Lindqvist and McNeill join Usborne

Fritha Lindqvist is to join Usborne in the newly created role of head of publicity, while Sophie McNeill has been appointed as global digital director of the children’s publisher.

Lindqvist joins from Fritha Lindqvist PR, a freelance consultancy she ran for five years after leaving her role as head of publicity at the Hachette Children’s Group in 2017. Since launching the company, she has delivered a number of campaigns for a wide range of children’s publishers, including Usborne where she spearheaded campaigns for Sophie Anderson’s The House with Chicken Legs, P G Bell’s The Train to Impossible Places, Serena Patel’s Anisha, Accidental Detective and Jenny Pearson’s The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates.

In her new role, which she takes up in April, she will work across the entire Usborne list, from baby books to YA fiction, and be responsible for the company’s overall PR. She will report to Anna Howorth, director of global branding and UK marketing. Fritha Lindqvist PR will continue trading until October 2022, with Lindqvist completing work for other clients, including her role as freelance children’s programmer for Bath Festivals. 

"I have loved my freelance career and have been lucky enough to work with some wonderful clients and incredible authors," Lindqvist said. "I will miss these names hugely. But the opportunity to work with a world-leading, dynamic, and brilliant children’s publisher is one I couldn’t resist. To work with Anna, the talented marketing and publicity team and publishing director Jenny Tyler will be a privilege, as well as delivering stand-out campaigns for books created by Usborne’s remarkable in-house authors and Rebecca Hill’s stellar fiction list.”

McNeill’s appointment follows the retirement of Lisa Watts, who spent 47 years with the company, first as an in-house writer and editor, penning titles including Machine Code for Beginners, before moving into digital to work on Usborne Quicklinks and the company’s global website.

McNeill was previously director of cross-channel marketing at Scholastic USA, and before that she was a director in the Penguin Random House consumer digital marketing team in New York. 

She said “I am delighted to be joining Usborne, one of the world’s most exciting children’s book publishers and a true global brand. This is a great time to be joining Usborne’s digital team, following its Q4 2020 global website launch. I’m excited to help lead the next step in their digital evolution. My children and I have been fans of Usborne books for a very long time. It’s been a particular thrill to be taking on the digital mantle from Lisa Watts who edited Usborne’s Introduction to Computer Programming which is the first book I owned on computing as a child.”

Howorth added: “I am absolutely thrilled that Fritha and Sophie are joining Usborne in these pivotal roles. It is vital that we have exceptional people in place to help deliver the best possible experience for the children who enjoy our books and our authors. Fritha is a longstanding and hugely respected children’s publicity professional, and Sophie brings a wealth of digital expertise from publishing and beyond. I’m excited to be working alongside them to further strengthen the Usborne brand, especially as Usborne approaches its 50th birthday in 2023.”

Further recruitment within marketing and digital is ongoing, including a marketing manager who will work on Usborne’s non-fiction, baby and activity books, all created by its in-house writer, editors and designers.