About me
I am a creative and award-winning marketer with experience across a variety of fast-paced industries and a portfolio of award-winning and bestselling marketing campaigns.
I’m skilled across marketing disciplines, from directing the creative vision of a campaign to booking out-of-home across TV and National Rail. My passion lies in digital marketing and I use a range of audience intelligence tools to justify decision-making and steer audience targeting for optimal results. I have demonstrable experience across the marketing mix, developing end-to-end campaigns that deliver results.
After starting my publishing career in reference marketing, I’ve since gained considerable experience across a variety of genres including crime, thriller, literary fiction, fantasy and romantasy, contemporary fiction, cookbooks, non-fiction, poetry, children’s books and YA.
To date, I’ve won nine Book Marketing Society Awards – five as a marketing consultant – for work on Butter (4th Estate), Collins English Dictionary (Collins), Let The Light Pour In (Canongate), Spaceboy (HarperCollins Children’s Books), James Acaster’s Guide to Quitting Social Media (Headline), and more! I’ve also played a significant role working collaboratively with marketers on some of the biggest books of the last five years.
I am passionate about mentoring and supporting the next generation of marketers. I am currently an Associate Lecturer for the Publishing MA at Oxford Brookes, as well as delivering guest lectures to Publishing students at several universities. I also volunteer my time mentoring publishing hopefuls and working-class graduates, both independently and through the SYP London and North schemes.
Services
End-to-end marketing campaigns, from initial planning right through to publication
I have significant experience creating memorable, focused and innovative marketing campaigns across a range of genres from commercial romantasy and literary translated fiction to children’s and non-fiction including memoirs, cookbooks and reference.
Using expertise from a decade of award-winning campaigns, I can handle every element from initial consumer insight and building out the campaign, to running paid advertising and providing detailed reporting.
I am calm and reliable in high-pressure situations, collaborating effectively across departments and liaising with authors and agents, to deliver the best outcomes for every book I work on.
To date, I’ve won nine Book Marketing Society awards for my work across genres, and was shortlisted for Freelancer of the Year 2024 at The Bookseller FutureBook Awards in recognition of my proven experience and portfolio of bestselling books.
Services I offer include:
- End-to-end campaign management, from strategy development to briefing campaign creative to ensure your message is consistent and eye-catching, taking you right through from acquisition to publication
- Flexible marketing support managing multiple campaigns to ease pressure on teams during busy periods and deliver optimal results
- Developing digital marketing strategies that drive leads and engagement, perfectly targeting your intended audience for maximum impact
- Running paid advertising campaigns across platforms such as Meta, X, TikTok, Spotify, Reddit and Google, as well as perfecting your positioning with copy and audience testing
Data-driven social media strategy and management, across paid & organic
I began my career working in social listening, before moving into events to build the initial digital marketing strategy for one of the biggest venues in London. I am plugged into social media on a personal level and pay attention to latest user reports, which means I have lived experience of the latest consumer behaviours, platform trends, and a deep understanding of algorithms and creative best practice.
All of this intel means I have spent many hours developing digital marketing strategy, across paid and organic social, for a variety of brands, from prestigious publishing imprints to beloved authors such as Enid Blyton, as well as book retailers, utility companies, and even audiobook start-ups.
Services I offer include:
- End-to-end management of impactful digital advertising across Meta, X, TikTok, Spotify, Reddit and Google; I have been a silent partner managing the digital advertising behind several of the biggest books over the last few years’ including Intermezzo, Butter, The List of Suspicious Things, Easy Wins, Really Good, Actually and many more bestsellers across publishers
- Putting a framework in place to streamline your efforts, from identifying scheduling and social listening tools to outlining strategy to deliver the results you want and build brand awareness
- Creating social media content plans, enabling you to post consistently across your desired channels and reach your target audience more effectively, as well as scheduling and community management
- Providing comprehensive competitor insight to help you understand where the opportunities lie on social media
- [NEW FOR 2025] Discounted rates when you book a package of Meta advertising campaigns OR combined multiple platforms. Do get in touch to discuss!
