Fiona Macmillan joins MCB as publisher 

Fiona Macmillan is joining Macmillan Children’s Books as publisher for preschool, brands and Kingfisher, succeeding Stephanie Barton, who retired last month. 

Macmillan will join MCB at a date to be confirmed soon, reporting to Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, m.d. of MCB. 

Macmillan’s role also incorporates overall responsibility for the MCB design department and she will become a member of the MCB leadership team. She is currently m.d. and head of publishing at Centum Books, where she has both developed IP for the publisher and published books for a diverse portfolio of global brands, including Universal/DreamWorks, Disney, Crayola and Pink Fong. 

Prior to Centum, she was publisher at Random House Children’s Books where she worked with bestselling and acclaimed authors, leading the strategy and publishing programme for all colour titles, for babies to seven-year-olds, across all platforms. Notable successes include The Dinosaur that Pooped series by Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter and The Fairytale Hairdresser by Abie Longstaff. While at Random, she also reinvigorated the backlist publishing, rebranding the Shirley Hughes Alfie series. 

Rasmussen said: “I am delighted that Fiona is joining my team. She brings a wealth of valuable experience and expertise, having created and published successful books into all markets for a wide audience of children and families throughout her career. She is an expert in launching new formats and building strategic publishing lists, where the child reader is always first and central to the books, particularly essential for our successful Campbell and preschool lists. Her strong visual eye will continue to uphold MCB’s leading position in illustrated publishing. I know that she is the perfect person to support me and to work alongside my leadership team to continue to grow and strengthen MCB’s publishing and sales in the UK, as well as with our colleagues at Macmillan in the US and around the world.” 

Macmillan added: “I am very excited for the amazing opportunity that awaits with MCB. For me, it is the home to so many family treasures, characters and stories that every child should have access to. I have nothing but admiration for all the achievements that MCB has made in recent years, and to be asked by Belinda to take on this publisher role is a task that I am very much looking forward to. I am thrilled to have been invited to join this talented team.” 

Joanna Prior, c.e.o. of Pan Macmillan, also commented: “This is an exciting time for our children’s business, which plays such an important role for Pan Macmillan as a whole. I am delighted that we are welcoming Fiona to be publisher for preschool, brands and Kingfisher, and I know she will be a key member of the MCB leadership team, as we build the division for a strong and successful future.”