APPI Board Selects McMillen as New CEO

APA’s publishing operation not only received a somewhat new name in January, but last month it also gained a new chief executive officer when the Board of Directors of American Psychiatric Publishing Inc. (APPI), formerly American Psychiatric Press Inc., named Ronald McMillen to that post. McMillen was instrumental in the founding of APA’s book-publishing operation back in 1981 and most recently served as director of publishing operations for APA.

As CEO, McMillen will oversee all book and journal publishing programs and will report to APA Medical Director Steven Mirin, M.D., and to the APPI board on which he will be a voting member.

APPI President and Board Chair Thomas Wise, M.D., said that he is “thrilled that Ron has accepted the appointment. This ensures continuity of leadership for APPI. It also ensures that a proven leader in the scholarly publishing field will be at the helm of the organization.”

This sentiment was echoed by Mirin, who noted that McMillen “has been a major force behind the growth of APA and APPI publishing almost from the beginning. His appointment will allow APPI to maintain its position as the preeminent publisher in our field.”

Wise cited McMillen’s strong background in the rapidly growing area of electronic publishing as a key advantage that he brings to the APPI helm. “We’re already way ahead of many other organizations in taking advantage of electronic publishing opportunities, an initiative that Ron had the vision to implement,” he said.

APPI board member Nancy Andreasen, M.D., editor of the American Journal of Psychiatry, commented that McMillen “has shown great skill in foreseeing new developments in publishing, such as the role of the Internet and electronic publishing, and will be a strong asset” as the publishing world continues to remake itself for the computer age.

Under the stewardship of McMillen and Carol Nadelson, M.D.—who until recently served as president and CEO of American Psychiatric Press Inc. (the predecessor of American Psychiatric Publishing Inc.) and will soon step down as editor in chief—APPI grew to be the world’s largest publisher of books and journals in the field of psychiatry. It now can claim about 75 percent of the psychiatry titles published annually in the world, which in recent years has meant publishing 50 to 60 titles a year.

Said Nadelson, “I am delighted with Ron's appointment as APPI CEO. He is knowledgeable, far out in front in the use of electronic and Internet technology for publishing, and he has the loyalty and respect of an outstanding staff whom he has motivated and supported.”

The new APPI was created in conjunction with APA’s organizational shift from a 501(c)(3) to a 501(c)(6) organization, which took place on January 1. Operationally, the new APPI is charged with managing the business aspects of all books and journals produced by APA and the old APPI, McMillen explained. As part of the change, in which APPI will remain a 501(c)(3) organization, Nadelson’s three roles—president, CEO, and editor in chief—have been turned into three separate positions.

As APPI celebrates its 20th anniversary this month, its annual budget for its book operation alone has grown from $400,000 to about $6 million. For 2001 its total revenue is expected to be more than $22 million, nearly equally divided between journals and books, and with $37,000 coming from nonmember online access to APPI journals through HighWire Press, McMillen said in an interview with Psychiatric News.

He noted that with the expenses required to produce books for small audiences moving steadily higher each year and a declining library market for these titles, APPI intends to cut back the number of books it issues for the next few years “in order to maintain profitability.” Whether the growth of electronic publishing fills in some of that gap remains to be seen, he added.

In addition to its extensive book-publishing activities, APPI publishes five psychiatric journals and manages the publishing business operations of APA’s two journals, the American Journal of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Services, as well as those of Psychiatric News.

Looking to the future, McMillen said that among APPI’s initiatives are a “major overhaul of APA’s Web site that will feature the publications more prominently and make it easy to navigate back and forth between the publishing sites and other APA Web offerings.”

APPI also plans to experiment with publishing electronic books, he noted, and to explore the possibility of making the DSM and APA’s practice guideline series downloadable to the hand-held computers known as personal digital assistants. McMillen reassured readers who enjoy holding a book or journal in their hands, however, that “print books and journals are certainly not going away.”

Another initiative he will oversee is an effort to integrate more of the material in APPI’s books and journals into APA’s continuing medical education programs.

Two major books in the pipeline for 2001 publication, he noted, are the third edition of Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders, edited by Glen Gabbard, M.D., and the fourth edition of the Manual of Clinical Psychopharmacology, edited by Alan Schatzberg, M.D.

McMillen said that a lot of the reason for APPI’s success is that it has put together “a highly professional staff experienced in all aspects of publishing, from editorial to marketing to business.”

He noted that an extensive search for an editor-in-chief to replace Nadelson is in its final stages and that the APPI board expects to announce its choice by May. ▪