Flexible marketing support to cover gaps, provide expertise & ease pressure on busy teams
I pride myself on my ability to integrate seamlessly into teams, offering flexible support tailored to your needs. As a senior marketer with a wealth of experience working with a variety of teams and personalities, I’m confident communicating with stakeholders across the board, as well as providing hands-on marketing across channels.
Whether you need a safe pair of hands short-term to cover unexpected absences, an experienced marketer to drive projects forward during a period of hiring, or a more collaborative approach to ease pressure during busy periods, I’ve done it all. I also offer long-term flexible support to help fill a knowledge gap, particularly within digital marketing.
Previous projects have included:
- Short-term parental cover as Head of Marketing Campaigns, working across lead titles and delivering their first ever bestselling poetry collection
- A 1-month contract covering campaigns at Headline, which blossomed into a 2-year relationship offering digital marketing expertise
- Short-term contract covering a period of recruitment for Art Fund, which involved driving forward their key campaigns for autumn and winter, as well as advising on their agency and digital marketing strategy, and implementing best practice for campaign tracking
- Long-term support as Head of Marketing for an indie publisher looking to expand their marketing efforts and prove the value of marketing to investors, which led to the recruitment of an in-house Marketing Manager
- Long-term support managing, optimising, and reporting on AMS campaigns on a weekly basis
- Long-term support developing organic social strategy and brand tone-of-voice for a book retailer, which involved asset creation, copywriting, scheduling and regular reporting on growth and impact
- Long-term support as Digital Marketing Manager managing paid and organic social, developing digital-first marketing campaigns, and managing the launch of a new website
Copywriting for websites, organic social, marketing campaigns & more
I have in-depth knowledge of writing captivating copy designed to drive clicks, engage audiences, and increase traffic across a variety of industries. I’ve written about many topics, from audience segmentation and digital marketing to the language of Love Island.
Previous projects have included reading recommendations for Penguin Random House; newsletter copy for Alison Weir, Footnote Press, Margaret Atwood, Buster Books, and Rukmini Iyer; pop culture blogs focused on language for Collins Dictionary; and long-form articles for Thames & Hudson.
Services I offer include:
- Blog content designed to drive traffic to your website and increase your inbound leads
- SEO-focused web content to help you rank organically and increase awareness
- Newsletter copy that people will actually want to read, focused nurturing your subscriber list and providing engaging content
- Advertising copy, both digital and print
- Long-form content such as white-papers, strategic eBook content, strategy documents and reports, and more!
I have a full portfolio of work across industries and clients available in my Copywriting section below. If you’re looking for specific examples, please do get in touch.
Testimonials
‘Rachel has proved to be a hugely valuable and collaborative freelance partner, bringing an expert mix of data-driven analysis and boundless creativity to campaign planning. But where she really excels as a freelancer is in her ability to pick up and run with a project, liaise with internal and external stakeholders and team members, and understand the team dynamic that she is fitting into, even from afar, so that rather than feeling like a separate entity, she truly becomes part of the project team, not only delivering top quality work, but contributing ideas and sharing her experience at every stage of the campaign.’
Joanna Rose, Associate Publisher, HQ Stories
“Rachel is an absolute joy to work with, a great communicator who delivers every time without fail and to a high standard. I couldn’t recommend her more highly.”
Louise Swannell, Communications Director, Headline
“Not only is Rach massively capable, adaptable and knowledgeable when it comes to all things digital, she is endlessly reliable and a total joy of a person to work with.”
Elise Jackson, Marketing Manager, Headline
“We love working with Rach for many reasons; not only does she deliver excellent campaign results, but she’s also lovely. We were looking for someone who could support our existing digital marketing campaigns and offer expertise in paid advertising, but Rach surpassed our expectations by not only supporting Zebralution but also enhancing our digital marketing strategies.”
Rebecca Souster, Head of US, UK and Emerging Markets, Zebralution
“Rachel has worked with us on our Amazon advertising and has been instrumental in delivering positive gains for the business. Rachel’s data-first and audience approach demonstrates her expertise in the field, ensuring our products are front of mind with consumers.”
Nicola Piggott, Senior Marketing Manager, Canelo
“Rachel delivered creative and exciting digital campaigns for our books whilst working with September. She was always terrific to work with – and our authors found her energy and ideas refreshing. She also worked across a broader range of marketing areas, making extremely beneficial changes to trade materials and outreach and our social media output.”
