew Davis said, ‘I have long admired Hardie Grant’s rapid growth, international reach and high quality, stylish books and digital content—I am delighted to be joining the team’.

Walker Books Australia has announced the acquisition of Ghosts of the Shadow Market, a collection of ten short stories, co-written with Maureen Johnson, Robin Wasserman, Sarah Rees Brennan and Kelly Link. The first eight stories will be published as ebooks from March/April 2018 onwards, with the final two exclusively available in a print bind-up of all the stories, published in 2019. The stories will centre on the Shadow Markets of the Shadowhunter world, with each one focusing on a different character. Jem Carstairs, of ‘The Infernal Devices’ series, will appear in each.

The Shadowhunter world has captivated millions of readers worldwide, with over 50 million copies in print in more than 35 languages. The books have made bestseller lists all over the world, have been adapted into a feature film and the Shadowhunters TV series is currently in its third season.

Walker Books will also be publishing a 10th anniversary hardback edition of the first title, City of Bones, in November this year.

We’re thrilled to congratulate Elizabeth Tynan for Atomic Thunder: The Maralinga Story, which received the 2017 CHASS Australia Book Prize. The prize is awarded to a nonfiction book the judges believe to contribute most to cultural and intellectual life in Australia. To order, please contact TL Distribution on (02) 8778 9999 or orders@tldistribution.com.au.