Clarke rejoins HarperFiction in newly created role

Fleur Clarke is rejoining HarperFiction a year after leaving the industry, in a newly created position as publishing strategy director.

In the new role, which she begins this month, she will work with the division’s m.d. and publisher Kimberley Young. Clarke will ensure HarperFiction continues to break new ground and her specific responsibilities will focus on growing the HarperVoyager and Magpie imprints, as well as working alongside Young on strategic growth projects.

For the last year Clarke has worked at a behaviour change communications agency, Stand, as associate director and head of content and creative.

Previously she was head of brand and creative marketing at HarperFiction and won multiple industry awards for her innovative and chart-topping campaigns. These included FutureBook Campaign of the Year for Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire and the Book Marketing Society’s Best Adult Fiction Campaign for Babel by R F Kuang. She launched Voyager’s industry-first BookTok Creator House, as well as working on authors such as J R R Tolkien, Agatha Christie and Bernard Cornwell.

Her return comes as the division expands and follows several wins at the British Book Awards. “HarperFiction has grown exponentially over the last three years, breaking some of the biggest debuts in the market and delivering stand-out brand publishing,” the publisher said.

Young said: “I’m very happy to welcome Fleur back in this newly created role. It’s so important that our in-house talent is best in class to ensure our author talent shines brightly.

"Fleur brings a different kind of thinking and a flair and creativity that I know will ensure our publishing will continue to be one step ahead of the market. Fleur is the perfect addition to the team to help us publish our fantastic storytellers with innovation and daring."

Clarke said of her new role as publishing strategy director: “Nobody does it like HarperFiction. They conquer hearts and charts with commercial nous and creativity. They publish iconic brands with innovation and launch incredible new voices with trailblazing visions. I’m happy to be part of the next chapter in this exciting new role."

She added: "My time outside of publishing has left me inspired and fired up for a new challenge. I can’t wait to get started.”