Hannah MacDonald, Founder & Publisher, September Publishing
“Rach has regularly written engaging and thoughtful content for an author brand newsletter over the past six months, proving herself punctual, creative and quickly adaptable to changes in direction. I’d highly recommend her copywriting services.”
Carmella Lowkis, Senior Marketing Executive, Vintage
“Working with Rachel on some of our biggest books this year has been an absolute joy. Not only has she managed the lion’s share of the social campaigns but she has come up with resourceful and innovative ideas and campaign adaptations that have definitely benefited the books. I look forward to seeing what we can do together in 2024!”
Jo Liddiard, Head of Marketing, Head of Zeus
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Rachel across both fiction and non-fiction titles and I’m always impressed by her knowledge of the book market and the changing digital landscape. She’s brilliant at translating your briefs into detailed and highly effective online advertising campaigns, that are expertly managed and optimised throughout.
Phoebe Williams, Senior Marketing Executive, Faber
Working with Rach makes life very easy. It is reassuring to know that I can brief a project and it will be delivered to that brief and on time. Rach can also pick things up quickly when she has capacity. Campaign work is always in a safe pair of hands.
Rebecca Jones, Marketing & PR Director, Collins
Rach is delightful to work with! She is a regular copywriter for the Collins Dictionary website, having put together dozens of creative, SEO-driven blog pieces on topics from Game of Thrones to Gothic literature and everything in between. She has also delivered successful social advertising campaigns for us. I definitely recommend working with her!
Marta Juncosa Montes, Campaign Manager, Collins
Rachel hit the ground running, getting up to speed quickly and helping to implement a clear project plan, ensuring multiple stakeholders remained up to speed at all times. Rachel combined her passion for the fantasy genre, with her digital advertising experience to launch a highly targeted campaign that delivered results.
Carmen Byers, Marketing Director (Audio), Penguin Random House
Rachel has assisted me with a number of campaigns and is always such a reliable, calming presence at a very busy time. I was really impressed with her professionalism and the work she produced, including a huge variety of assets and managing digital advertising strategy across a range of titles.
Sarah Lough, Marketing Manager, HarperCollins Children’s Books
Rachel joined our high-performing, fast-paced marketing division seamlessly. She provided invaluable support, expertise and guidance to all members of our team and found ways of working with everyone. She has the perfect balance of creativity and data-led decision making; she’s equally comfortable with authors and is responsive, respectful and full of positivity. I’d hire her in a second.
Alex Cowan, Marketing Director, HarperCollins Children’s Books
Rachel came in to cover between staff, picking up a whole range of campaigns, all at different stages of their lives and masterfully propelling them all forwards. Instantly building relationships with authors and agent, editors and the rest of the campaigns team, she was an absolute delight. I can’t recommend her highly enough!
Jenny Fry, Commercial Director, Canongate
What a joy it was for me to work with Rachel. She is brimming with great ideas and enthusiasm; she knows the market inside out and even has a special talent for getting ahead of it. She taught me, with humour and patience, everything I know about Twitter, and ran some fantastic campaigns on Facebook with some outstanding response rates. She was an integral and inspiring member of an excellent team, I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to recommend her. You’d be lucky to have her.
Susan Lewis, Sunday Times bestselling author of One Minute Later
Claire Fenby, Digital Marketing Manager, Boldwood Books
Rachel Quin worked in the Canongate marketing team for ten weeks, instantly slotting in as a valuable team member. She got up to speed on campaigns swiftly and efficiently and delivered them using creativity, initiative and good market knowledge. She also quickly understood internal processes and systems and was always full of good cheer. Rachel was reliable and confident in working with editors, authors and key stakeholders and I would not hesitate to recommend her or have her back to work with us at Canongate again.
Alice Shortland, Marketing Director, Canongate
Rachel has worked with the team at ExCeL London, across a variety of different projects. She has a great eye for detail and is very creative in her approach. She’s quick to grasp a brief, understand what’s needed and deliver project within the desired timeframe. Rachel has a broad range of skills including creating artwork and design concepts. She is an excellent copywriter and can adapt her style to fit the target audience for any given campaign. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Rachel and wish her every success!
