Dana Spector has joined CAA as agent in the books department, based in Los Angeles. She was previously in the media rights department at Paradigm.
Berrett-Koehler founder Steve Piersanti, who serves as both president/CEO and an editor, announced that he will relinquish his executive positions in mid-2019. He will continue as a full-time acquiring editor, though, “which is the role I have always believed I was best at performing and which has given me the greatest satisfaction.”
Caroline A. Hayes has joined Norton as metadata operations manager.
Awards
The National Book Awards announced its 5 Under 35 honorees, including Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Friday Black, which is excerpted and available for download in our Buzz Books 2018 Fall/Winter. The rest of the winners:
Hannah Lillith Assadi, Sonora
Akwaeke Emezi, Freshwater
Lydia Kiesling, The Golden State
Moriel Rothman-Zecher, Sadness Is a White Bird
Initiatives
Distributor IPG has set up a new digital print facility exclusively in service of their distributed publishers, replacing a site that was closed in July when printer Edwards Brothers Malloy went out of business.
Bookselling
Chicago’s Magic Tree Bookstore in Oak Park will close October 21 after more than 30 years in business. The store was put for sale earlier in the year; “while some people expressed interest…none were able to take over its operations.” Owner Beth Albrecht said, “It was obviously a very tough decision, but there were a lot of factors. One of which is the store has been just not thriving financially for many years, long before I took it over.”