Lucy Merritt, Head of Marketing, ExCeL London
“Rachel is a joy to work with, combining endless creativity and brilliant ideas with expert analysis and execution. She has worked on a range of campaigns for the team and has always delivered standout work with regular and clear communication and great results. I can’t recommend her highly enough“
Matt Clacher, Marketing Director, 4th Estate
“Working with Rachel on digital campaigns has been a game changer for me. The expertise and audience insight that she contributes to each project is always impressive and invaluable, and you always have confidence that she is expertly managing your campaigns. I will continue to work with Rachel on future campaigns and would highly recommend others to do the same.”
Hannah Marshall, Head of Marketing, Faber
“Working with Rachel has been absolute joy. I knew our marketing was in the best hands and her support has been invaluable. Organised and efficient with a creative and innovative flair, she is an asset to any campaign.“
Charlotte Ledger, Publishing Director, One More Chapter
Campaigns
One of my greatest strengths is my ability to work flexibly with your marketing teams and develop impactful campaigns – based on real data, experience, and audience understanding – using a range of marketing tactics from organic buzz building and thumb-stopping creative to out-of-home campaigns across National Rail and London Underground, radio, TV and more.
I’ve also worked closely with in-house teams to cover senior marketing roles and high-profile campaigns as needed, including acting as Head of Marketing Campaigns at Canongate during a period of parental leave, Digital Marketing Manager at Headline, Head of Marketing at September Publishing, social media manager for Enid Blyton at Hachette Children’s and covering team needs and campaigns within 4th Estate, HQ, Penguin General, Penguin Vintage, Transworld, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins Children’s Books.
End-to-end campaigns worked on for clients include:
Fiction
- Butter (Asako Yuzuki)
- Really Good, Actually (Monica Heisey)
- Discworld in Audio (Terry Pratchett)
- Katharine Parr: Six Tudor Queens (Alison Weir)
- Elizabeth of York (Alison Weir)
- In The Shadow of Queens (Alison Weir)
- Henry VIII (Alison Weir)
- And He Shall Appear (Kate van der Borgh)
- A Fire in the Sky (Sophie Jordan)
- Miss Beeton’s Murder Agency (Josie Lloyd)
- Mary I: Queen of Sorrows (Alison Weir)
- The Coin (Yasmin Zaher)
- The Grand Scheme of Things (Warona Jay)
- The Last House on the Street (Diane Chamberlain)
- The Midwife’s Secret (Emily Gunnis)
- Three Weddings & A Proposal (Sheila O’Flanagan)
- Madly, Deeply (Alan Rickman)
- Family Lore (Elizabeth Acevedo)
- To Die in June (Alan Parks)
- None of This is Serious PB (Catherine Prasifka)
- The Caretaker HB (Ron Rash)
- The Devil Stone PB (Caro Ramsay)
- The Medici Murders PB (David Hewson)
- What Eden Did Next (Sheila O’Flanagan)
- The Woman on the Bridge (Sheila O’Flanagan)
- The Displacements (Bruce Holsinger)
- The Last Hours in Paris (Ruth Druart)
- Traitor in the Ice (K.J. Maitland)
- You Can Stay (Elle Connel)
- The Beloved Girls (Harriet Evans)
- One Of Our Ministers Is Missing (Alan Johnson)
- 12 Hours To Say I Love You (Olivia Poulet & Laurence Dobiez)
- Normal Women (Philippa Gregory)
- The Future (Naomi Alderman)
- The Beholders (Hester Musson)
- Queen K (Sarah Thomas)
- Delicate Condition (Danielle Valentine)
- You’d Look Better As A Ghost (Joanna Wallace)
- The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels (Janice Hallett)
- The Christmas Appeal (Janice Hallett) HB & PB
- Freeze (Kate Simants)
- A Flaw in the Design (Nathan Oates)
- Helle & Death (Oskar Jensen)
- The Dark Remains (William McIlvanney & Ian Rankin)
- A Room Made Of Leaves (Kate Grenville)
- A Corruption of Blood (Ambrose Parry)
- Good Husbands (Cate Ray) HB & PB
- Salt & Skin (Eliza Henry-Jones)
Non-fiction
- Friends, Lovers & The Big Terrible Thing (Matthew Perry)
- Taylor Swift: Era by Era (Caroline Sullivan)
- Heartbreak is the National Anthem (Rob Sheffield)
- Young Elizabeth (Nicola Tallis)
- The Wild Remedy Journal (Emma Mitchell)
- F1 Racing Confidential (Caroline Sullivan)
- Acts of Resistance (Amber Massie-Blomfield)
- Hotel Lux (Maurice Casey)
- Rebel Sounds (Joe Mulhal)
- 100 Words for Rain (National Trust)
- Book of Cakes (National Trust)
- National Trust on Screen (National Trust)
- The Shell Spotter’s Guide (National Trust)
- This Ragged Grace HB (Octavia Bright)
- What Is A Doctor HB (Phil Whitaker)
- What Went Wrong With Brexit HB (Peter Foster)
- (M)otherhood (Pragya Argawal)
- Let The Light Pour In (Lemn Sissay)
- Walking Back Home (Ricky Ross)
- James Acaster’s Guide to Quitting Social Media (James Acaster)
- Small Bodies of Water (Nina Mingya Powls)
- Baggage (Alan Cumming)
- Black Ghosts (Noo Saro-Wiwa)
- Faith, Hope & Carnage (Nick Cave)
- Livewired (David Eagleman)
- All The Frequent Trouble of our Days (Rebecca Donner)
- Friendaholic (Elizabeth Day)
- The Human Cosmos (Jo Marchant)
- The Expectation Effect (David Robson)
- The Condor’s Feather (Michael Webster)
- The Slow Road to Tehran (Rebecca Lowe) HB & PB
- Brutal Outer London (Simon Phipps)
- Hagitude (Sharon Blackie)
- Run Towards the Danger (Sarah Polley) HB & PB
- The Dragonfly Sea (Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor)
- The Healing Power of Nature (Vincent van Gogh)
- The Wheel (Jennifer Lane)
- The Jive Talker (Samson Kambalu)
- Fixing the Planet (Michael Norton)
- The Threat (Lilia Giugni)
- Two Lights (James Roberts)
- One Fine Day (Ian Marchant)
- The Witch’s Survival Guide (Jennifer Lane)
- Encounterism (Andy Field)
- Tender Maps (Alice Maddicott)
Children’s and YA
- I Shall Never Fall in Love (Hari Conner)
- Nothing Like The Movies (Lynn Painter)
- Burning Crowns (Katherine Webber and Catherine Doyle)
- Murder on a Summer Break (Kate Weston)
- Gangsta Granny Strikes Again (David Walliams)
- The Burpee Bears (Joe Wicks)
- The Boy Who Accidentally Got Famous (David Baddiel)
- Fireborn (Aisling Fowler)
- Pages & Co: The Book Smugglers (Anna James)
- A Clock of Stars: Beyond the Mountains (Francesca Gibbons)
- Einstein the Penguin (Iona Rangeley)
- Geenie & Teeny (Steven Lenton)
- The Last Bear (Hannah Gold)
- Paddington Classics reissues (Michael Bond)
- Einstein the Penguin (Iona Rangeley)
- Spaceboy (David Walliams)
- Pax 2 (Sarah Pennypacker)
- When Things Went Wild (Tom Mitchell)
- Pages & Co 5 (Anna James)
- Nick & Charlie (Alice Oseman)
- Powerless (Lauren Roberts)
- Reckless (Lauren Roberts)
- The First to Die at the End (Adam Silvera)
Achievements
Achievements as a consultant to date
- Won a BMS award in May 2023 for BUTTER (Winner Adult Fiction)
- Managed Meta ads for BMS award-winning & Sunday Times bestseller THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS in hardback (Cornerstone, PRH)
- Won a BMS award in November 2023 for LET THE LIGHT POUR IN (Winner Adult Non-Fiction)
- Won a BMS award in November 2023 for COLLINS ENGLISH DICTIONARY 14th EDITION (Spotlight Winner Audience Development)
- Increased Headline store revenue by 347% compared to previous year
- Grew active user sessions on the Headline store by 302% compared to previous year
- Increased orders by 412% and achieved a D2C conversion rate of 20%
- Drove multiple Kindle top 100 bestsellers through strategic digital advertising in my capacity as Headline’s Digital Marketing Manager
- Managed Meta ads for BMS award-winning & Sunday Times bestseller THE LIST in hardback (4th Estate)
- Managed Meta ads for Sunday Times bestseller THE LOST RAINFORESTS OF BRITAIN in hardback (4th Estate)
- Managed Meta ads for Sunday Times bestseller DEMON COPPERHEAD in hardback and paperback (Faber)
- Managed Meta ads for BMS award-winning & Sunday Times bestseller REALLY GOOD, ACTUALLY in hardback and paperback (4th Estate)
- Won a BMS award in January 2023 for SPACEBOY (Spotlight Winner Graft)
- Won a BMS award in December 2022 for JAMES ACASTER’S GUIDE TO QUITTING SOCIAL MEDIA (Spotlight Winner Creativity)
- Managed Facebook and Instagram ads for BMS award-winning & Sunday Times bestseller STILL LIFE in paperback (4th Estate)
- Managed digital campaign – including briefing social creative, organic social calendar, Facebook and Instagram ads, TikTok advertising, Twitter advertising and display campaign – for BMS award-winning & Sunday Times bestseller BOOK LOVERS paperback (Penguin General, PRH)
- Won a BMS award in September 2021 for Cari Thomas’s THREADNEEDLE (Winner YA Fiction Campaign)
Achievements while in-house
- Won a BMS award in January 2020 for Dawn O’Porter’s SO LUCKY (Highly Commended Adult Fiction Campaign)
- Won two BMS awards in November 2019 for HarperVoyager’s #StartYourVoyage (Winner Multi-Title Campaign) and Susan Lewis’ ONE MINUTE LATER (Spotlight On Audience Development)
- Achieved a Sunday Times no. 1 bestseller for Bernard Cornwell’s WAR LORD, with a year long multi-channel campaign that broke multiple records for the brand
- Charted at no. 3 for S.J. Parris’ EXECUTION with a long-tail pre-order focused campaign
- Charted at no. 6 with a creative campaign for Emma Jane Unsworth’s second novel, #ADULTS🙃
- Charted at no. 8 and quadrupled pre-order target for Dawn O’Porter’s SO LUCKY
- Achieved Sunday Times top 10 position for Dawn O’Porter’s non-fiction LIFE IN PIECES
- Achieved Sunday Times top 10 position and a Kindle number 1 bestseller for Susan Lewis
- Grew a brand author’s newsletter database by over 850% in less than 6 months
- Increased HarperVoyager’s social engagement by over 30% in just three months
- Successful launch of Collins Word of the Year 2018 campaign, delivering 2.2% uplift in media coverage and significant uplift in social media engagement
- Increased Astronomy subscriber list by 128% in a 6-month period
- Increased @NatGeoKidsUK Twitter following by 105% in a 3-month period
- Increased overall traffic to CollinsDictionary.com blog by 329% within 6 months of joining, with several pieces of content ranking in the top 10 most visited blogs for 2017
Copywriting
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved to write. From letters and short stories to an extremely detailed reference title (complete with terrible illustrations) on my favourite zoo animals that I gifted to a friend. I went from hobby writer, to writer and editor of my student newspaper, to professional copywriter who still gets excited to see their work published!
One thing that has remained important to me throughout my career is to create great content that people genuinely want to read. I’ve written for many B2B and B2C brands across a variety of topics and I understand how to adapt tone to suit the intended audience, no matter the subject matter.
You can find here a full portfolio of all my live work. I have experience across a wide range of companies, writing everything from thought leadership blogs and snappy campaign round-ups to detailed CSR reports and SEO-focused web articles.
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Contact me
If you’d like to get in touch to discuss a project, please fill in the form and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. I look forward to speaking soon!
Please note, this form is for project enquiries. If you’re a blogger, you can add yourself to my database here. I’m afraid I’m unable to respond to blogger requests sent via this form.